President’s Message 2026

President’s Report June 2026

Another amazing year! The JCB has achieved a lot this year, pursuing our very ambitious goal of owning and building a building for the JCB to be used in perpetuity.

This year, in February 2026, we had an amazing Campaign fundraiser, led by Mitch Blaser, to achieve this. Well.... We are doing it! Last AGM I reported that we purchased the building, this year we went through the complexities of getting plans finalized and approved at last. More on that in a bit.

We, The JCB board, continue to try to do our best for all members, despite being without a building this year....our goal is to assist people to have the most meaningful Jewish experience while here in Bermuda.

The JCB remains unaffiliated, which is an important stance as the Board aims to welcome and facilitate all jewish denominations equally. We are here to help our members celebrate Jewish life events from bris's and baby namings to bar and bat mitzvahs to weddings and even funeral arrangements, on island or even off island if necessary.

This year there were some successful oneg shabbats and some well attended holiday events.

We have a lot of young families and we continue to be outnumbered at events by children which is a very happy thing indeed and bodes well for the future. It does bring a bit of chaos, but we’ll take it.

It is challenging meeting everyone's needs as not everyone wants children focused events, we have had several adult only events too as a result which are popular too and we endeavour as a board to continue providing for all. If anyone has any ideas, requests or wishes please come forward and voice them, we are here for you all and are flexible and willing to respond and act. The JCB mission is to meet the Jewish needs of all of our members and we are focused on this goal. If we can make it work we will do it.

The Board has plenty of plans for many new programs once we have a finished Jewish Community Centre. Some ideas include talks and classes for adult interests, museum exhibits, a holocaust and tolerance education program for local school students. Particularly in the summer months when the Centre is traditionally under utilized, even potentially a kids summer program and more. We are very excited at the prospect. We will see where the needs and interests bring us.

Board Thank-You

As always, I would like to thank the board for a lot of work this year. They step up unselfishly year after year doing what is needed to keep our community going. We have been resilient. Some of us do more than others which is ok, but some go over and above like Cort and Felicia, Heather and Tori, who I have started to call my “Bermy girls”. These 4 are the future of this Community and I can assure you all we are in fantastic hands. They are each incredibly capable and talented, I hope the community appreciates these hard working and dedicated women.

Cortney, our ‘assistant’ treasurer, still does most of the grunt work for the community. Cort has been keeping all of our accounts in check, it’s a thankless job, one which requires almost daily attention, this gets largely unnoticed and unrecognized, but she works away behind the scenes with no accolades.

Cort also runs the Hebrew School, planning, the purchasing of materials, and this year very generously allowed us to run the Hebrew School two days a week in her house!! Thanks Cort, I appreciate you and all that you do for this community.

Felicia, who holds the vital role of secretary of the Community despite her growing family, still organizes the communication, surveys, events, and computer systems. She keeps everyone informed and in touch. She keeps myself and the board on track to keep focused on our goals and the follow up actions that we need to do.

She has also been doing the newsletter, emails, announcements and event reminders, Without Felicia none of you would know who, what, when, where and how. Thanks Felicia for all that you do. As if that isn't enough, Felicia also opened her home to a weekly Torah tots group with help from new recruit Andrea Kienwald von Markhof, and they have done a really excellent job with that.

Heather worked tirelessly organising the second gala which was a huge success, arguably even better than the first one. This requires a lot of work! Some galas by other organizations use committees of paid employees who take months to plan and execute.... so AMAZING job. Our ladies, with heather leading, pulled it off in amazing fashion, and it was profitable!

Tori organises the well loved PJ library program where every child in the Community gets a Jewish book every month to take home. She also reads to the kids in the Hebrew school , we call it Tori's Torah stories. She was a great support to the Gala committee and her contributions in arranging donations for raffles and follow up thank yous to people, businesses and corporations. All a lot of work.

Everyone in the board does something and I would like to thank them all personally, Jodi, Alberto, Nir and Adam, thank you from all of us. You care, you step up. You each represent different Jewish Perspectives- all important. Francine stood down this year after sitting 20 years on the board . Kol Hakavod, Francine! We will miss you but expect you to continue to be involved in our Education programs moving forward.

John Mulvihill is a new board member, we welcome him!

Year Overview

We started the year with a heartwarming fundraising community event at the Reefs Resort Beach BBQ. Supporters from the community and dear friends alike joined in the evening!

Rabbi Meyer and Marla came for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur for the third time this year, of particular note is the addition of a child oriented family service to High Holydays, this time with Kol Nidre on zoom due to Hurricanes Humberto and Imelda. But we finished by breaking the fast with a special de-consecration ceremony as we began to close-up the centre.Warren Bank assisted with his chazanic prowess this year again, and we thank you, Warren!

We built the sukkah again this year and had a couple of events in it while the centre was in its ‘closing’ phase.

Monthly Shabbat services and pot luck dinners, with some creative changes due to the centre being closed, are held in RBYC and some members' homes. Thanks to Amy Kessler and Tori Markus for opening their homes for some of these special evenings.

Mitzvah Day was led by Dena Witkin this year- thank you for stepping up!

For Chanukah this year with no centre we had a joint event with Chabad at City Hall which was an overwhelming success. We also hosted our first 501(c)(3) alumni event in New York! Fiona, Mitch, and Phil did amazing work to launch this event and officially kickoff our stateside fundraising efforts in earnest.

We hosted a bagel breakfast at the Steffen house, with homemade bagels, children running around, and great adult conversation.

For Purim, Chabad offered to host, and many enjoyed their festive event with a megillah reading and lots of food.

This year we had a Community Seder at Fourways. Pesach fell on school break this year, nonetheless there were 30 or so people strong.

We had a Yom Hashoah Holocaust event led by Tori at the RBYC. There, we debuted a new memorial rock fountain — Donated generously by the Bernstein Family in honor of the six million.

Lag Baomer bonfire faced a little rain but didn't spoil it. Chabad very generously donated and provided the food which was delicious.

There is some interest in Kabbalat Shabbat service more than once a month, this is something to look into once the centre is renovated. it doesn't need to include pot luck dinner, services can be a short 45 minute prayer service.... we might try to achieve this this year and see what the response is.

Education

The children who attended Hebrew school have done well as shown at the Hebrew School Shabbat last week led by Cort. Thanks to all our Mum teachers and helpers Cort, Menuchy ( who also provided snacks ), Tori, Dena, and helpers Ellis Champion and Ava Bernstein.

Torah Tots continued to be very popular with the under 5’s. It seems all of them will do anything for Challah! Thanks to Felicia who provided the venue and Andrea for taking over the teaching reins.

Private Bar/Bat mitzvah classes have been happening throughout the year.

The JCC Building and Campaign Fundraising

Thanks to Mitch Blaser, Heather Oliver, and the trusty fundraising team. I’d like to thank the 501(c)(3) team in the US by past members of the JCB namely, Phil Shaw, Emelia Weg Flitman and Anne Carmigiani. Thanks to them, people who pay US taxes will be able to get a tax deduction when donating to the American Friends of the JCB.

The campaign did manage to, not only, cover the costs of the purchase of the building but also covered some much needed renovation fixes that are vital to the integrity of the building moving forward.

When we were in the planning stage, the architect came up with some more ambitious plans for the property. After much consideration and meetings, the board came to believe that the more ambitious plans were going to meet the growing needs of the community better. As a result, the fundraising will continue to cover the very exciting new addition to the building. Cort will be able to give better info on the fundraising status but I think that with the purchase and then the renovation that we are 3/4's of the way there. Our plans are approved... I have a copy of them here tonight for anyone who would like to have a look.

Newsletter

We have expanded our mailing program. Members/Locals at our community receive communications weekly and as-needed for event notifications. We email our alumni/off island supporters monthly now to reflect on past events and update on building progress. And lastly, we email our local Bermuda supporters and friends quarterly to show our appreciation, keep them updated, and invite them to future community-focused events.

Life Events (We’d love to share more, so please don’t hesitate to email us and let us know!)

Tara and Hart as they announced the arrival of Layla Grace Freedman, Hebrew name Esther, born at 9:39 a.m. on Friday, March 6, 2026.

Grandma and Grandpa Francine and Alan welcomed their fourth grandchild, Crosby.

Miriam Sloane Steffen (Miryam Dayan) joined the Steffen family October 22, 2025. Big siblings Jonah, Leah, and Asher, enjoy having a new sister to dote on, and ignore :)

Elie Fields's Bat mitzvah is upcoming this weekend. Mazal tov to the Fields family.

Closing

So that’s it for this year. I wish you all a nice summer break and see you when the High Holydays kick in!

Yours Sincerely, Fiona