Middlesex"s Jewish Community Relations Council has been restructured, with a new focus on working with elected officials, government agencies, and the interfaith community.

The newly revamped council, part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County, has also added new members and shifted the responsibilities of current members to more effectively reflect their areas of expertise.

"We"re diving in with renewed emphasis and passion to help the federation get where it needs to go in terms of government relations and communications," said JCRC director Gabriela Sadote Sleppin. "It is now a real task force that will take on issues of concern for our Jewish community, our agencies, our social service concerns. We have to expand our advocacy on the state level, the county level. It is imperative we have financial resource development."

Harry Bernstein of Colonia and Rebecca Brenowitz of East Brunswick, the JCRC"s recent cochairs, will take over as the chairs of the Israel Advocacy committee, an area in which both are particularly knowledgeable.

Sleppin said the JCRC would develop "a wide umbrella" of reaching out. She called it "a Jewish civic responsibility" to assist others on humanitarian issues.

As one of the cochairs of the government relations committee, Marc Herman of Highland Park said the JCRC would broaden its focus to include domestic policy.

"On the team we have put together, each of us has our strengths, and we bring them to the table," said Herman, an attorney. Before entering law school, Herman worked in the Washington action office of what was then the United Jewish Appeal/Council of Jewish Federations.

Topping the areas of immediate concern will be expanding senior services, particularly senior transportation.

"At the moment transportation seems to be a critical issue," said Philip Cantor, the new JCRC chair. "However, there are larger issues confronting us, such as the problems of individuals who choose to age in place at home or in their home communities. You need services for them, and we"re only beginning to scratch the surface of understanding these issues, needs, and where the resources can be found."

Cantor, the immediate past federation president, said he believed the same energy that has been harnessed by federation in the past can again be employed in tackling these issues.

As an example, he said, the council recently met with Monroe Mayor Richard Pucci and others from that community to discuss problems faced by its large senior population.

"We let him know where the needs are," said Cantor. "We are being proactive."

Marilyn Goldsmith of East Brunswick is bringing her expertise as a nurse who has worked with seniors to the JCRC"s government committee. She too cited the issue of transportation, saying the problem of transporting the elderly is widespread among religious and ethnic groups, and that a coalition is needed to help resolve it.

"We need to bring about support on certain issues in Congress, and we need support not only for the Jewish community so that when we lobby, we lobby for them as well as ourselves," Goldsmith said. "It is fragmented and a problem in Monroe around the senior communities [and] around Edison, which has lots of seniors. The system is very poor and needs lots of work."

The federation and foundation of the Oscar and Ella Wilf Campus for Senior Living in Somerset are in the process of purchasing a van to transport seniors to elder programs at the Jewish Family & Vocational Service of Middlesex County. But Goldsmith described such laudable efforts as "a drop in the bucket."

"With the baby-boomers hitting 65, it is a problem that is growing and will become significant," explained Goldsmith. "It"s going to be a very difficult project and will take us a long time to get our hands around."

Phyllis Freed of Old Bridge will use her background interacting with various ethnic groups and religions on the JCRC"s outreach committee.

Freed works at the Eldridge Street Project on New York"s Lower East Side, often coordinating interethnic events with the surrounding Chinese and other communities. She has worked in a number of capacities, including nine years at Lucent Technologies, where she often had interactions with Indian-American engineers. The need for outreach between Jews and Indian-Americans has grown with the expansion of the Indian population in Edison.

"Regardless of our race or religion, we have so many similarities that we should reach out and embrace those similarities because there are some things where we can build consensus," said Freed, who said the first overtures have already been made to the Catholic community through the Diocese of Metuchen.

Also new on the JCRC is Rachel Silverstein, who is cochairing the government committee.