Trending in Our Jewish Community

TRENDING IN OUR JEWISH COMMUNITY

April 21, 2023

Shabbat Shalom CT!

In Israel, you are born into a race -- not a running race, not a horse race and not a car race.

In Israel, we have a special race: the Memorial Day race.

As soon as you're born, you start running and you just hope that Memorial Day won't meet you, won't catch up with you, won't run faster than you and most importantly -- God forbid -- won't touch you on the back and say, "Welcome to Memorial Day."

Many Israelis lose this race, almost all of them.

What does it mean to lose this race? This means that from now on, Memorial Day is no longer Memorial Day; from now on, it is Memorial Day for a brother, sister, friend or girlfriend. From now on, every Memorial Day song is not just a calm and sad song; from now on, every Memorial Day song causes uncontrollable crying and bad memories.

I remember the day I lost the race: May 12, 2021.

Like every Israeli, I also served in the Israel Defense Forces; with great pride, I defended Israel and the Jewish people. I served in the Nahal Brigade in a combat role as the commander of a sniper squad. During my service, I served in Lebanon, Judea and Samaria, and towards the end, in the Gaza Strip. And that was the time that the Memorial Day Race caught up to me.

Join me on April 25^th for a special observance of Yom Hazikaron – Israel Memorial Day. I will share my story of how my IDF service changed the meaning of Memorial Day for me forever. This special ceremony, designed with our Merkaz High School for Judaic Studies students, will include an opportunity for local community members who have served in the IDF, or have lost loved ones in service to Israel, to participate in the ceremony.

Please register on the link below. I hope to see you there.

Ofek

Ofek Moscovich

Federation Israel Emissary

Thursday, May 11 @ 6:30 PM

Jacky Durrell Pavilion at Penfield Beach

Admission: $118/person

Emerging Leaders (40 and under): $72/person

Guest speaker: inspirational financial guru, Amanda Steinberg

Cocktails for a Cause will benefit Dignity Grows, a project to erase Period Poverty in our community.

Join us to pack Dignity Grows totes, filled with menstrual hygiene products for individuals in need.

COCKTAILS FOR A CAUSE - REGISTER!

On Yom HaShoah, Merkaz’s Program Manager, Sophie Greenspan, shared with the students the story of her Bubbe (grandmother) Sylvia Haberman Greenspan who left Vienna, Austria in 1940 at age 20. She also shared the story of her father as a first-generation Jewish-American, and the recent acquisition of Sophie’s Austrian citizenship.

The students watched clips of Sylvia’s 1995 testimony from the USC Shoah Foundation, and saw images of her grandmother’s youth, family, and primary documents from her journey from Vienna to Chicago via Belgium. Sophie closed her presentation by urging the students to be curious about their family’s history and to get to know their elders' history before it’s too late.

Seth Marion, Education and Family Engagement Director attended a Congregation Rodeph Sholom board meeting this week to thank them for their generous gift to the PJ Library program. Here is an excerpt of what he said:

As the parent of Jewish children, I can tell you that finding good Jewish children’s books is not an easy task. When my daughter was born, the books that I found in my synagogue’s library were the same books that I had read as a child.

This is where PJ Library comes in. As you know, PJ Library sends free Jewish children’s books to families across the world every month. PJ Library shares Jewish stories that can help families talk together about values and traditions that are important to us as Jews. I love to watch my children tear open their PJ Library envelopes every month to see what new book they got before we snuggle up to read it together. It is thanks to your generous support that we are able to get new Jewish children’s books into the hands of kids and parents every month!

Here in Greater Fairfield County, we have over 700 families receiving more than 920 PJ Library books every month. That is an increase of close to 100 subscribers since revitalizing the program following the pandemic shutdowns and I am happy to share with you that right now, we are receiving between 20 and 50 subscription enrollments every month. Again, due to your support we are able to serve the families who have been moving into our community.

But PJ Library is more than just books in the mail. Run by Sara Beitman (who would be here herself if she was not on maternity leave), PJ Library offers monthly events around the community for Jewish families with young children to come together for meaningful Jewish experiences with crafts, songs, and of course PJ Library books! Just since January of this year, we have seen more than 160 families at these monthly events.

Temple B'nai Chaim

82 Portland Ave., Georgetown

6:15 PM - light supper

7:00 PM-7:20 PM - service, short presentations by TBC Kulanu participants and Q&A, followed by Oneg

The program will be suitable for most 6th-graders and up. Younger children are definitely encouraged to attend the pre-service dinner and Shabbat service, after which they will be invited to move into the old sanctuary for movies, fun, and games led by TBC madrichim.

Please make sure to RSVP as to whether you will join us for supper at 6:15 PM and stay for the service and program.

MORE INFO

The Jewish Changemakers Fellowship engages young Jewish adults in a 6-week online leadership experience designed to expand their network and provide a clear path to making a difference in their community.

Applications are now available!

APPLY HERE

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Are you interested in helping to preserve the stories of Holocaust survivors? Are you a survivor or adult child of a survivor who is interested in telling your story?

We need volunteers to help sort letters, catalogue photos and upload testimonials from local Holocaust survivors. We need general office help with creating databases, filing and fielding calls.

Are you interested in writing or telling a your story?

The story of your parents?

You will work with Federation staff and other volunteers to help archive these important documents -- and have an opportunity to protect the legacies of our survivors and their descendants.

ADD YOUR NAME TO THE HRC VOLUNTEERS