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July 14, 2000/11 Tammuz 5760, Vol. 52, No.44
Singular adventuresDown-to-earth group passes endurance test
LEISAH NAMM
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 Arizona Adventurers explore the world's largest natural travertine bridge - Tonto Natural Bridge, 13 miles northwest of Payson. From left, Marc Melhado, Jim Graham, Katie Shields, Lionel Hummel, Marty Samplin, Ray Wein and Shelle Witten. Photo by Hal Rosen |
Arizona Adventurers took off a dozen years ago, when Rose Weitz and Martin Wormser led their first hike for 10 acquaintances interested in hiking and camping.
Just over a year ago, in March 1999, Arizona Adventurers launched a Web site and now sends weekly e-mail messages to several hundred people. More than 50 are paid members.
"Many people naturally want to partake (in) the unique outdoor experiences that Arizona offers," says Lionel Hummel, group co-coordinator. "Crossing paths with a bunch of other young, single Jews in the process creates a winning combination, both for the individual and for the Jewish community."
Another reason is the scope of activities, he says. At bimonthly meetings, members plan events ranging from hikes and camping trips to bowling and swing dancing lessons.
Arizona Adventurers attracts singles in their 20s and 30s, as well as some older participants.
Hummel, 32, and Stefanie Goldstein, 31, are current leaders.
Goldstein says Arizona Adventurers attracts "very down-to-earth Jewish people who have a strong Jewish identity."
Max Heeres, 37, an active member for three years, plans three or four out-of-town hikes each year, ranging in difficulty from beginning to intermediate levels.
He also plans bonfire parties in secluded desert areas; the most recent drew about 70 people, he says. The last bonfire, using two truckloads of firewood, lasted all night, warming some 30 people camping overnight in tents, cars and in sleeping bags under the stars.
The group also provides a way for Jewish singles to interact.
Deborah Ulan, 37, has been involved with Arizona Adventurers since 1993, including two years as a coordinator.
"For me, it wasn't so much a meeting place for people to date, it was making a network of friends - both male and female," says Ulan.
In 1994, she met her future husband, Todd Weinstein, 31, at a bowling event. They married last November.
Above all, Ulan advises that singles focus on having fun when attending events.
"I heard some girls in the ladies' room complaining that they were having a miserable time, that they hadn't met anybody. ... If that's the only reason why you're there, you're not going to have fun. Go and have a good time and if you end up meeting somebody, great," she says.
| Singles groups |
Artful Outings, which started last year as "Armchair Adventures," focuses on art-related activities such as concerts, art gallery showings, theater and film.
SWAK - Singles with a Kinder (child) - focuses on single parents.
Shabbat Kosher Dinners holds monthly Friday night dinners in the home of Dalia Yenen.
Yenen says she prepares the meals for "unattached, fellow Jews" and also invites a spiritual leader to provide a d'var Torah (word of Torah) during the meal. She screens participants and asks them to donate tzedakah (charity) for a community organization.
The dinners are sponsored by The Dana Cheryl Beitscher Charitable Foundation, established by Irwin Pasternack in memory of his fianc‚e, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1996.
The foundation funds singles activities that bring singles together so they might meet and marry, Pasternack says.
Mickey Latz, a Valley resident for seven years, was active in Arizona Adventurers and other singles groups, but felt that Valley Jewish singles were being underserved by the community. So in January he started JewishsinglesAZ.com.
His goal is to offer an easy way for Jewish singles to meet each other, Latz says. He plans monthly events to provoke conversation, he says. For instance, those attending the August session will participate in an interactive presentation about communication between the sexes, led by a Ph.D. student from the ASU Communications Department.
The Jewish Association of Singles Services (JASS) sends a monthly newsletter listing events from various Jewish singles groups to about 3,000 people.
JASS asks members of listed groups to serve on its board and for a small donation to help cover costs, says Barbara Allyn, JASS president.
JASS, founded about 13 years ago and until recently, operated under the auspices of the Valley of the Sun Jewish Community Center, now has nonprofit 501(c)3 status and is funded by members and independent donations, says Allyn.
Valley Jewish Singles, sponsored by the Valley of the Sun JCC, is "regrouping and reformulating its programs," says Mark Shore, center executive director.
"One of the trends today that we're picking up on nationally is that there's not a strong segregation of singles programming from young couples' programming, as there may have been in prior generations," Shore says.
The Young Leadership Division of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix is open to both singles and married couples (because) marital status doesn't always determine unique needs that need to be met solely by singles groups, Shore says.
"It doesn't mean that we're not going to offer programs for singles. We will be moving in the direction of adult programming will include every age population and different marital statuses," he says.
The Tri-City Jewish Community Center, in conjunction with Temple Emanuel of Tempe and Temple Beth Sholom in Chandler, hosts two singles groups - East Valley Jewish Singles, events for people ages 30s-40s; and On the Town Singles, for those in their 50s-60s.
Another group, Chevra, sponsored by Hillel of ASU, has been meeting since 1982. Rabbi Barton Lee, executive director of the Hillel Student Center, points out that the constant member turnover makes it difficult to establish consistent leadership in most groups.
"Singles groups are self-liquidating," he says, alluding to the fact that once singles marry, they no longer need the group.
Lee says, "There are many gaps in services" all along the line for Valley Jewish singles. "There's no one answer or one program or one person that can fill all needs."