The Klene Family: Understanding Community at the J
Summer is fast approaching at the JCC, and that doesn’t just mean the Eskenazi Water Park will be opening soon! For families like the Klenes, it means that CampJCC (the J’s summer day camp for kids in grades K-7) is just around the corner. The Klenes at the JCC The Klene family has trusted CampJCC […]
Meet Elliott and Linda Gold
Looooooongtime Members Elliott and Linda Gold are fixtures at the JCC and active builders of the community. Elliott has been a JCC member more than 70 years, starting when we were located at 23rd and Meridian St. Linda joined the JCC after she and Elliott married and moved here 56 years ago. Involvement in Jewish […]
Tips for Successful Knee Rehab
Meet David Berman David Berman has been a member at the Indianapolis JCC since 1972 when he moved to Indianapolis after college. Prior to that, he was an 18-yr member in Louisville. He grew up at the JCC and says “the only place to be was at the J.” He even played on the JCC’s […]
Passover Seder with the Cohens
(Published March 29, 2022 for April 2022 eZine) This month, the Jewish members at the JCC will celebrate Passover with family and friends. For most, that means celebrating at least one night of the Seder ritual – coming together to eat, laugh and share in the Jewish tradition. For the Cohen family, that is no […]
Tim Bass, Teaching Boisterously
Walk down the JCC’s fitness hallway on a Monday evening or Saturday morning, and you’ll hear music blasting, laughing and cheering, and people generally sounding like they’ve having the time of their lives. That would be the J’s Total Body BoxJump Group Exercise class, led by instructor Tim Bass. Four years ago, Tim suffered a […]
Andrew Bowman is Living History
(Published Jan 25, 2022) When Andrew Bowman first heard about his grandfather Andrew Jackson Smith’s Civil War heroics, even he didn’t believe it. “My mother’s a good storyteller,” he said, “and we always thought [her tales] were so outlandish. We joked about her being from “Lyin'” County, Kentucky [as opposed to its real name, Lyon […]
From Ballet to Boxing with Allison Weinkein
(Published Dec 28, 2021) These days, Allison Weinkein works out in the Mordoh Fitness Center as often as she can, averaging about four or five days a week. But it wasn’t always that way. “[Now] I get that little workout high that a lot of people talk about that I never believed. It ended up […]
The Chandras are a JCC Constant
(Published Nov 23, 2021) If you’re at the Mordoh Fitness Center in the morning, chances are you’ve run into Sekhar or Kris Chandra. “I come here around 8 am and don’t leave until 11:30 or 12,” Kris said. Part of that time is socializing with others: Members since 2005 after moving to Indianapolis from Connersville […]
Chanukah Celebrations with the Rubins
(Published Oct 26, 2021) When Mike and Leslie Rubin moved into the Meridian Hills North apartments just down the street from the JCC, they knew what they were getting themselves into. “It was a Jewish community – everyone in our building was Jewish, we had four Jewish mothers in just the little place where we […]
Mrs. Grimm’s High Holidays Honey Cake
(Published Aug 25, 2021) Beth Grimm (aka “Mrs. Grimm”) is part of the fabric of the JCC – she’s been coming to the facility since she was 10 years old and has worked in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) program for over 40 years. “It’s always been a sense of community and family,” she said. […]