When JEWISHcolorado goes to Aspen, Aspen turns out. Nearly 100 members of Colorado’s mountain communities gathered at the Chabad JCC Aspen on July 11 to socialize, hear from JEWISHcolorado leaders, and listen to a presentation from Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh, the first Druze woman to anchor a Hebrew-language news program on Israeli television and the first female Druze member of Israel’s legislature.
JEWISHcolorado President & CEO Renée Rockford welcomed attendees with a brief rundown of JEWISHcolorado accomplishments from the last year, including more than $9 million raised for the Israel Emergency Fund and nearly $8 million raised through the Annual Campaign. Rockford also talked about additional JEWISHcolorado initiatives from the past year including:
• The response to the highest antisemitism threat level in recent history through the Safety & Security Initiative;
• The actions taken by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) in response to anti-Israel and antisemitic speech and resolutions at the local, regional, and state level;
• Jewish educational programming including Holocaust education and PJ Library;
• Connections to Israel through the Israeli emissaries, trips and missions, and decades of commitment to the region of Ramat HaNegev;
• The Jewish Community Foundation, a Jewish philanthropic home for investors, donor-advised fund holders, and those interested in impact capital to support businesses in Israel.
In Aspen, JEWISHcolorado helps fund Golshim L’chaim, now in its seventeenth year, and provides per-student religious school funding to Aspen-area congregations.
“We consider our friends in Aspen and the mountain communities to be a critical part of our JEWISHcolorado ecosystem,” Rockford said. “We are proud to support you and this local community.”
Rabbi Shira Stutman from Aspen Jewish Congregation spoke on Talmudic teachings about giving and charitable deeds. She pointed out that Julie Schlafer, Aspen resident and a member of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) National Women’s Philanthropy (NWP) Board, recently became a bat mitzvah and asked guests to donate to JEWISHcolorado in lieu of gifts.
Schlafer spoke about her long engagement with JEWISHcolorado and explained why the work is more important now than ever as JEWISHcolorado engages a new generation, supports Israel, and creates community locally and globally.
Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh
Nelly Ben Tal, JEWISHcolorado’s Shlicha, introduced the featured speaker, Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh. Born to a Druze family in the village of Daliyat al-Karmel on Mount Carmel, Kamal-Mreeh has broken multiple glass ceilings as a television anchor, member of Israel’s legislature, and now, as the first Druze to serve as an Israeli emissary for the Jewish Agency.
As an Israeli Druze engaged in politics, diplomacy, and media, Kamal-Mreeh offered a unique perspective on how October 7 is reshaping Israel and the Middle East.
“Since the establishment of the state of Israel, we have been thirsty for sympathy and safety in this hostile region,” she said. “In recent years, it has been even more challenging to be accepted.”
In the current war—often waged with misinformation, data, artificial intelligence, and social media—Kamal-Mreeh implored her listeners to advocate for Israel in ways both large and small.
Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh and Dan Elbaum of The Jewish Agency for Israel
“We need you, and we need you now,” she said. “Engage, engage. Be a social agent. Have conversations whenever you can—maybe five or ten minutes with someone in the airport. That could lead to the reshaping of public opinion.”
Ultimately, Kamal-Mreeh said, the events since October 7 have provided a traumatic learning experience for the people in “the tiny country of Israel.”
“If we lose hope, no one is going to lead us to a safe place,” she said. “We cannot allow terrorists or political extremists to lead us. We just try to rebuild trust. It will take time. It will take years.”
JEWISHcolorado thanks the people in Aspen who made this event possible:
Julie & Steven Schlafer
Sallie Golden & Jim Aresty
Darlynn & Tom Fellman
Sandra & Charles Israel
Yosefa & Craig Platt
Andrea Gordon
Esther & Craig Navias
Susan & Maury Brochstein
Kathleen Schulman