May 22, 2025 • 33 mins
Nestled in the heart of Rockville, Maryland lies a community treasure that many Montgomery County residents might be surprised to discover is open to everyone. The Bender JCC of Greater Washington isn't just a fitness center or cultural hub—it's a 119,000-square-foot community crossroads where diversity thrives and inclusion isn't just talked about, it's lived daily.
CEO Joshua Bender (coincidentally sharing the name with the center's benefactors) paints a vivid picture of what makes this space special: "If you stand in our lobby long enough, you'll hear 12, 15 languages throughout the day."
Visit benderjccgw.org to learn more about how you can become part of this vibrant community hub that's been serving the region since 1969.
This episode also includes excerpts from interviews recorded during National Bring Your Child to Work Day at Montgomery County Government.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo.
Today we're learning about agreat resource located right
here in Rockville, maryland, theBender JCC of Greater
Washington DC.
We'll be talking to JoshuaBender, ceo of JCC, but first
we'll take a quick look back atBring your Child to Work Day
National.
Bring your Child to Work Dayhere in Montgomery County,
(00:38):
maryland.
It's Bring your Kids to WorkDay in Montgomery County,
maryland, and I'm sitting herewith Andrew Akinola, alex
Akinola and Nick Akinola, andwe're part of TEBS Technology
Enterprise Business Solutions.
Andrew, how are you today?
I'm good, thank you, it's greatto be here.
All right, and you are theproud father of Alex and Nick.
(01:01):
Yes, why is it important tobring your kids to work today?
I think it it important tobring your kids to work today.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I think it's important to bring the kids to
work today because it gives theman opportunity to see what work
is like, what people do, whattheir parents do, and it might
give them some motivation downthe road.
Yeah, they might be young, some, you know, some are younger,
some are older but it gives themthat opportunity to see what
work is like Fantastic,fantastic, and in front of me I
(01:28):
have Alex.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Alex, have you had fun today?
Did you learn anything?
Yeah, what did you learn today?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Like this place is going to be hooters that control
the TVs.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So Alex was able to tour the Technical Operations
Center of the Council OfficeBuilding and that's where the
technicians route all the cableprogramming to this building and
out to Verizon and Xfinity andRCN so people can watch it on
the TVs but then also see themlive streaming.
Alright, so Alex learned aboutthat today, nick.
(02:03):
Hey Nick, what did you learntoday?
Speaker 5 (02:06):
If I can recall anything, it would probably be
like the UPS thing and like thebomb shelter.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So he's learned that the council office building has
security measures in place tohelp people in extreme
situations.
Very few people have ever seenthe bomb shelter, even though
there is a bomb shelter.
But now guess what we know.
So let's give a round ofapplause for Andrew, alex and
Nick, and with Jason, jack andFelix, felix, all right, all
(02:38):
right, so, so, so, jason, whatdo you do here at the Technology
Enterprise Business Solutions?
So, jason, what do you do hereat the Technology Enterprise
Business Solutions.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
I'm a senior IT specialist with public safety.
Started with the police, youknow, 10 some years ago, the
police department and then movedto, you know, finished my
cybersecurity degree atMontgomery College and then a
wonderful program over there youknow 10 years ago but still,
I'm sure, great and then movedover to Tebbs quite a few years
(03:07):
ago.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
All right, All right.
Now, why do you think it'simportant to bring your kids to
work like bring your kids towork day?
Speaker 6 (03:14):
You know it is at least for me, it is good to get
them excited about the county ina weird way, and until you're
here and you meet the people andwork with them, it is, it's
good to be around good people,all right, fantastic, fantastic,
and it's great to be aroundthese two powerful young men.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
They have all this energy.
How old are you guys?
Six, you're six.
Okay, that's Felix.
Felix is six years old.
How old are you, jack?
Nine, nine, nine years old, wow.
And Felix, what do you want tobe when you grow up?
A vet, a vet?
Wow.
Why do you want to become a vet?
I just want to take care ofanimals, oh, wow.
So there's somebody that takescare of animals when they get
(03:54):
sick.
Yeah, oh wow.
And that's a vet theveterinarian, jason Felix.
Jack, thank you for being heretoday, appreciate you.
We're here with Claudia andLucas Canales Canales Canales.
All right, claudia, could youtell us a little bit about what
you do with Technology,enterprise, business Solutions?
Speaker 5 (04:13):
Yeah, I'm an admin specialist for our department
and I take care and coordinateevents for our department,
strategic planning and anythingthat needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Wonderful.
Thank you for all that you do.
You are highly valued, lucas.
Welcome to the show.
How old are you, lucas?
I'm 18 years old 18 years old,all right and I want to say that
Lucas is a valued member of theTebbs family and a valued
member of the what's Happening?
Moco family.
He actually served last year asan intern.
Lucas, what was that experiencelike for you?
Speaker 4 (04:47):
It was fun.
It's really interesting to seelike the inner workings of
broadcasting and really get towork behind the scenes of doing
all of that.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Let's talk to the proud mom over here.
I see the pride on her face istangible.
Guys, you can see it's sobeautiful.
What does it take to be the momof a successful young person
these days?
Speaker 5 (05:09):
I think in a world that's chaotic, I think it's
essential to have a balance inlife and have a strong faith and
have quality family time.
We're big on family time andyou give them the skills and the
foundation to go into thischaotic world and try to make a
difference, a positivedifference, and I don't think it
(05:31):
was just us.
He is also a great kid I'vebeen blessed with two amazing
kids and you know it's his hardwork that has gotten him to and,
obviously, knowing that we'llalways support him, no matter
what he does, we're his numberone cheerleaders.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
All right, cheerleaders are so important
and guidance.
Fantastic job, mom, and that'swhat we have here.
That's what's happening at MoCo.
It's Bring your Kids to WorkDay for Technology, enterprise,
business Solutions, and we'vebeen talking to Claudia and
Lucas and we thank you guys forbeing here today and we thank
the two dads and the four sonsand all the people who came here
today and all that they learned, and thanks to the county for
(06:08):
supporting this Bring your Kidsto Work Day.
And now we're back in thestudio with Joshua Bender.
Josh, we've developed a rapporthere, so I think you said I
could call you Josh, right?
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Absolutely.
Is that okay All?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
right Now, josh Bender, you're the CEO of the
Greater Washington.
Jcc.
Bender, jcc, how are you today?
Speaker 4 (06:27):
I'm doing great, derek, thanks for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
All right.
Now the first question I hadfor you and I think I asked you
earlier, but it's good foreveryone else to know your last
name is Bender.
The organization's name isBender.
Is there some type ofrelationship relation there,
right?
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So it's pure coincidence that I happen to
have the same last name as thegenerous family who dedicated
endowed the building a number ofyears ago the Bender family.
They're a wonderful family.
No relation as far as I know, Idid tell my kids when I first
got the job about five years ago, that they put my name on the
building and they didn't believeme when they go.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
They're like wow in big letters.
It's awesome.
Now, the greatest thing aboutthe organization, though, is not
necessarily the name.
It's all the things that theorganization brings in terms of
value to the residents ofRockville, maryland and greater
Washington DC.
But what does the organizationdo?
And, of course, what does JCCstand for?
For the Bender organization.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Yeah, Derek, great question.
Thank you again for having me.
I mean, the JCC is part of amovement, the Jewish Community
Center Association of NorthAmerica.
It's about 170 throughout NorthAmerica organizations that are
affiliated with the JCCA.
We're one of them.
We're independent, but part ofthat umbrella.
And the JCCA we're one of them,we're independent but part of
that umbrella.
(07:47):
And the question always comes upwhen some like what is a JCC?
And we are so many things.
And I think at the center ofwhat we do is in fact, a
community.
And one of the things I alwayslike to share when I'm talking
about the JCC is we are acommunity that is guided by
Jewish values but we're open toeverybody.
(08:08):
In fact, we serve the diversityof Montgomery County.
I often share the story that ifyou stand in our lobby long
enough, you'll hear 12, 15languages throughout the day.
We are a health and fitnessfacility.
We have aquatics programming.
We are a health and fitnessfacility.
We have aquatics programming,two pools, an indoor and outdoor
pool.
We have a gymnasium, aperformance arts theater, we
(08:31):
have a senior lunch program.
We have an early childhoodprogram, both for students, but
with a parenting center, agrandparenting center, with many
organizations who utilize ourspace for their programs
throughout the community.
Many nonprofits actually useour spaces, so we have lots of
(08:52):
partnerships.
At the heart of what we do iswe focus on the well-being of
the individual and the communitythrough all of our programs.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Awesome, that's wonderful.
Now, how does someone learnmore about how to gain access to
your organization?
Do they walk up, walk down thestreets, their website, and what
, if any?
Is there a fee for certaintypes of services offered?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Yeah, it's a great question and, because of the
vast array of programs we do,there are different ways of
engaging with our community.
If you're looking to work outand focus on your physical
well-being, we have a fitnesscenter 40,000 square feet, two
pools.
One is open.
Both are open year-round,including our outdoor pool,
(09:32):
which is heated at 82 degrees ohwow, All year long.
All year long.
So in February, if you walk by,you'll do a double take because
there's people swimming laps inthe pool.
And that's one of the signaturethings we do, and so you do have
to be a member of the JCC toutilize those facilities, but we
have many programs that areopen to the wider community.
One of our crown jewels isLessons Camp JCC.
(09:56):
That's our summer camp program.
We have about 500 campers whocome to us in the summer.
20% of them have disabilitiesand they're fully included in
the camp, and so we serve bothchildren really, starting at
four years old all the way up toyoung adults at 21, of all
(10:17):
abilities, all backgrounds, allidentities, and that's something
we're really proud of.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Oh, that's definitely something to be proud of.
Of course you're in the mostdiverse, one of the most diverse
counties in the country, if notmaybe the world Montgomery
County, maryland and it's greatto see that that program is
reflective of that.
Even you mentioned the lobbywith the different languages
being spoken being reflective ofthe diversity of the county.
Let's talk a little bit aboutyou as the CEO.
(10:41):
What is your role as CEO andwhat do you find um is prepared
you for this role at supportingthe Bender JCC?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah, that's a great question.
You know, one of the excitingthings about being the CEO in an
organization that's somultifaceted is that every day
is different and we basicallyhave many industries under one
roof right.
We run schools and camps,health and fitness programs,
aquatics, arts, culture, youname it, and my background is
(11:16):
for many years I was working ineducation with children.
I was a principal in anelementary school many years ago
.
I worked in camps, particularlyin Jewish camps.
Growing up became a song leader.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Continue to this day to take my guitar out and play
for our preschoolers when I holdon, you have, you have, you
have skill, you have gifts, soyou're a song leader.
You play the guitar, you're aprincipal, so do you?
Do you find on occasion now aCEO that you need to?
You have opportunity to join inand lead a song or two, or I do
(11:47):
.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
I often joke that I should walk around all the time
holding my guitar and strummingit just to keep everybody calm
and happy About.
Once a month we do a big familycelebration connected to
Shabbat.
The Sabbath we invite parentsand grandparents, all the
students in the school I co-leadit with our director of the
preschool we sing, we dance andbring a lot of joy to the
(12:09):
community.
So one of my favorite things todo Incredible.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I love to see to do that's incredible.
I love to see the diversity insomeone's background.
I understand the education part, but then bringing in the arts,
where you can bring in the artsand you bring different skills
to help benefit the communitythat you serve.
So I jumped in there and I mayhave taken you off track.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Tell us more about your track to becoming the CEO.
Yeah, so I think one of thethings that really attracted me
to this role, in particular manyof the roles I had over the
years I worked in Jewishorganizations that primarily
served the Jewish community andthey were amazing and wonderful
education and Jewish camping andthe JCC world is particularly
to me compelling because we getto sort of live our Jewish
(12:56):
values of inclusiveness andrespect, but we get to do it in,
as you said, the most diversecounty in the country, where
we're opening our doors toindividuals and families of all
backgrounds.
To me, that gives me greatpleasure and it's an honor to
both draw from our Jewish valuesbut also say you're welcome in
(13:18):
our space.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Oh, that's wonderful and what a fantastic space it is
.
How big is the space?
You mentioned two pools.
You mentioned a theater space.
You mentioned classrooms andeducational areas.
How big of a facility is this?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Yeah, it's a big, large, beautiful facility, about
120,000 square feet, and itkeeps us really busy in terms of
maintaining and keeping itbeautiful and, you know, a space
that is inviting to our members, whatever reason they're coming
to our facility.
And so we're blessed with agreat facility and because we
(13:50):
have the facility, we're able toopen our doors to other
organizations and to say tononprofits in Montgomery County
who don't necessarily have spaceRight now, we have Kind Works
in the building who arerecruiting volunteers and
they're putting together foodfor the community, and so we get
to sort of also play that rolein the community where we say
(14:11):
come, use our facility, we wantto partner with you to
strengthen the community.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Oh, wow.
So insert round of applausehere for the Bender JCC for
being such a great partner for alot of community organizations.
It's one thing being there andbeing sustainable.
You guys have been around forquite some time.
When did you first enter intothe DC market and what would you
compare the size of thebuilding to?
Is there another buildingthat's 100,000 square feet so we
(14:36):
could get a full grasp of howbig that is?
That's a good question.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
I mean it's similar, like if you've been to a YMCA
facility that you know it'sconstructed similarly and
there's different sizes of thescale.
So I have to think about whatbuilding it compares to.
What I will say is to give youa sense of the scale.
So I have to think about whatbuilding it compares to.
What I will say is to give youa sense of the scale of
programming that we can do On aSunday.
We might have eight or 10different programs going on in
(15:03):
different spaces around thebuilding.
As I mentioned, we rent a lotof our spaces at a reduced cost
to many of our nonprofits, so wecan have corporate retreats and
gatherings.
There are faith-basedorganizations that use our space
for their programming, and sowe can have 1,000 to 2,000
people in the building at onetime on a Sunday in particular,
(15:24):
which is our busiest day of theweek.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Wow, all right, and earlier I think you may have
mentioned it, I don't know ifit's in our earlier conversation
or this conversation.
I think it's worth repeatingthat you guys aren't fly by
night.
You've been around for a while.
When did you first enter the DCarea, and how many years, I
guess, is that?
And what do you?
What do you see as the futureof the organization?
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Yeah, and that's a great question.
We've been located in Rockvilleand Montrose road 6125 Montrose
Road since 1969.
Oh wow.
And prior to that we had otherlocations, but 69 for our
current location, and the campuswas actually built with three
Jewish organizations together.
So the JCC is one of them, jesa, or Jewish Social Service
(16:15):
Agency, is one of the others.
They also serve both the Jewishbut the greater community.
And then there's the Charles ESmith Life Communities, which
formerly known as the HebrewHome of Greater Washington Again
another organization that isJewish in its core values but
serves the entire community.
So that was the conceptionCharles E Smith, a
philanthropist and developer,had that this would be a
collaborative community workingtogether to serve the needs.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
All right, fantastic.
So for people that have heardso much about your organization
and the resources it provides toeveryone in the county not just
as members and not just on theJewish community, but everyone
in the county how do peoplelearn more about your
organization?
Zero like a website, a phonenumber to call or Absolutely, If
you go to benderjccgworg youcan
Speaker 4 (16:59):
connect with our website and learn about upcoming
events, get membershipinformation.
Come for a tour, come visit ourspaces.
Again, our doors are open.
We're welcoming to everybody.
Come in and get to know us, andwe'd love to get to know anyone
who wants to be connected toour community.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Now, speaking of the website and getting to know you,
I did visit the website justdoing a little background
education for myself, and Inoticed a familiar name on the
website.
It was a video, a YouTube videoembedded on your website for
Orsman.
There was a fantastic story ofOrsman Chevrolet, or the owner
of Orsman Chevrolet, who happensto have a role in the
(17:39):
organization in some way.
Tell us a bit about that andhow this local legend is
affiliated with yourorganization.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Yeah, that's great.
The Orsman family and startingwith Benjamin Orsman, they've
been connected to our JCC forreally generations and their
family continues to be connectedto us.
And in one particularmeaningful way.
There was an award, a civicachievement award, established
(18:07):
over 60 years ago in memory ofBenjamin Orsman and every spring
we give the Orsman Award to adeserving recipient in the
community has done good work forour community and really
improved the lives of everyonein the DMV area.
That award actually is June 5th.
(18:27):
We are actually going to begiving that award out at a
spring event at the JCC and wereally like to highlight and
there are so many civic leadersin our community doing amazing
work and we want to amplify thatand that's the purpose of this
spring event that we do, calledVoices of Leadership.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Voices of Leadership.
Voices of Leadership.
Very, very interesting.
It was interesting to see thestory of I'm not sure many, many
people.
Orsman Chevrolet may have beenthe first place that someone's
bought their cars.
They know the inspiring storyof Benjamin Orsman, who was a
self-made person.
He found out that he had a giftfor selling cars and then he
built this brand in the locallyI'm not sure if it's beyond
(19:09):
local or regional, but but thengave back and has led all the
way up to this Voices ofLeadership event.
What can you tell us more aboutthe event?
Who's going to be at the eventyou mentioned, I think?
Who's going to be honored?
But tell us more about theevent and what it's done over
the years.
What is it?
Why is it significant?
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Yeah, so the event has been around for many years
our spring event and it focuseson I mentioned earlier that
inclusion is really important toour community and one of the
ways we define that is makingsure that our community is
financially accessible toindividuals who want to be
connected to us.
So this event actually raisesmoney for scholarship and
financial aid for anyone whowants to be connected to the JCC
(19:53):
, whether it's in our school, inour camp.
They want to work out at theJCC, participate in other
programs.
This event is aimed at raisingdollars so that if someone comes
to us and they have somefinancial needs, we can actually
assist to make sure that theycan be connected.
The event itself has gonethrough a number of iterations.
Recently we rebranded it withthe name Voices of Leadership,
(20:16):
and at the heart of it isfocusing on transformational
leadership, and so last year wekind of did our debut event.
We brought in David Rubenstein,the new owner of the Orioles of
course.
And Ambassador Stuart Eisenstadt, who's former ambassador of
NATO, I believe for a firesidechat, and that was we were
(20:39):
amplifying.
they worked together in theCarter administration and have a
long history together and theywere our featured guests last
year and we gave the award out,of course, the Orsman Award.
This year we're bringing in it'sa little bit of a different
angle.
We're bringing in Lior Raz, whois the writer and lead actor in
Fauda, the Netflix seriesthat's really popular right now,
(21:03):
which really explores theArab-Israeli conflict, which
right now, of course, is a anissue we see in the news every
day.
We're bringing in Dana Bashfrom CNN.
She's coming in to sort ofinterview Lior and through this
program, what we're trying toexamine is what does it mean to
(21:26):
be a leader, in this case Liorleading the conversation in
Hollywood around this verycomplicated issue that's facing
the Middle East right now?
And so really they both haveinteresting backgrounds and the
conversation will be wonderful.
And then, of course, attachedto the evening is giving out the
(21:56):
award to this year's Orsmanrecipient, which this year is
Stuart and Ellenen lessons.
Um, you probably heard a fewmoments ago lessons camp jcc.
They are, um very involvedphilanthropists in our community
and involved not only indonating funds but actually
being involved in our communityoh, wow and um.
we're honoring them um for allof the support they've given our
community and one thing inparticular that Stuart Lessons
(22:19):
said to us a few years ago aboutour camp.
Lessons Camp JCC, which was.
He noticed how we serve theentire community children of all
backgrounds, all abilities andhe saw our camp as a real bridge
builder in the community,bringing together people of
different communities in thisembracing, nurturing camp
(22:43):
environment and he saw that ashope for the future.
So we're looking forward tohonoring them.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I think it's phenomenal that you're not just
talking about diversity ofcultures, languages, but also
ability levels, because youmentioned that I think 20% of
the kids are disabled or havedifferent levels of ability that
you may not usually associatewith a camp of that size.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
That's right.
In fact, some of the campersthat come to lessons camp JCC
wouldn't otherwise go to campbecause the level of needs that
they have.
We provide full-time nursing,social workers and in many cases
one-on-ones.
For the campers and thefamilies with children with
disabilities pay exactly thesame as any other camper and we
(23:26):
fundraise towards that.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Wow, and so the camp is that like a reduced cost camp
, or is it a free camp, or how?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
is it?
So?
It's reduced to the extent thatwe raise our scholarship
dollars every year and the theaspect of the include, the
inclusion aspect, is highlysubsidized, right, even though a
child, teen or young adult witha disability will have a
one-on-one and a lot of extrasupport in order to ensure
they're successful in camp, wedon't charge them for that.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Oh, wow, that's amazing.
And one thing we do number one,of course, round of applause
for the inclusiveness and allthe additional support, and we
talk about the appreciation oflower costs and free and all
those things, but we don't oftentalk about the work and the
fundraising that goes intoproviding those environments and
those resources to, thefundraising that goes into
providing those environments andthose resources to the
communities that you serve.
(24:15):
So it's very good that you guysare doing that.
It's great that we're able tohear more about not only the
services but then how you guysare generating revenue to help
to support that.
So what are some of the thingsyou see on the horizon for the
JCC of Greater Washington?
What do we see on the horizonfor the Rockville community?
Or what's coming up this summer?
(24:36):
What are some of the seasonalthings that are happening?
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Yeah, I mean.
What I would say in general isI think, with the volatility of
the world and the polarizationthat we see in society, I think
our JCC is becoming even morerelevant to people, a place
where they can come through ourdoors, focus on their health,
(25:00):
focus on not only their physicalwell-being but really their
social, emotional well-being inour community, hopefully set
aside the noise of the outsideworld and really just connect
with other human beings.
We're seeing that as the rateof mental health issues
increases in society, we arereally leaning into the
(25:21):
well-being aspect of what we doand we've always been a place
where you can come and work out.
But we are kind of rolling outa new framework that's going to
help us think about the JCC inthe future, where, if someone
comes into our facility, ourcommunity center, to work out,
what can we do to also help themin other domains of well-being.
(25:45):
For example, we hear all thetime people come in to work out
at the JCC but then they connectwith a friend and they form a
friendship for life.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
And so when you start thinking about all the various
ways that we could improve thelives of individuals and
families, for us, we're leaninginto that.
We're saying what can we do tomake sure that everyone who
comes through the doorunderstands all the ways that
they can bring meaning to theirlife and focus on wellbeing,
that's spiritual wellbeing,cultural wellbeing and, of
(26:18):
course, the social, emotionalaspect.
And so our board and our staffare really excited about the
future because we see the growthin our community and we see the
needs that are out there, andwe're here to respond.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
All right, that's great.
So we've talked about some ofthe more serious things about
the Bender JCC.
There's probably a questionlooming out there for people
like myself and others Is therepickleball?
Is there pickleball?
Is there pickleball?
There definitely is pickleball.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
And I will say about two years ago and I used to be
the person that played tennisand would go to the tennis court
and somebody was on withplaying pickleball and I'd be
annoyed, Not anymore.
Speaker 5 (26:59):
I'll tell you why Because pickleball is, it's on
fire.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
Okay, and so about two years ago, one of the
members of our health andfitness team went out and got
training on you know how toteach pickleball, and we started
adding a program here and there.
Well, fast forward two years.
It's like wall to wall, allages.
We have people in theirtwenties playing, we have people
in their eighties playing andwe, I think we even have a 90
(27:26):
some year old who playsregularly in pickleball.
Speaker 5 (27:29):
And we have drop in something year old.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Okay, yeah, in fact that's one of my inspirations is
to see the members of ourcommunity who are thriving.
We actually I was telling youbefore we jumped on we just
celebrated 102nd birthday in oursenior lunch program, right,
and this is someone who's comingon a weekly basis to our
(27:52):
community.
It's their life.
It's where their friends areand they look forward to it, and
so to be able to do that.
But pickleball it is.
We don't have enough space.
I mean it's full.
So we're going to probably beadding space for pickleball at
some point, do you?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
play?
Oh yeah, I do, I do play.
I have a, have a little racketin the trunk.
Am I good?
No, I'm not good and I will sayI've fallen a few times playing
pickleball.
But great fun, great fun.
I played recently with a few ofmy colleagues.
Great way to go out and havesome camaraderie, stay active
even.
And I think what's great aboutit is that the barrier to entry
(28:31):
is does not require a lot ofphysical acumen, like you could
be a big guy like myself and notnecessarily in the best, um,
cardiovascular condition, butyou can still get out there and
gain some benefit frompickleball and be relatively
competitive, uh, and and thenburn calories, I mean because
you're moving quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
Oh yeah, it's quite a bit.
It's more of a workout than you.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And your eyes and like your mind, is moving
quickly because the ball isgoing all over the place.
This is it's amazing.
I thought it was one of the thegreatest introductions of sport
in this long time Innovationsof sport.
I'm not sure how long it's beenaround, but I love it and I
think it's accessible for peopleof all ages and sizes and
(29:12):
fitness levels.
That's great.
Now I have another seriousquestion for you.
That's a serious question.
Back to the serious stuff.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
So so, when you're, when you're, when you're not in
full role of CEO, when you'rehungry and you're looking at
lunch in Montgomery County, whatare some of the places you like
to go to go eat?
What do you like to have forlunch?
Speaker 4 (29:33):
have for lunch?
What?
What is the ceo of bender jccgreater washington dc.
Like to eat?
Yeah, I mean, I would like tobe able to tell you that I'm I
have a really interesting lunchmenu during my weeks, but my my
staff jokes with me becausewe're located next to panera all
right, which is adjacent to ourfacility and it's very walkable
, so they kind of know my firstname there.
When they see me they're likeare you getting the same thing
today?
You know, so I, I actually livein Olney, even though I work in
(29:57):
Rockville, and so I would saythere's a lot, a lot of great
food in Olney that my familyhave have eaten.
And what I would say is I ambecause I started my job during
the pandemic.
For the first couple of years Ihardly got out of the building,
it felt like.
And now that I'm almost fiveyears I'm just really beginning
(30:19):
to explore the County.
And just the other day I waslike oh, where did this come
from?
I've never been here before.
I think Pike and Rose took melike two years to discover it
even though it was like twominutes away because so I'm
getting out there and I loveactually Montgomery County.
I'm just a big fan moving fromBaltimore County, which was also
awesome, very different butvery different, Just just not as
(30:42):
good as Montgomery County.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
I understand yes.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
And there's more places to food, many more places
to eat.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Montgomery County oh yeah, oh yeah, and so different,
different areas too.
You have the Rio, you have Pikeand Rose and even if you're
just walking, like if going downa three 55, you find so many
beautiful smaller restaurantswith great cuisine, made with a
lot of love and a lot of flavor,of different types of flavors,
so you don't have to worry aboutgetting tired of having Indian
(31:09):
or Thai food or Ethiopian.
It's all right there here inthe county and available to us,
just like the Bender JCC isavailable to residents of
Montgomery County, maryland.
So thank you, of course, forbeing here and tell us one last
parting message from the CEO ofBender JCC.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Greater Washington DC or anything else you'd like to
share.
Yeah, what I would say is we,we like to get word out to the
community that we exist, and Ithink because Montgomery County
is is such a robust community,you can literally be living
around the corner from theBender JCC and not know.
we exist or think you have to beJewish to be part of it.
So what, I want to just sort ofopen invitation to the
(31:53):
community.
If you're looking to focus onwhether it's your, your physical
health, and you want to do agroup exercise class, we have 40
every week of all differentkinds.
You want a personal trainer?
You want to.
You're new to Montgomery Countyand you're looking just to
connect in community and meetpeople.
Whatever age you are, you havechildren, you're an adult come
(32:17):
check us out and we have an opendoor policy and we love to meet
new people and welcome them tothe community, whether they
become a member of the JCC ornot.
That's why we exist.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
So Whoa, and that's what's happening.
Moco open doors MontgomeryCounty.
The doors are open for you,bender, jcc, great Washington DC
.
Thank you so much, mr Bender,or, as we like to call him, josh
.
Thanks for being here.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Thanks, Derek thanks for having me.
This has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
it's been a great, great amount of fun and, as
always, we ask people out thereto ask the question what's
happening, moco, moco?
We'd love to give you theanswers.
Be sure to subscribe, like andshare, and feel free to meet us
this year at the MontgomeryCounty Agricultural Fairgrounds
in August, the 9th day of thesummer.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Thanks for listening to what's Happening MoCo.
Please subscribe via yourfavorite podcasting platform and
follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,Facebook, Instagram or YouTube
(33:18):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo, an
authentic unscripted podcastfrom your Montgomery County
government.
Now here's your host, derekKenney.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Good day and welcome to what's Happening MoCo.
Today we're learning about agreat resource located right
here in Rockville, maryland, theBender JCC of Greater
Washington DC.
We'll be talking to JoshuaBender, ceo of JCC, but first
we'll take a quick look back atBring your Child to Work Day
National.
Bring your Child to Work Dayhere in Montgomery County,
(00:38):
maryland.
It's Bring your Kids to WorkDay in Montgomery County,
maryland, and I'm sitting herewith Andrew Akinola, alex
Akinola and Nick Akinola, andwe're part of TEBS Technology
Enterprise Business Solutions.
Andrew, how are you today?
I'm good, thank you, it's greatto be here.
All right, and you are theproud father of Alex and Nick.
(01:01):
Yes, why is it important tobring your kids to work today?
I think it it important tobring your kids to work today.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
I think it's important to bring the kids to
work today because it gives theman opportunity to see what work
is like, what people do, whattheir parents do, and it might
give them some motivation downthe road.
Yeah, they might be young, some, you know, some are younger,
some are older but it gives themthat opportunity to see what
work is like Fantastic,fantastic, and in front of me I
(01:28):
have Alex.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Alex, have you had fun today?
Did you learn anything?
Yeah, what did you learn today?
Speaker 4 (01:34):
Like this place is going to be hooters that control
the TVs.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So Alex was able to tour the Technical Operations
Center of the Council OfficeBuilding and that's where the
technicians route all the cableprogramming to this building and
out to Verizon and Xfinity andRCN so people can watch it on
the TVs but then also see themlive streaming.
Alright, so Alex learned aboutthat today, nick.
(02:03):
Hey Nick, what did you learntoday?
Speaker 5 (02:06):
If I can recall anything, it would probably be
like the UPS thing and like thebomb shelter.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
So he's learned that the council office building has
security measures in place tohelp people in extreme
situations.
Very few people have ever seenthe bomb shelter, even though
there is a bomb shelter.
But now guess what we know.
So let's give a round ofapplause for Andrew, alex and
Nick, and with Jason, jack andFelix, felix, all right, all
(02:38):
right, so, so, so, jason, whatdo you do here at the Technology
Enterprise Business Solutions?
So, jason, what do you do hereat the Technology Enterprise
Business Solutions.
Speaker 6 (02:46):
I'm a senior IT specialist with public safety.
Started with the police, youknow, 10 some years ago, the
police department and then movedto, you know, finished my
cybersecurity degree atMontgomery College and then a
wonderful program over there youknow 10 years ago but still,
I'm sure, great and then movedover to Tebbs quite a few years
(03:07):
ago.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
All right, All right.
Now, why do you think it'simportant to bring your kids to
work like bring your kids towork day?
Speaker 6 (03:14):
You know it is at least for me, it is good to get
them excited about the county ina weird way, and until you're
here and you meet the people andwork with them, it is, it's
good to be around good people,all right, fantastic, fantastic,
and it's great to be aroundthese two powerful young men.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
They have all this energy.
How old are you guys?
Six, you're six.
Okay, that's Felix.
Felix is six years old.
How old are you, jack?
Nine, nine, nine years old, wow.
And Felix, what do you want tobe when you grow up?
A vet, a vet?
Wow.
Why do you want to become a vet?
I just want to take care ofanimals, oh, wow.
So there's somebody that takescare of animals when they get
(03:54):
sick.
Yeah, oh wow.
And that's a vet theveterinarian, jason Felix.
Jack, thank you for being heretoday, appreciate you.
We're here with Claudia andLucas Canales Canales Canales.
All right, claudia, could youtell us a little bit about what
you do with Technology,enterprise, business Solutions?
Speaker 5 (04:13):
Yeah, I'm an admin specialist for our department
and I take care and coordinateevents for our department,
strategic planning and anythingthat needs to be done.
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Wonderful.
Thank you for all that you do.
You are highly valued, lucas.
Welcome to the show.
How old are you, lucas?
I'm 18 years old 18 years old,all right and I want to say that
Lucas is a valued member of theTebbs family and a valued
member of the what's Happening?
Moco family.
He actually served last year asan intern.
Lucas, what was that experiencelike for you?
Speaker 4 (04:47):
It was fun.
It's really interesting to seelike the inner workings of
broadcasting and really get towork behind the scenes of doing
all of that.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Let's talk to the proud mom over here.
I see the pride on her face istangible.
Guys, you can see it's sobeautiful.
What does it take to be the momof a successful young person
these days?
Speaker 5 (05:09):
I think in a world that's chaotic, I think it's
essential to have a balance inlife and have a strong faith and
have quality family time.
We're big on family time andyou give them the skills and the
foundation to go into thischaotic world and try to make a
difference, a positivedifference, and I don't think it
(05:31):
was just us.
He is also a great kid I'vebeen blessed with two amazing
kids and you know it's his hardwork that has gotten him to and,
obviously, knowing that we'llalways support him, no matter
what he does, we're his numberone cheerleaders.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
All right, cheerleaders are so important
and guidance.
Fantastic job, mom, and that'swhat we have here.
That's what's happening at MoCo.
It's Bring your Kids to WorkDay for Technology, enterprise,
business Solutions, and we'vebeen talking to Claudia and
Lucas and we thank you guys forbeing here today and we thank
the two dads and the four sonsand all the people who came here
today and all that they learned, and thanks to the county for
(06:08):
supporting this Bring your Kidsto Work Day.
And now we're back in thestudio with Joshua Bender.
Josh, we've developed a rapporthere, so I think you said I
could call you Josh, right?
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Absolutely.
Is that okay All?
Speaker 2 (06:19):
right Now, josh Bender, you're the CEO of the
Greater Washington.
Jcc.
Bender, jcc, how are you today?
Speaker 4 (06:27):
I'm doing great, derek, thanks for having me.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
All right.
Now the first question I hadfor you and I think I asked you
earlier, but it's good foreveryone else to know your last
name is Bender.
The organization's name isBender.
Is there some type ofrelationship relation there,
right?
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So it's pure coincidence that I happen to
have the same last name as thegenerous family who dedicated
endowed the building a number ofyears ago the Bender family.
They're a wonderful family.
No relation as far as I know, Idid tell my kids when I first
got the job about five years ago, that they put my name on the
building and they didn't believeme when they go.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
They're like wow in big letters.
It's awesome.
Now, the greatest thing aboutthe organization, though, is not
necessarily the name.
It's all the things that theorganization brings in terms of
value to the residents ofRockville, maryland and greater
Washington DC.
But what does the organizationdo?
And, of course, what does JCCstand for?
For the Bender organization.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Yeah, Derek, great question.
Thank you again for having me.
I mean, the JCC is part of amovement, the Jewish Community
Center Association of NorthAmerica.
It's about 170 throughout NorthAmerica organizations that are
affiliated with the JCCA.
We're one of them.
We're independent, but part ofthat umbrella.
And the JCCA we're one of them,we're independent but part of
that umbrella.
(07:47):
And the question always comes upwhen some like what is a JCC?
And we are so many things.
And I think at the center ofwhat we do is in fact, a
community.
And one of the things I alwayslike to share when I'm talking
about the JCC is we are acommunity that is guided by
Jewish values but we're open toeverybody.
(08:08):
In fact, we serve the diversityof Montgomery County.
I often share the story that ifyou stand in our lobby long
enough, you'll hear 12, 15languages throughout the day.
We are a health and fitnessfacility.
We have aquatics programming.
We are a health and fitnessfacility.
We have aquatics programming,two pools, an indoor and outdoor
pool.
We have a gymnasium, aperformance arts theater, we
(08:31):
have a senior lunch program.
We have an early childhoodprogram, both for students, but
with a parenting center, agrandparenting center, with many
organizations who utilize ourspace for their programs
throughout the community.
Many nonprofits actually useour spaces, so we have lots of
(08:52):
partnerships.
At the heart of what we do iswe focus on the well-being of
the individual and the communitythrough all of our programs.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Awesome, that's wonderful.
Now, how does someone learnmore about how to gain access to
your organization?
Do they walk up, walk down thestreets, their website, and what
, if any?
Is there a fee for certaintypes of services offered?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
Yeah, it's a great question and, because of the
vast array of programs we do,there are different ways of
engaging with our community.
If you're looking to work outand focus on your physical
well-being, we have a fitnesscenter 40,000 square feet, two
pools.
One is open.
Both are open year-round,including our outdoor pool,
(09:32):
which is heated at 82 degrees ohwow, All year long.
All year long.
So in February, if you walk by,you'll do a double take because
there's people swimming laps inthe pool.
And that's one of the signaturethings we do, and so you do have
to be a member of the JCC toutilize those facilities, but we
have many programs that areopen to the wider community.
One of our crown jewels isLessons Camp JCC.
(09:56):
That's our summer camp program.
We have about 500 campers whocome to us in the summer.
20% of them have disabilitiesand they're fully included in
the camp, and so we serve bothchildren really, starting at
four years old all the way up toyoung adults at 21, of all
(10:17):
abilities, all backgrounds, allidentities, and that's something
we're really proud of.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Oh, that's definitely something to be proud of.
Of course you're in the mostdiverse, one of the most diverse
counties in the country, if notmaybe the world Montgomery
County, maryland and it's greatto see that that program is
reflective of that.
Even you mentioned the lobbywith the different languages
being spoken being reflective ofthe diversity of the county.
Let's talk a little bit aboutyou as the CEO.
(10:41):
What is your role as CEO andwhat do you find um is prepared
you for this role at supportingthe Bender JCC?
Speaker 4 (10:54):
Yeah, that's a great question.
You know, one of the excitingthings about being the CEO in an
organization that's somultifaceted is that every day
is different and we basicallyhave many industries under one
roof right.
We run schools and camps,health and fitness programs,
aquatics, arts, culture, youname it, and my background is
(11:16):
for many years I was working ineducation with children.
I was a principal in anelementary school many years ago
.
I worked in camps, particularlyin Jewish camps.
Growing up became a song leader.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Continue to this day to take my guitar out and play
for our preschoolers when I holdon, you have, you have, you
have skill, you have gifts, soyou're a song leader.
You play the guitar, you're aprincipal, so do you?
Do you find on occasion now aCEO that you need to?
You have opportunity to join inand lead a song or two, or I do
(11:47):
.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
I often joke that I should walk around all the time
holding my guitar and strummingit just to keep everybody calm
and happy About.
Once a month we do a big familycelebration connected to
Shabbat.
The Sabbath we invite parentsand grandparents, all the
students in the school I co-leadit with our director of the
preschool we sing, we dance andbring a lot of joy to the
(12:09):
community.
So one of my favorite things todo Incredible.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
I love to see to do that's incredible.
I love to see the diversity insomeone's background.
I understand the education part, but then bringing in the arts,
where you can bring in the artsand you bring different skills
to help benefit the communitythat you serve.
So I jumped in there and I mayhave taken you off track.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
Tell us more about your track to becoming the CEO.
Yeah, so I think one of thethings that really attracted me
to this role, in particular manyof the roles I had over the
years I worked in Jewishorganizations that primarily
served the Jewish community andthey were amazing and wonderful
education and Jewish camping andthe JCC world is particularly
to me compelling because we getto sort of live our Jewish
(12:56):
values of inclusiveness andrespect, but we get to do it in,
as you said, the most diversecounty in the country, where
we're opening our doors toindividuals and families of all
backgrounds.
To me, that gives me greatpleasure and it's an honor to
both draw from our Jewish valuesbut also say you're welcome in
(13:18):
our space.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Oh, that's wonderful and what a fantastic space it is
.
How big is the space?
You mentioned two pools.
You mentioned a theater space.
You mentioned classrooms andeducational areas.
How big of a facility is this?
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Yeah, it's a big, large, beautiful facility, about
120,000 square feet, and itkeeps us really busy in terms of
maintaining and keeping itbeautiful and, you know, a space
that is inviting to our members, whatever reason they're coming
to our facility.
And so we're blessed with agreat facility and because we
(13:50):
have the facility, we're able toopen our doors to other
organizations and to say tononprofits in Montgomery County
who don't necessarily have spaceRight now, we have Kind Works
in the building who arerecruiting volunteers and
they're putting together foodfor the community, and so we get
to sort of also play that rolein the community where we say
(14:11):
come, use our facility, we wantto partner with you to
strengthen the community.
Speaker 2 (14:14):
Oh, wow.
So insert round of applausehere for the Bender JCC for
being such a great partner for alot of community organizations.
It's one thing being there andbeing sustainable.
You guys have been around forquite some time.
When did you first enter intothe DC market and what would you
compare the size of thebuilding to?
Is there another buildingthat's 100,000 square feet so we
(14:36):
could get a full grasp of howbig that is?
That's a good question.
Speaker 4 (14:39):
I mean it's similar, like if you've been to a YMCA
facility that you know it'sconstructed similarly and
there's different sizes of thescale.
So I have to think about whatbuilding it compares to.
What I will say is to give youa sense of the scale.
So I have to think about whatbuilding it compares to.
What I will say is to give youa sense of the scale of
programming that we can do On aSunday.
We might have eight or 10different programs going on in
(15:03):
different spaces around thebuilding.
As I mentioned, we rent a lotof our spaces at a reduced cost
to many of our nonprofits, so wecan have corporate retreats and
gatherings.
There are faith-basedorganizations that use our space
for their programming, and sowe can have 1,000 to 2,000
people in the building at onetime on a Sunday in particular,
(15:24):
which is our busiest day of theweek.
Speaker 2 (15:26):
Wow, all right, and earlier I think you may have
mentioned it, I don't know ifit's in our earlier conversation
or this conversation.
I think it's worth repeatingthat you guys aren't fly by
night.
You've been around for a while.
When did you first enter the DCarea, and how many years, I
guess, is that?
And what do you?
What do you see as the futureof the organization?
Speaker 4 (15:45):
Yeah, and that's a great question.
We've been located in Rockvilleand Montrose road 6125 Montrose
Road since 1969.
Oh wow.
And prior to that we had otherlocations, but 69 for our
current location, and the campuswas actually built with three
Jewish organizations together.
So the JCC is one of them, jesa, or Jewish Social Service
(16:15):
Agency, is one of the others.
They also serve both the Jewishbut the greater community.
And then there's the Charles ESmith Life Communities, which
formerly known as the HebrewHome of Greater Washington Again
another organization that isJewish in its core values but
serves the entire community.
So that was the conceptionCharles E Smith, a
philanthropist and developer,had that this would be a
collaborative community workingtogether to serve the needs.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
All right, fantastic.
So for people that have heardso much about your organization
and the resources it provides toeveryone in the county not just
as members and not just on theJewish community, but everyone
in the county how do peoplelearn more about your
organization?
Zero like a website, a phonenumber to call or Absolutely, If
you go to benderjccgworg youcan
Speaker 4 (16:59):
connect with our website and learn about upcoming
events, get membershipinformation.
Come for a tour, come visit ourspaces.
Again, our doors are open.
We're welcoming to everybody.
Come in and get to know us, andwe'd love to get to know anyone
who wants to be connected toour community.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Now, speaking of the website and getting to know you,
I did visit the website justdoing a little background
education for myself, and Inoticed a familiar name on the
website.
It was a video, a YouTube videoembedded on your website for
Orsman.
There was a fantastic story ofOrsman Chevrolet, or the owner
of Orsman Chevrolet, who happensto have a role in the
(17:39):
organization in some way.
Tell us a bit about that andhow this local legend is
affiliated with yourorganization.
Speaker 4 (17:46):
Yeah, that's great.
The Orsman family and startingwith Benjamin Orsman, they've
been connected to our JCC forreally generations and their
family continues to be connectedto us.
And in one particularmeaningful way.
There was an award, a civicachievement award, established
(18:07):
over 60 years ago in memory ofBenjamin Orsman and every spring
we give the Orsman Award to adeserving recipient in the
community has done good work forour community and really
improved the lives of everyonein the DMV area.
That award actually is June 5th.
(18:27):
We are actually going to begiving that award out at a
spring event at the JCC and wereally like to highlight and
there are so many civic leadersin our community doing amazing
work and we want to amplify thatand that's the purpose of this
spring event that we do, calledVoices of Leadership.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Voices of Leadership.
Voices of Leadership.
Very, very interesting.
It was interesting to see thestory of I'm not sure many, many
people.
Orsman Chevrolet may have beenthe first place that someone's
bought their cars.
They know the inspiring storyof Benjamin Orsman, who was a
self-made person.
He found out that he had a giftfor selling cars and then he
built this brand in the locallyI'm not sure if it's beyond
(19:09):
local or regional, but but thengave back and has led all the
way up to this Voices ofLeadership event.
What can you tell us more aboutthe event?
Who's going to be at the eventyou mentioned, I think?
Who's going to be honored?
But tell us more about theevent and what it's done over
the years.
What is it?
Why is it significant?
Speaker 4 (19:32):
Yeah, so the event has been around for many years
our spring event and it focuseson I mentioned earlier that
inclusion is really important toour community and one of the
ways we define that is makingsure that our community is
financially accessible toindividuals who want to be
connected to us.
So this event actually raisesmoney for scholarship and
financial aid for anyone whowants to be connected to the JCC
(19:53):
, whether it's in our school, inour camp.
They want to work out at theJCC, participate in other
programs.
This event is aimed at raisingdollars so that if someone comes
to us and they have somefinancial needs, we can actually
assist to make sure that theycan be connected.
The event itself has gonethrough a number of iterations.
Recently we rebranded it withthe name Voices of Leadership,
(20:16):
and at the heart of it isfocusing on transformational
leadership, and so last year wekind of did our debut event.
We brought in David Rubenstein,the new owner of the Orioles of
course.
And Ambassador Stuart Eisenstadt, who's former ambassador of
NATO, I believe for a firesidechat, and that was we were
(20:39):
amplifying.
they worked together in theCarter administration and have a
long history together and theywere our featured guests last
year and we gave the award out,of course, the Orsman Award.
This year we're bringing in it'sa little bit of a different
angle.
We're bringing in Lior Raz, whois the writer and lead actor in
Fauda, the Netflix seriesthat's really popular right now,
(21:03):
which really explores theArab-Israeli conflict, which
right now, of course, is a anissue we see in the news every
day.
We're bringing in Dana Bashfrom CNN.
She's coming in to sort ofinterview Lior and through this
program, what we're trying toexamine is what does it mean to
(21:26):
be a leader, in this case Liorleading the conversation in
Hollywood around this verycomplicated issue that's facing
the Middle East right now?
And so really they both haveinteresting backgrounds and the
conversation will be wonderful.
And then, of course, attachedto the evening is giving out the
(21:56):
award to this year's Orsmanrecipient, which this year is
Stuart and Ellenen lessons.
Um, you probably heard a fewmoments ago lessons camp jcc.
They are, um very involvedphilanthropists in our community
and involved not only indonating funds but actually
being involved in our communityoh, wow and um.
we're honoring them um for allof the support they've given our
community and one thing inparticular that Stuart Lessons
(22:19):
said to us a few years ago aboutour camp.
Lessons Camp JCC, which was.
He noticed how we serve theentire community children of all
backgrounds, all abilities andhe saw our camp as a real bridge
builder in the community,bringing together people of
different communities in thisembracing, nurturing camp
(22:43):
environment and he saw that ashope for the future.
So we're looking forward tohonoring them.
Speaker 2 (22:49):
I think it's phenomenal that you're not just
talking about diversity ofcultures, languages, but also
ability levels, because youmentioned that I think 20% of
the kids are disabled or havedifferent levels of ability that
you may not usually associatewith a camp of that size.
Speaker 4 (23:06):
That's right.
In fact, some of the campersthat come to lessons camp JCC
wouldn't otherwise go to campbecause the level of needs that
they have.
We provide full-time nursing,social workers and in many cases
one-on-ones.
For the campers and thefamilies with children with
disabilities pay exactly thesame as any other camper and we
(23:26):
fundraise towards that.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Wow, and so the camp is that like a reduced cost camp
, or is it a free camp, or how?
Speaker 4 (23:32):
is it?
So?
It's reduced to the extent thatwe raise our scholarship
dollars every year and the theaspect of the include, the
inclusion aspect, is highlysubsidized, right, even though a
child, teen or young adult witha disability will have a
one-on-one and a lot of extrasupport in order to ensure
they're successful in camp, wedon't charge them for that.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Oh, wow, that's amazing.
And one thing we do number one,of course, round of applause
for the inclusiveness and allthe additional support, and we
talk about the appreciation oflower costs and free and all
those things, but we don't oftentalk about the work and the
fundraising that goes intoproviding those environments and
those resources to, thefundraising that goes into
providing those environments andthose resources to the
communities that you serve.
(24:15):
So it's very good that you guysare doing that.
It's great that we're able tohear more about not only the
services but then how you guysare generating revenue to help
to support that.
So what are some of the thingsyou see on the horizon for the
JCC of Greater Washington?
What do we see on the horizonfor the Rockville community?
Or what's coming up this summer?
(24:36):
What are some of the seasonalthings that are happening?
Speaker 4 (24:39):
Yeah, I mean.
What I would say in general isI think, with the volatility of
the world and the polarizationthat we see in society, I think
our JCC is becoming even morerelevant to people, a place
where they can come through ourdoors, focus on their health,
(25:00):
focus on not only their physicalwell-being but really their
social, emotional well-being inour community, hopefully set
aside the noise of the outsideworld and really just connect
with other human beings.
We're seeing that as the rateof mental health issues
increases in society, we arereally leaning into the
(25:21):
well-being aspect of what we doand we've always been a place
where you can come and work out.
But we are kind of rolling outa new framework that's going to
help us think about the JCC inthe future, where, if someone
comes into our facility, ourcommunity center, to work out,
what can we do to also help themin other domains of well-being.
(25:45):
For example, we hear all thetime people come in to work out
at the JCC but then they connectwith a friend and they form a
friendship for life.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Oh wow.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
And so when you start thinking about all the various
ways that we could improve thelives of individuals and
families, for us, we're leaninginto that.
We're saying what can we do tomake sure that everyone who
comes through the doorunderstands all the ways that
they can bring meaning to theirlife and focus on wellbeing,
that's spiritual wellbeing,cultural wellbeing and, of
(26:18):
course, the social, emotionalaspect.
And so our board and our staffare really excited about the
future because we see the growthin our community and we see the
needs that are out there, andwe're here to respond.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
All right, that's great.
So we've talked about some ofthe more serious things about
the Bender JCC.
There's probably a questionlooming out there for people
like myself and others Is therepickleball?
Is there pickleball?
Is there pickleball?
There definitely is pickleball.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
And I will say about two years ago and I used to be
the person that played tennisand would go to the tennis court
and somebody was on withplaying pickleball and I'd be
annoyed, Not anymore.
Speaker 5 (26:59):
I'll tell you why Because pickleball is, it's on
fire.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
Okay, and so about two years ago, one of the
members of our health andfitness team went out and got
training on you know how toteach pickleball, and we started
adding a program here and there.
Well, fast forward two years.
It's like wall to wall, allages.
We have people in theirtwenties playing, we have people
in their eighties playing andwe, I think we even have a 90
(27:26):
some year old who playsregularly in pickleball.
Speaker 5 (27:29):
And we have drop in something year old.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Okay, yeah, in fact that's one of my inspirations is
to see the members of ourcommunity who are thriving.
We actually I was telling youbefore we jumped on we just
celebrated 102nd birthday in oursenior lunch program, right,
and this is someone who's comingon a weekly basis to our
(27:52):
community.
It's their life.
It's where their friends areand they look forward to it, and
so to be able to do that.
But pickleball it is.
We don't have enough space.
I mean it's full.
So we're going to probably beadding space for pickleball at
some point, do you?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
play?
Oh yeah, I do, I do play.
I have a, have a little racketin the trunk.
Am I good?
No, I'm not good and I will sayI've fallen a few times playing
pickleball.
But great fun, great fun.
I played recently with a few ofmy colleagues.
Great way to go out and havesome camaraderie, stay active
even.
And I think what's great aboutit is that the barrier to entry
(28:31):
is does not require a lot ofphysical acumen, like you could
be a big guy like myself and notnecessarily in the best, um,
cardiovascular condition, butyou can still get out there and
gain some benefit frompickleball and be relatively
competitive, uh, and and thenburn calories, I mean because
you're moving quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
Oh yeah, it's quite a bit.
It's more of a workout than you.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
And your eyes and like your mind, is moving
quickly because the ball isgoing all over the place.
This is it's amazing.
I thought it was one of the thegreatest introductions of sport
in this long time Innovationsof sport.
I'm not sure how long it's beenaround, but I love it and I
think it's accessible for peopleof all ages and sizes and
(29:12):
fitness levels.
That's great.
Now I have another seriousquestion for you.
That's a serious question.
Back to the serious stuff.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:18):
So so, when you're, when you're, when you're not in
full role of CEO, when you'rehungry and you're looking at
lunch in Montgomery County, whatare some of the places you like
to go to go eat?
What do you like to have forlunch?
Speaker 4 (29:33):
have for lunch?
What?
What is the ceo of bender jccgreater washington dc.
Like to eat?
Yeah, I mean, I would like tobe able to tell you that I'm I
have a really interesting lunchmenu during my weeks, but my my
staff jokes with me becausewe're located next to panera all
right, which is adjacent to ourfacility and it's very walkable
, so they kind of know my firstname there.
When they see me they're likeare you getting the same thing
today?
You know, so I, I actually livein Olney, even though I work in
(29:57):
Rockville, and so I would saythere's a lot, a lot of great
food in Olney that my familyhave have eaten.
And what I would say is I ambecause I started my job during
the pandemic.
For the first couple of years Ihardly got out of the building,
it felt like.
And now that I'm almost fiveyears I'm just really beginning
(30:19):
to explore the County.
And just the other day I waslike oh, where did this come
from?
I've never been here before.
I think Pike and Rose took melike two years to discover it
even though it was like twominutes away because so I'm
getting out there and I loveactually Montgomery County.
I'm just a big fan moving fromBaltimore County, which was also
awesome, very different butvery different, Just just not as
(30:42):
good as Montgomery County.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
I understand yes.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
And there's more places to food, many more places
to eat.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
Montgomery County oh yeah, oh yeah, and so different,
different areas too.
You have the Rio, you have Pikeand Rose and even if you're
just walking, like if going downa three 55, you find so many
beautiful smaller restaurantswith great cuisine, made with a
lot of love and a lot of flavor,of different types of flavors,
so you don't have to worry aboutgetting tired of having Indian
(31:09):
or Thai food or Ethiopian.
It's all right there here inthe county and available to us,
just like the Bender JCC isavailable to residents of
Montgomery County, maryland.
So thank you, of course, forbeing here and tell us one last
parting message from the CEO ofBender JCC.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Greater Washington DC or anything else you'd like to
share.
Yeah, what I would say is we,we like to get word out to the
community that we exist, and Ithink because Montgomery County
is is such a robust community,you can literally be living
around the corner from theBender JCC and not know.
we exist or think you have to beJewish to be part of it.
So what, I want to just sort ofopen invitation to the
(31:53):
community.
If you're looking to focus onwhether it's your, your physical
health, and you want to do agroup exercise class, we have 40
every week of all differentkinds.
You want a personal trainer?
You want to.
You're new to Montgomery Countyand you're looking just to
connect in community and meetpeople.
Whatever age you are, you havechildren, you're an adult come
(32:17):
check us out and we have an opendoor policy and we love to meet
new people and welcome them tothe community, whether they
become a member of the JCC ornot.
That's why we exist.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
So Whoa, and that's what's happening.
Moco open doors MontgomeryCounty.
The doors are open for you,bender, jcc, great Washington DC
.
Thank you so much, mr Bender,or, as we like to call him, josh
.
Thanks for being here.
Speaker 4 (32:40):
Thanks, Derek thanks for having me.
This has been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
it's been a great, great amount of fun and, as
always, we ask people out thereto ask the question what's
happening, moco, moco?
We'd love to give you theanswers.
Be sure to subscribe, like andshare, and feel free to meet us
this year at the MontgomeryCounty Agricultural Fairgrounds
in August, the 9th day of thesummer.
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Thanks for listening to what's Happening MoCo.
Please subscribe via yourfavorite podcasting platform and
follow us on Facebook.
This podcast is brought to youby County Cable Montgomery, your
source for news and informationfrom the Montgomery County
Government.
Connect with us via cable,Facebook, Instagram or YouTube
(33:18):
by searching for County CableMoCo.
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