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Fall, 2003
  Articles on this page: • Arlene Schiff: Leadership in the Jewish community
Arlene Schiff: Leadership in the Jewish community In the parking lot outside the Jewish Community Center in Pittsfield at noontime, a visitor will notice a pungent, delicious aroma wafting through the air. Just inside the door, senior citizens arrive for the kosher lunches, which are available for a small donation. In fact, says Jewish Federation Executive Director Arlene Schiff, "we offer the only kosher kitchen in the Berkshires." They serve between 40 and 60 meals three days per week. In addition to its kosher food program, the Federation offers citizenship and resettlement services, speakers on a variety of issues, community celebrations and gatherings and a social worker. It also publishes a newspaper, the Berkshire Jewish Voice, 10 times a year. Since becoming the head of the Federation in 2001, Schiff has worked to unify and reinvigorate the local Jewish community. "I've tried to give people a good understanding of what the Federation is and what we do," she says. It is essential, she says, that her organization fill the need for Jewish community life in the county. Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Schiff completed her undergraduate work at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst before pursuing a graduate degree in landscape architecture at Harvard. "My training and initial experience were in urban planning and community development," says Schiff, "which gave me a strong skill set for social services." After working as the community development director for North Adams and running a clothing store in Adams, Schiff decided that she wanted to work in the area of community development. "I wanted to work in a field where I can make something happen in people's lives, day by day," she recalls. The citizenship and resettlement program helps Jewish émigrés who want to live in the U.S. obtain visas to enter the country, and, when here, become citizens. Schiff says that the Federation also organizes with other Jewish groups to counter anti-Semitism. Schiff hopes to increase the Federation's capacity to provide social work services and work in collaboration with other Jewish groups. Recently, the Federation voted to sell their building on East Street, and divide programs into different locations. This way, says Schiff, "we can spend more on community services and less on our physical plant." The meal program will be moved the Knesset Israel Congregation building. Although she didn't study in the field of social work, Schiff says that she has always felt a need to contribute to the community’s well being. "It’s my gut," she observes of social work. "And it’s always been a part of my life." A deep Jewish faith informs Schiff's leadership of the Federation. "When I was younger," she remembers, "I drifted from the faith of my childhood, only to return." Now, she says, an important responsibility of her position involves bringing the Jewish heritage and culture to a new generation. “We want people to understand and reflect on their roots,” she says. Judaism, and religion in general, she observes, are essential elements of how people define themselves and their culture. "People in the faith community need to find connections to each other," she says. "Many of the events we organize here allow that to happen." In Lenox, Schiff serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals. She works on the Advisory Board of Berkshire County for Elder Services, and the Coalition for Cultural Diversity. Schiff enjoys spending time with her husband, Gary, and her two daughters. Through the Jewish Federation, Schiff seeks to create a synthesis of Judaism and community-based activities. Her intentions are perhaps most succinctly stated by the greeting one hears upon calling the Federation office: "Shalom."  RETURN TO TOP |
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