JULIA WEBER
Assistant Editor
From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, Everett Jewish Life Center will celebrate its 18th birthday with a party hosted at EJLCC.
“It’s really a celebration of the fact that we are really well-established here now,” Richard Spivak, EJLCC board chair, said. “We are thrilled with the response from the community. It’s not just our community, it’s the Chautauqua community.”
Spivak became involved with EJLCC in its early days, working with its founders and now with a large group of volunteers involved with the Center. He started helping out with technology, he said, and stayed on to help make EJLCC “better and better.”
“I wanted to stay involved,” he explained. To him, seeing the generations of people who have been and have since become involved with EJLCC is a rewarding experience.
“It’s nice to see young and old. We have some volunteers who can stand up and point, but that’s about it, and then we have some younger ones who are going to be the future of the place, which is nice to see,” he said.
When it was founded, EJLCC began with one talk per week with about 50 people in attendance, he said, and programming has since grown to four events per week, drawing more than 300 people per event. Spivak said EJLCC estimates about a third of the people who visit the Center are of different faiths.
“It’s clearly a denominational house, but it’s turned into being a sort of cultural and intellectual center, and somewhat secular, since we don’t have any religious services here, but it still has that true Jewish feeling throughout the place.”
This year’s celebration is particularly exciting; in Jewish culture, the number 18 is especially significant because it represents life and joy. According to Spivak, 18 comes from the “numeric calculation of the two letters that make up the expression.”
“Its traditional definition is ‘to life,’ but it’s become more of a celebration, an expression of both religion and joy and sharing,” he explained. “I can’t find a happier word, or a more universally loved word.”
For Spivak, this weekend’s celebration offers a chance for Chautauquans of all faiths to come together and celebrate one of Chautauqua Institution’s younger denominational houses.
The event will have light refreshments and, of course, a birthday cake — “the biggest one we can buy,” Spivak said.
“We’re just pleased with how well Chautauqua has responded to us, and we want to respond in kind back to Chautauqua,” Spivak said.
During the festivities, Spivak said Chautauquans can expect a celebration of joy, community and life.
“[Chautauquans are] going to see happiness that we’re accepted; we’re celebrated, we’re joyous and we’re just happy to make it to 18.”
