David Schenker Talk, for Feb 9, Cancelled

Due to some important work obligations, David Schenker's return visit to the CAI, scheduled for February 9, will be cancelled. David, who serves a Director of Arab Politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, spoke last March at Agudath Israel. His insights on Iranian nuclear development and the Syria-Lebanon relationship were met with great interest. We apologize for any inconvenience this cancellation causes our congregation. The Men's Club will be working on getting David back to CAI at a future date.

The Men's Club will likely be holding a general meeting on February 9th. Refer to future CAI communications for confirmation.

Men's Club General Meeting - Tuesday, January 12

The Men's Club of Congregation Agudath Israel will hold its monthly general meeting on Tuesday, January 12 at 8 pm in the CAI conference rooms.

On the agenda will be:

• A recap of the December Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament and January 10th Blood Drive



• Preparation for the David Schenker (Washington Institute) talk in February



• An update on Men's Club involvement in the Purim Festival



• Discussion of a possible tour of the new Jets/Giants Stadium in the spring



• Jewish Chaplains Monument at Arlington National Cemetery



• Other March events

For more information please contact club president Adam Shandler at mensclubcai@gmail.com

CAI Men's Club Wins FJMC Torch Award

The Agudath Israel Men's Club continues to receive recognition at the international level. At the Federation of Jewish Men's Clubs (FJMC) Convention, held in Philadelphia on July 4th weekend, CAI took home a Torch Award for excellence in individual programming. "An Evening with David Schenker of the Washington Institute" was recognized for being a strong program in the Israel Awareness category. Marty Schenker, Vice President of CAI Men's Club, organized this event - one of the best attended in our programming calendar last year. David Schenker (pictured) will be invited back to speak to our community in early 2010.

The Torch Award for the Schenker lecture complements a FJMC Quality Club Award that our Men's Club won for overall excellence in 2008-09. The Quality Club Award was bestowed upon CAI at the NNJR Presidents Dinner on June 17th in North Brunswick. This marks the the third straight year that the CAI Men's Club has taken home a Quality Club Award.

Congratulations to Mary Schenker and all of our members for an outstanding year of service, dedication and hard work. Let's do it again in 2009-10!

David Schenker Talk Recap

On Tuesday, March 17th, the CAI Men's Club hosted David Schenker of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. David, who serves as the Institute's Director on Arab Politics, addressed 70 Agudath Israel members on several topics concerning the Middle East and their impact on the state of Israel and U.S. diplomacy efforts in the region.

Mr. Schenker masterfully intertwined updates about Iran's uranium enrichment efforts with talk of Syria as a nuisance to the region and the challenges and benefits Israel faces with the new U.S. administration. After the lecture, which ran about 45 minutes, David held a Q&A session for another 45 minutes. (The program could have gone longer but the clock was approaching 10 pm.) Congregants asked about the recent resignation of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a world without Arafat and the future of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. David did not merely offer broad strokes. Without bias, he offered histories on the matters and information gleaned from his conversations with the leaders of the region.

The CAI Men's Club would like to thank David Schenker for his time and valuable insights into an always eventful part of the world. We look forward to having him back to speak again. "Mazelations" to event chair Marty Schenker for organizing the event and to committee members Ken Levitt and Harvey Hershkowitz.

At left, David Schenker is flanked by CAI Men's Club President Adam Shandler and VP and event chair Marty Schenker.