Jewish Long Beach and the Alpert Jewish Community Center Host UNISON

On November 13, 2022, Jewish Long Beach and Alpert Jewish Community Center (Alpert JCC) are hosting a progressive kosher culinary experience and honoring two significant leaders in the Jewish community: Jessie Butler and Gordon Lentzner. The event also marks the first full year of operating as an integrated agency.

Jessie Butler served as the Alpert JCC President in 1985-86. Butler is a local photographer and has been an instrumental volunteer with the Alpert JCC for decades. Those who know her say that her passion is her family. She was a devoted wife to Dr. Stanley Butler (d. 2006), a wonderful mother to their four daughters, and a beloved grandmother and great-grandmother to many. The Alpert JCC was a second home to all the Butler children. She has been the parent-favorite photographer for the early childhood education program’s graduation and events. Her other passion is the Alpert JCC’s senior meal program, where she regularly volunteers as one of the cooks preparing meals.

Gordon Lentzner served as the Alpert JCC President in 2006-07, and the Jewish Federation President in 1987-89. Lentzner and his brother Gene (d. 2020) were business owners together. Like his brother, he has dedicated his life to serving the community. He is deeply involved in Ronald McDonald House, which named him one of its 2021“Few Good Men.” Like his late brother, he is committed to the causes of equity and inclusion. At 91, he plays clarinet in a klezmer band, and is a jazz and classical music aficionado.

The progressive dinner will take participants on a tour of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Jewish Long Beach campus. They will enjoy several courses of kosher cuisine, learn about the impact of the newly-integrated agency, and take a first look at renderings for a variety of exciting improvements and additions to the Mary Alpert Pool Deck area, Linden-Baldwin Café space, Lipeles Courtyard, and other physical spaces. Cocktail attire is encouraged.

“The funds we raise from the evening will be directed to three categories of importance that are at the heart of the organization’s role in the community,” said Zach Benjamin, CEO of Jewish Long Beach. “We take a holistic and inclusive approach to development to maintain our physical campus, and make sure that we are nourishing the people we serve within these walls, and in the greater community.”

These categories are:

• Building Community Through Physical Spaces – Refreshing the Mary Alpert Pool to match the growing needs of young families, seniors, and the entire community. The pool is a special place where people learn to swim, families gather on summer nights, daily exercise classes keep seniors active and fit, and countless memories are made.
• Sustaining Jewish Continuity with Children, Youth and Family Financial Aid – These financial aid resources will benefit the Early Childhood Education center, Kesher Afterschool Enrichment Program, Camp Komaroff and Camp365, and all Youth programming, to help welcome more families to the Alpert JCC.
• Caring for Our Neighbors through Our Impact Grants – Continuing Jewish Long Beach’s grant-making tradition to care for the vulnerable, educate and engage the next generation, and invest in community needs by supporting local nonprofit organizations.

Unison begins at 5:00 and progresses as follows:

5:00 p.m. - Registration begins at the Mary Alpert Pool

5:15 p.m. - Drinks in the Lentzner Family Promenade

5:45 p.m. - Appetizers at the Falk Playground

6:45 p.m. - HaMotzi* & Dinner in the Feldman Family Gymnasium and Stanley & Jessie Butler

Health & Fitness Lobby (*HaMotzi is the blessing of the bread.)

8:00 p.m. Dessert in the Lipeles Auditorium & Courtyard and Ceremony to Honor Jessie Butler &

Gordon Lentzner

Evening ends 8:30 p.m.

To purchase tickets or to sponsor the event, visit https://www.jewishlongbeach.or...

For more information contact Yolanda Placencio at yplacencio@jewishlongbeach.org or (562) 456-7601 x1314

Jewish Long Beach serves the Jewish and broader communities through strategic grant-making, development of emerging leaders, advocacy, and management of the community’s philanthropic funds. The organization awards over $500,000 in grants annually to nonprofit organizations throughout Long Beach and West Orange County. The Alpert Jewish Community Center, part of Jewish Long Beach and the focal point of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Jewish Long Beach Campus. Guided by Jewish values and culture, we seek to inspire community by improving lives, building bridges of understanding and inclusion.

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