On the occasion of her becoming bat mitzvah, Alyssa Weinberg of Scotch Plains decided to do something special. Her mother, Heidi Penziner Weinberg, a strong advocate of Arad-Tamar, the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey's Partnership 2000 sister city, is the Partnership 2000 NJ-Delaware Cluster Living Bridge chair. In April, when Alyssa and her family went to Israel - Alyssa's third time - to celebrate, she used her bat mitzvah gift money to donate warm-up suits for the Arad swim team. In thanking her, the team honored Alyssa with a ceremony and presented her with a plaque to commemorate the contribution.

In August, 13 Arad-Tamar athletes will come to the New Jersey-Delaware Cluster to compete in this year's JCC Maccabi Games, which will take place in St. Louis, Houston, and Tenafly. Alyssa will join the swim team of our own Jewish Community Center of Central New Jersey.

Sivan 5763 - June 2003