{"id":2345,"date":"2025-03-13T15:12:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T15:12:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/?p=2345"},"modified":"2025-04-04T15:15:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-04T15:15:48","slug":"honoring-barbara-karchmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/2025\/03\/13\/honoring-barbara-karchmer\/","title":{"rendered":"Honoring Barbara Karchmer"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dear Friends,<\/p>

We’re delighted to honor Barbara Karchmer, whose steadfast dedication and leadership have profoundly shaped Action for Post-Soviet Jewry.<\/p>

Barbara joined our Board in 2002, quickly assuming the pivotal role of Board President. Her tenure has been marked by unwavering commitment, clarity, and compassion.\u00a0<\/p>

Barbara has quietly but firmly steered and steadied Action for Post-Soviet Jewry through immense turbulence\u2014including the global pandemic, logistical upgrades, redefining our mission, launching innovative services, the board’s first formal strategic planning process, and the devastating war in Ukraine. Her leadership during these crises has been instrumental in maintaining our focus, adapting swiftly, and ensuring continued impact despite extraordinary adversity. Barbara led the board through the hiring of its first full-time Executive Director, marking a pivotal milestone in our organization’s history.<\/p>

Barbara and I attended a specialized training sponsored by Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), another honoree, aimed at effective co-piloting between Board Presidents and Executive Directors. Little did we know then we would be co-piloting through the unprecedented challenges we would face, including the devastating impact of the war in Ukraine.<\/p>

Barbara’s leadership has been instrumental in guiding our organization through these challenging times, and I am forever grateful for her steady hand and visionary leadership<\/p>

Join us at our upcoming event as we honor Barbara Karchmer\u00a0 and look back at APSJ\u2019s incredible 50-year journey. Over the next few weeks, we will also highlight our other esteemed honorees: Judy Gordon, Bob Gordon, Marlene and David Bohn, along with our valued organizational partners, Combined Jewish Philanthropies and The Rashi School.

Please join us in celebrating these inspiring individuals and organizations that have shaped our past and continue to guide our future:

Together, let’s continue this remarkable journey. Honoring our past, shaping our future\u2014because every action counts.

Warm regards,<\/p>

<\/p>

Executive Director<\/p>

Action for Post-Soviet Jewry<\/p>

P.S. Your support truly makes a difference. Please donate today to help us continue our critical work. Thank you!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

\u00a0Barbara Karchmer
I joined the Board of Action for Post Soviet Jewry in 2002. Within a year or so I was asked to be President. In the initial years of my tenure as president Judy Patkin was the
Executive Director. However, in 2020 Debbie Kardon became the Executive Director when Judy retired. There were two influences that brought me to the organization.<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Just after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990\u2019s I traveled with my mother to meet Russian cousins. Over the next decade I traveled annually to visit this family in St. Petersburg, Russia. I studied Russian for many years so as to be able to communicate more easily. They were interested in emigrating to the United States. It involved a long and
complicated process, but I was happy to assist them in their efforts. Judy Patkin gave me
critical advice concerning their interview process in Moscow, which I was able to pass on to them. Their application for Refugee status was successful and they arrived in the United States in August 2001.<\/p>


Also in the 1990s Rabbi David Wilfond of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley began a twinning program with a newly formed Progressive congregation in Odessa, Ukraine. I joined the Temple committee to work on that project. Rabbi Wilfond knew of my interest in the former Soviet Union and suggested that I might like to join the board of Action for Post Soviet Jewry. I followed through on his suggestion.<\/p>


After joining the APSJ board I traveled to Ukraine and Belarus with Judy almost every year
from 2003 to 2019. That last trip in 2019 I travelled with Judy and Debbie. Because of Covid in 2020 and 2021 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 we haven\u2019t been able to return in person. We\u2019ve managed to continue our work virtually, but wait eagerly for the opportunity to return to Ukraine in person.<\/p>


I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I received my Bachelor of Arts degree from Wellesley
College in 1961 and a Masters degree in Education from Harvard University in 1962. I taught elementary education for several years until my oldest son was born. Our family expanded rapidly. I was a full time homemaker, but I did carve out time to join some community organizations. I became a board member of the Weston METCO Scholarship Program, and the Weston youth soccer board. In addition, I coached youth soccer teams and became a soccer referee and volunteered in the Weston schools. My husband, AW, and I have lived in Weston for 50 years.<\/p>


Our family of 6 children and their spouses has expanded to include 18 grandchildren. Needless to say keeping track of all of them keeps me very busy<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTo support our work in Ukraine<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In the wake of recent events, the words of my friend echoed in my mind: “My heart breaks twice\u2013once for Ukraine and now Israel.” These sentiments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2345"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2350,"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2345\/revisions\/2350"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionpsj.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}