Omri Casspi Makes Mile High Memories

2009 Community-wide Chanukah Party Honors Three Generations of Community Leadership

2009-11-23T21:23:10Z

From the distinct smell of cooking Latkas (potato pancakes), the sound of the spinning dreidal against the hard wood floor, to the timeless visual of the burning of the Menorah candles, Chanukah provides us sensual imaginary that is forever emblazoned in our minds and memory.

Derived from the Hebrew verb "חנך", the literal translation of “Hanukkah” means “to dedicate,” celebrating the Jews regained control of Jerusalem and the rededication of the Temple.

This year, as we commemorate the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE, we must also remember our local commitment, our dedication to our local community.

Honoring three generations of community leadership, the 2009 Community-wide Chanukah party will highlight the “passing of the torch” as we honor Lou Weintraub, Skip Rosenbloom and Brian Fischer for their commitment and dedication to our Sacramento community. Through quiet leadership and unwavering vision, our three honorees have contributed to the Medical, Land Development and Business landscapes which have helped shape not only the Jewish Community, but the Sacramento Region as a whole.

Lou Weintraub was Brooklyn born and went to CCNY where he majored in Chemistry. This was depression time and jobs were hard to find in New York, so off he went 2,000 miles away to El Paso, Texas, for a job in synagogue administration which he held for four years.
Eventually he went back to school, to the University of Pennsylvania, where he received his Master’s, just in time to enter the Army. There he spent the next four years honing his skill as a Clinical Psychologist.

Utica, New York was his first post-war job where he spent two years working as a Jewish Federation Executive and went to San Francisco where he spent eight years as a community organization consultant to Jewish Community organizations in the ten Western states and Western Canada.

Next, he moved to the San Francisco Jewish Federation where he worked for the next 23 years and was its Chief Executive Officer upon retirement. He later started his own consulting firm Weintraub Associates, Inc., specializing in fund-raising, community organization and non-profit management.

He served as consultant to the United Way of the Bay Area and managed a campaign for their new building. He was also consultant to the American Red Cross in San Francisco and served as its interim Chief Executive until a permanent CEO could be found.

His move to Sacramento came in small steps. Roslyn, his later to be wife, lived here and the commuting between San Francisco and Sacramento began. And it was during the commuting period that Lou found the time to earn a Certificate in Financial Planning from UC Davis.

Lou has been very active in the non-profit field since moving to Sacramento some eighteen years ago. He has delivered food to the home-bound for Meals-A-La Car and has been on the Boards of both the Community Services Planning Council and the Friends of the Sacramento Public Library. He is currently the Vice-Chair of the Emergency Food and Shelter Board, and is a congregant of Mosaic Law Congregation.

Dr. E. Scott Rosenbloom, better known as “Skip”, is a B’nai Israel congregant, a physician, a former health plan Medical Director, and a businessman, with a broad-based perspective on the health care system and expertise in the issues of quality and medical necessity for care. His experience encompasses a seven-year practice in occupational medicine and emergency medicine. He founded a managed care company, and he provides managing and consulting services for a wide range of regional businesses. Dr. Rosenbloom received his medical degree from Northwestern University in Chicago and his Master of Public Health degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Rosenbloom currently sits as the President of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region.

Brian Fischer is co-founder, brand creator, and past Dir. of Business Development, Sales, and Marketing for downtowngrid.com.

After five years of building that well-known online-and-on-the-ground experience in hyper local marketing and community building, he has set new challenges behind the scenes as the current CEO & Chief Inspiration Officer of Playpen Incubator, where work is play, one of Sacramento's most dynamic media, marketing, and technology incubators that will launch new entities for years to come across the region and well beyond.

During its inaugural year, Brian devotes himself to the start-up and evolution of NextDor as a gateway Jewish social network online and through monthly events to develop the next generation of Jewish leadership across the 6-county region. He hopes that NextDor will prove replicable to other regions struggling to be relevant to Jewish young adults and professionals. He acts as co-organizer and brand creator of the Big Nosh for a Better Sacramento.

In addition, he facilitates monthly industry and community discussions for the Urban Design Alliance & American Institute of Architecture's 4th Wednesday Dialogues that fuel Sacramento's vision of its 25-year future.

He is known as an emerging entrepreneur in business innovation and social activist as founder of 100minds, a grassroots economic developer in Oak Park, predicated on his interpretation of Tikkun Olam.

His favorite title is Dad and he considers no challenge greater, sweeter, more human or more humbling than being a father to Violet and step-father to Ahrianna.

Join us as we honor three generations of Sacramento leaders at the Memorial Auditorium on December 10th, 2009 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. We will celebrate the MAGIC of the festival of lights with an exclusive performance by Lior Suchard, an internationally acclaimed “supernatural entertainer” who uses the power of the mind to dazzle and humor the crowd. In addition, new Sacramento King and the first Israeli player in the NBA, Omri Casspi, will join us to comment on his first month in the NBA and to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans in attendance.

For more information, to buy tickets and to see an exclusive community invite by Omri Casspi log on to www.jewishsac.org. Tickets: $36 (early bird price by December 6th) $40 (purchase after December 6th)

Omri Casspi Makes Mile High Memories

2010-03-04T23:12:20Z

Growing up in the small farm town of Yavne, Israel, Omri Casspi always dreamed of playing in the NBA.

"I remember getting up at like three or four in the morning to watch the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan," said Casspi. "Having players like him to look up to helped me develop, it gave me some motivation."

It’s obvious that Casspi knows the great responsibility that comes with success and fame. Despite an ever-changing and hectic NBA schedule, Casspi made his first visit to Denver, Colorado one to remember for some local Jewish school children.

Fresh off the plane and straight from DIA, Casspi made the trip to East Denver Orthodox Synagogue for the Denver Academy of Torah (DAT) 8th grade Washington, D.C. fundraising dinner. To the delight and surprise of the students, Casspi spent time, signed autographs and took pictures with the children.

"The children are special to me, I was happy to come and meet them," remarked Casspi.

Omri made sure to fulfill each child’s request; signing jerseys, recording video birthday messages for friends and encouraging the children to practice their Hebrew with him.

"It was so cool" said 5th grader Jacob Wedgle, "I was so excited to meet him."

No doubt a hot topic with the DAT student body for weeks to come, this is not the first time Casspi has engaged his fans and showed his appreciation for them.

Omri has made several appearances with the Jewish communities across the country. From lending his time to the Sacramento Community-Wide Chanukah party, to autograph sessions with regional fans, Omri always makes time for his supporters and embodies the definition of a true mensch.
Casspi displayed the skills he has become famous for by scoring 14 points against the Denver Nuggets on Monday, February 1st. Although the Kings lost in an exciting overtime game, Casspi played well in front of a large Jewish community showing.

Denver residents stood proud and waived their Israeli flags in support of Omri; continuing the trend that has emerged across the NBA city spectrum when Omri and Sacramento come to town.

"It's important. I see the fans at the games waving their flags, wearing my jerseys. I want them to know how much it means to me," continued Casspi.
It is indeed important that Omri and his fans share a reciprocally supportive relationship. They support him as a player and he supports them as a nation or people, giving back to the community when he can. After all, you never know, one of the children he inspires through his kindness just might be the next Jewish NBA star.

Community-wide Chanukah Celebration: Featuring world renowned supernatural entertainer, Lior Suchard and Sac. King Omri Casspi

2009-12-10T19:59:48Z

Join the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region for the 2009 Community-wide Chanukah Celebration! All are invited to see the one-of-a-kind performance by acclaimed supernatural entertainer Lior Suchard (click here to see exclusive video). The entire community is invited to see the show and stay for autographs and pictures with Israeli NBA superstar Omri Casspi (click here for an exclusive video invite from Omri). In addition, three generations of community leadership will be honored as we "pass the torch" from leader to leader, and hear words from Sacramento Vice Mayor Hammond.

This event will be one you will want to be sure not to miss! For event details visit www.jewishsac.org and for tickets call 916-486-0906. Tickets:$40 or Special Family Pricing: $110