By Rabbi Charna Klein , , Seattle
Regarding Diana Brement’s M.O.T. column (“Journalist is lay leader of Whidbey NAS,” Dec. 19, 2008): The story about Allison Buckholtz’s leadership at NAS Whidbey Island is certainly inspirational and she is to be praised for her contribution. However, the article states that she heard there was no organized Jewish presence on Whidbey Island when she arrived in 2006.
For the record, Ms. Buckholtz had contacted me and we had a positive e-mail exchange. At the time I was finishing a seven-year period as the rabbi who voluntarily organized and served the Whidbey Island Jewish Community for most of the holidays throughout the Jewish calendar. This ended Hanukkah 2007, when Jews on Whidbey hosted three organized Hanukkah gatherings, including the one Allison Buckholtz mentioned at the Naval Air Station. NAS also had a prior period of lay-led Jewish services. In 2004 I organized a meeting at which about 30 Jews elected officers and began a successful process of becoming a bona-fide, non-profit organization in Washington State. I authored a quarterly newsletter, Clal Echad, from 2004 through winter 2007 which was sent out to Island Jews, and Hilde Mott, president, created and administered a Web site for part of that time. The Whidbey Island Jewish Community was known to the larger Jewish community, listed in The Guide to Jewish Washington, and had articles and notices in Whidbey Island newspapers. To my knowledge, prior to that was a two-year period in which nothing happened. I took over a list of perhaps 25 to 50 Jews, which grew to over 200 by 2007, from Michael Sarin, a lay community leader, during a period which [they] sometimes had invited service leaders, myself included. I hope this helps more accurately sketch out the history of Jews on Whidbey Island for JTNews readers.