On Thursday, April 29, UJA-Westchester held its annual celebration honoring longtime New Rochelle residents Karen and Joseph Rafalowicz. This virtual Zoom event combined highlights of UJA’s accomplishments over the past 21 months and a revue of Broadway show tunes. In prior years, UJA-Westchester rented the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, and included food, speeches and performances. After last year’s event, scheduled for March 5, just after the COVID crisis began, was cancelled on short notice, UJA re-packed the food as Shabbos meals for the New Rochelle community, which was forced into quarantine days earlier.
Karen, a retired speech and language pathologist, was UJA-Westchester Women’s Division—New Rochelle campaign chair and served on several UJA-NY committees that funded projects to improve civil society in Israel. Karen is currently participating in UJA’s “Setting the Table,” a program to better explain Israel’s narrative.
Joseph is an attorney and a real estate investor who has long been active in communal and political affairs. He is the chair emeritus of UJA-Westchester’s Government Relations Committee and now serves on UJA’s Government Relations and Advocacy and the Community Initiative for Holocaust Survivors committees. He also served on the board of Westchester Jewish Council and now serves on the boards of JCRC-NY and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, in addition to the National Council of AIPAC.
The Rafalowiczes arrived in New Rochelle over 30 years ago. Joseph explained, “We were living in Manhattan at the time. I had good friends living here. The community was small. We thought this would be a good community for us.” Referring to UJA-Westchester, Joseph described, “They are the one organization that cuts across all parts of the Jewish community, and supplies a tremendous amount of critical services, including ongoing support for social services to both Jews and non-Jews. They distribute government grants throughout the community… Back in 2008, during that financial disaster, UJA stepped forward to help people with supplementary funds and job counseling. Metropolitan Jewish Council, which is funded by UJA, is a huge operation, providing food to many people in financial crises, including kosher food.”
Joseph also explained how UJA lends an organized voice: “UJA pushes for an agenda, both for New York, and for Jewish New Yorkers advocating for government aid assistance. This is an area of my particular concern. They’ve also stepped up for assistance to Holocaust survivors.” Joseph also noted that when the first stimulus bill was enacted, it was UJA who lobbied for the inclusion of non-profits. Joseph added, “Half the funds go to Israel supporting all kinds of activities of primarily a social nature, like food aid, hospitals and fire trucks. They are very good at running trips to show people who don’t have that much background, Israel and other parts of the Jewish community in the world, to interact with Jews everywhere, and to support Jewish causes. I think it’s important for them to understand that, to meet other Jews nationwide.”
Joseph’s favorite UJA moment and what inspired him to get more involved was when he was serving on the board at Westchester Hebrew High School. “UJA was giving out grants to non-profit and religious schools. It was a $50,000 grant for three years. I went to the headmaster at the time, and I said, ‘Rabbi Majerowicz, there is a grant for you from UJA and I think you would want to apply. The grant would allow for WHHS to start a special education program to bring in more students who have special needs and get them involved with the school.’” Joseph helped write the grant application and UJA awarded them a grant for a program that still exists today. The program today helps youth with bilingual issues.
About serving as role models to their children, Joseph explained, “They see what we do.” Their son Adam is the general manager at Six Thirteen Restaurant in Stamford and has become very active in his community. Joseph continued, “Adam has been involved with AIPAC. He and his brother Ben have been to Israel with us. I think they truly understand being part of the Jewish community, the importance of being charitable and trying to do the right things. You can’t preach it; you can’t just talk the talk. You have to lead by example.” Even through COVID, the Rafalowicz family continues to be very involved in Jewish communal life and are continuing to grow in many organizational positions. Their son Ben, a geriatrics OT, has helped members of the Westchester community recover from COVID and other ailments.
Joseph summarized, “We love to travel. We are really looking forward to going back to Israel. We’ve missed being in Israel with our family and friends.”
By Judy Berger
