Heart of giving
Continued from Page 7
In 1953, the Jewish Community
Council began operating from a new
Jewish Community Center building, a
project developed by builder Sam Hoff-
man and located at 16th Street and
Camelback Road in Phoenix. This was
already the third location for the Center;
it had previously been located on Central
Avenue after it was on Fourth Street.

The Jewish Community Center, Jew-
ish Family & Children’s Service and the
Kivel Nursing Home became the Coun-
cil’s inaugural constituent agencies.

“In those earlier years, establishment
of these organizations was more organic
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@
Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt
speaks to a UJA fundraising event in
Phoenix in March 1947.

Photo courtesy of the Pearl and Cecil Newmark Memorial Archives
at the Arizona Jewish Historical Society
and more personal than we would likely
see today,” Bell said. “The professional-
ization of these organizations came later.

Initially, this was just people from the
community coming together. They saw a
need and tried to address it.”
In 1962, Jewish Social Service offi-
cially became Jewish Family & Chil-
dren’s Service (JFCS). In 1968, the
Phoenix Jewish Community Council
changed its name to the Phoenix Jewish
Federation. In 1999, the UJA officially
became United Jewish Communities
following the merger of the UJA, Coun-
cil of Jewish Federations and United
Israel Appeal. In 2009, that organiza-
tion was renamed Jewish Federations of
North America. Today, there are 148
individual federation offices across the
U.S. and Canada, including what is now
called the Jewish Federation of Greater
Phoenix. Other Valley nonprofits have their
roots in the federation, such as the Jew-
ish Community Foundation of Greater
Phoenix, which became independent in
2002.




Spotlight: Three
philanthropic profiles
Literally, thousands of generous mem-
bers of the Greater Phoenix Jewish com-
munity throughout the past six decades
deserve to be spotlighted for their excep-
tional spirit of giving. Here are brief
profiles of three Valley philanthropists
who have become icons – emblematic of
the difference generosity can make in the
growth and success of a community.

Bill Levine
When Bill and Ina Levine moved from
Brooklyn to Arizona in 1960, Bill became
involved in Valley real estate. Eventually,
he co-founded Outdoor Systems, which
became the largest advertising/billboard
company in the U.S. He is now a general
partner of Levine Investments.

When Levine’s three children were
growing up, the family were active mem-
bers of the Jewish Com-
munity Center (JCC),
then located in Phoenix.

“The center was an
important part of my
family,” Levine said in a
2008 interview with the
Arizona Jewish Histori-
cal Society (AZJHS).

Bill Levine
When Ina died in
1999, Levine sought to create a memo-
rial for her that reflected her devotion to
Judaism and Jewish causes. At the same
time, the existing JCC in Phoenix was
looking for a new home. Levine pur-
chased 30 acres at Sweetwater Avenue
and Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale and
then donated the land to build the Ina
Levine Jewish Community Campus.

Jean Grossman
Jean Grossman’s commitment and
dedication to the federation system first
began in 1949 in Minneapolis, where,
according to a biography of her in the
Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix’s
2006 annual report, she was canvassing
neighborhoods on behalf of the United
Jewish Appeal.

In 1981, she and her late husband,
Harold, relocated to the Valley and
became involved with the Jewish Fed-
eration of Greater Phoenix. Through
the years, Grossman has served on the
boards of the Federation, the Bureau of
Jewish Education, the Council for Jews
with Special Needs (CJNS, now Gesher
Disability Resources), the Jewish Commu-
See ‘Spotlight’ on Page 10
Alan & Randi
Jablin Barbara & Barry
Zemel Rebecca Light &
Josh Wertlieb
Mazel tov on this wonderful
honor and thank you all for
your leadership.

Connecting our Jewish community and building a better world together.

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