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Interfaith rally draws respectful crowd to Public Square

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<p>KINGSTON &#8212; Wielding a pair of shears believed to have been used at the old Jewish Community Center&#8217;s opening back in 1950, officials on Sunday snipped a bright blue ribbon to mark the opening of its successor.</p><p>Such a gesture was in keeping with an old Hebrew phrase that kept cropping up during the afternoon&#8217;s speeches and blessings at the new Sidney and Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center: <em>L&#8217;dor V&#8217;dor</em>, or &#8220;from generation to generation.&#8221;</p><p><em>&#8220;L&#8217;dor V&#8217;dor </em>is a reminder that together we are on a journey, and it is our responsibility as a community to ensure the journey continues,&#8221; said Chuck Cohen, a Jewish Community Alliance of Northeastern Pennsylvania board member and building committee co-chair who was instrumental in bringing the decade-long, $13 million project to fruition.</p><p>The new center off Third Avenue &#8212; in a building that once housed a Price Chopper grocery store &#8212; will enable the JCC to expand its offerings, something that simply wasn&#8217;t possible at its longtime, landlocked home on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>There&#8217;s an expanded early learning center for children from birth through nursery school; two kitchens, one for kosher food preparation and one for general food preparation; an outdoor playground and retail rental space; a food pantry called Sara&#8217;s Table; as well as a brand new recreational complex, complete with courts for basketball, pickleball and squash, and large locker room areas with steam rooms, sauna and showers for men and women. It also will have rental space for possible outside vendors.</p><p>And, of course, there is plentiful parking.</p><p>Sunday&#8217;s gathering took place in the spacious events room, before the standing-room-only crowd headed outside for the ribbon-cutting.</p><p><strong>A place for growth</strong></p><p>&#8220;Our project is a little unusual,&#8221; Cohen added. &#8220;In the past decade, only four communities in the United States have built new JCCs from the ground up &#8212; three of them are in towns known for their growth and success: Palo Alto, Calif., Boulder, Colo., Tarrytown, N.Y. And then there&#8217;s us, here in Wilkes-Barre.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;We believe that the Friedman JCC, with its flexible design, home for multiple community agencies and non-traditional rental revenue, will serve as a model for jewish communities who are facing challenging demographic trends,&#8221; said Cohen, who is well known in the area as managing director of Benco Dental.</p><p>The ceremony attracted a wide range of guests and dignitaries, including local, county, state and federal lawmakers, several sitting and retired judges, and three rabbis.</p><p>State Rep. Aaron Kaufer (R-Kingston), who spoke of growing up playing basketball at the old JCC, warmed up the crowd with a little Biblical humor.</p><p>&#8220;After 40 years in the desert, it&#8217;s not so bad to take 10 years for Jews to cross a river,&#8221; Kaufer quipped to laughter and applause.</p><p>&#8220;This new building says that the Jewish community is here to stay, and we will be here for generations to come,&#8221; Kaufer added.</p><p>As Cohen pointed out, Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s first synagogue was founded in 1843.</p><p>Attorney David Schwager, who co-chairs the building committee with Cohen and worked on legal issues with the project, said the effort began with &#8220;three farsighted, creative, intelligent families,&#8221; namely the Cohens, Friedmans and Lantz/Rifkin families.</p><p>&#8220;It was all an outgrowth of the Jewish community&#8217;s planning process,&#8221; Schwager said. &#8220;The JCC was not physically capable of holding all of the acts and programs that our community has accomplished and would need to engage in to remain relevant for this generation and generations to come.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;They had the foresight to see this 13.4 acre parcel as a diamond in the rough ready for us to polish.&#8221;</p><p>JCC board member and area restaurateur Rob Friedman said he teamed up with Cohen and Paul Lantz in 2010 to purchase the land, which they eventually donated to the JCC.</p><p>&#8220;And now, finally, this property that was dormant for so many years has life again,&#8221; Friedman said.</p><p>It also honors his parents for their contributions to the civic life of the Wyoming Valley.</p><p>&#8220;My mother, Pauline Friedman, who passed away in 2008, dedicated so much of her life to giving back to the community. She served on so many nonprofit boards,&#8221; Friedman said.</p><p>His father, Sidney, &#8220;spent most of his time building Friedman Electric, but quietly supported my mom&#8217;s philanthropy,&#8221; Friedman said, as his father listened from the audience.</p><p>&#8220;My dad always shied away from recognition. I never asked his permission to put his name on this building, because I knew what his response would be. He would say, &#8216;forget it, just put Paulie&#8217;s name on it, not mine,&#8217;&#8221; Friedman said. &#8220;But my sister and I agreed it was time to also recognize my dad.&#8221;</p><p>On Sunday, so did a community.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Star of David sits atop the Israeli flag as guests file into the Cohen Social Hall of the new Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday.	 </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Star of David sits atop the Israeli flag as guests file into the Cohen Social Hall of the new Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday.	 </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sidney Friedman listens to his son Rob Friedman offer remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Sidney and Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Sidney Friedman listens to his son Rob Friedman offer remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony of the Sidney and Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rabbi David Kaplan, center, offers remarks as Rabbis Zvi Perlman, left, and Larry Kaplan await their turn at the podium during the opening of the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_4-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Rabbi David Kaplan, center, offers remarks as Rabbis Zvi Perlman, left, and Larry Kaplan await their turn at the podium during the opening of the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Luzerne County Judge Lesa Gelb offers her congratulations on the opening of the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_3-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Luzerne County Judge Lesa Gelb offers her congratulations on the opening of the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday.  </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_6-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rabbis Zvi Perlman, right, David Kaplan, and Larry Kaplan affix a mezuzah to the doorframe of the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_6-1.jpg</photo4><caption4>Rabbis Zvi Perlman, right, David Kaplan, and Larry Kaplan affix a mezuzah to the doorframe of the Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston after the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday.  </caption4><photoCredit4>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Jewish Community Alliance President David Lantz, left, joins Rob Friedman, David Schwager, Chuck Cohen, and elected officials in the ribbon cutting of the Sydney &amp; Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/web1_TTL032519JCC-rd_5-1.jpg</photo5><caption5>Jewish Community Alliance President David Lantz, left, joins Rob Friedman, David Schwager, Chuck Cohen, and elected officials in the ribbon cutting of the Sydney &amp; Pauline Friedman Jewish Community Center in Kingston on Sunday.  </caption5><photoCredit5>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit5></div></div>

JCC ribbon-cutting celebrates decades of Jewish life in region