St. Louis mobilizes Joplin relief

It took just a little over 48 hours for the staff and a few members of United Hebrew Congregation in Creve Coeur to respond to an urgent request from the sole synagogue in tornado-ravaged Joplin.

Through the generosity of St. Louisans and the speed and power of social networking, UH was able to send a caravan of Shabbat and general supplies to the United Hebrew Congregation in Joplin (unrelated to the St. Louis congregation) last Thursday morning after just starting the supply drive a week ago Monday night (May 23).

At the same time, efforts at the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) kicked into gear right away that Monday. Gail Wechsler, director of Domestic Issues/Social Justice at JCRC, immediately started trying to identify what the needs were in Joplin and communicating that information with the greater St. Louis Jewish community.

At Central Reform Congregation (CRC) on that Monday, Jen Bersdale, director of advocacy and communications, got in touch with a student rabbi in Joplin. "We knew that more than just the Jewish community was going to need help so we sent out a call for donations of money and goods," Bersdale said.

Social networking spreads the word

"Initially we identified where donations of money could go and how people could volunteer," Wechsler said. "Then information began to funnel into us about what some of our partners in the community were doing, such as the UH effort and that CRC was starting to collect things."

Wechsler said JCRC started disseminating the information online and reached out to its Jewish Social Action Network (JSAN) and its network of social action chairs from 13 congregations. "At the same time as we were doing outreach, people were contacting us offering to help. Putting it all together really involved the whole community," Wechsler said.

Through a flurry of e-mails, social network posts, postings on community websites and e-newsletter to congregation members, collection points were set up from the Central West End to Chesterfield, with drops at CRC, Congregation Shaare Emeth, Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel (BSKI) and the Aish HaTorah "Firehouse.

Jewish retailers torn on GST for online shoppers | The Australian ...

WHILE some of Australia’s biggest retailers are lobbying the Federal Government to impose GST on online purchases from overseas, in fact, it is the smaller retailers feeling the brunt of the pain.

Australia’s Jewish community has a long history of working in retail – one of Australia’s most prominent shopping brands Myer was established by Russian Jew Simcha Baevski Myer.

However, the nature of the high street is changing as the soaring Australian dollar and increasing comfort with online shopping push customers to the internet. And this phenomenon is leaving Jewish retailers feeling the pinch.

Sydneysider Brandon Conway has owned The Bra Shop in Warringah Mall for 20 years, but he is being forced to rethink his location.

“The concern that I can see with the smaller retailers is that you’re paying a premium to be in a major shopping centre, but the value of being in the shopping centre is being continually diminished,” Conway said.

He said it is also concerning that some people go into stores and find the product they want, but then go online to find it at a better price.

“Some people will do that and some people won’t, but I’m sure that enough people will do it to take away a bit of your business.”

But Conway has rejected the idea – supported by one of Australia’s most prominent Jewish retailers, Solomon Lew – that adding GST to online purchases under $1000 is a viable option. “In principle, you probably have to say yes [to adding GST], but I mean in practical terms, how would they do that? How would they administer that?” he asked.

At the other end of the spectrum are Jewish businessmen Gabby and Hezi Leibovich.

The brothers run Catch Of The Day, one of Australia’s top online shopping sites, which has a different special offer each day.

According to the company, they sell a product every 14 seconds  and once sold $1 million worth of  televisions in an hour.

During the last week of 2010, Catch Of The Day claims to have had more hits than the combined websites for large retailers Big W, Myer, Target, David Jones and Deals Direct, another online store owned by Jewish businessman Paul Greenberg.

But Melbourne’s Julia Deuel, from Eyedentity Optometrists in Melbourne’s Elsternwick, said buying online has its pitfalls.

“You might save a bit of money, but you lose the customer service, warranty and after maintenance,” Deuel said. Despite a growing trend for spectacle-wearers to check out the offerings in local stores and then buy the same pair for cheaper from overseas, Deuel said her business is yet to be hit hard by the online trend because people value good customer service. “If something goes wrong, they won’t get any support, but we can help our customer with adjustments and repairs and any other after-sales support they need.

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