TRENDING IN OUR JEWISH COMMUNITY

September 15, 2023

Shalom CT!

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram (and I hope you do), I just posted a story from one of my favorite social media icons, The Redhead of Auschwitz (@theredheadofauschwitz).

In a week marking 9/11 remembrances and Rosh Hashanah preparations, it is also my husband's Yahrzeit. Her story of perseverance and determination underscores how important it is to keep going--to live the joy through the sorrow--and she's been a great teacher for me.

In this community, we are blessed with our own teachers-- Holocaust survivors, their children, and their children's children.

On September 21, the Holocaust Resource Center (HRC) will open its door to the public. It is the first, and only, center of its kind in Fairfield County and will be a home for our own history and legacies.

In this threatening time of Holocaust denial, the HRC will combat this attempted erasure by actively honoring the history and legacy of the Greater Fairfield County Community’s Holocaust survivors and documenting and preserving their stories. Most importantly, the HRC will educate current and future generations to become the future “history-tellers” of our community to share this legacy.

I hope you join us for the opening and a very special program on September 21. The link to the register is below the video.

On 9/11 my grandmother walked from Manhattan to Williamsburg miraculously to safety. She was 78 years old.

When she was 19 years old, she walked the Death March from Germany to Prague, miraculously to life.

She said taking another step in the Death March felt like lifting the whole world on her knee. She also said she will never stop walking to her freedom.

She has walked many paths in her life. She walked through death camps and death marches and over bridges away from a terror attack. But she also walked to a job she loved, my mother down the aisle and her great grandchildren in their strollers.

She wanted you to know to keep walking too. Even when it sometimes feels you have to lift your whole world on your knee. @theredheadofauschwitz

I hope to see you on September 21 at the HRC opening.

L'shanah tovah,

Carin Savel

CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County

carin@shalomct.org

You are invited to attend the opening of the HRC, which will include:

Architecture of Murder Exhibit, narrated by Marlene Yahalom, Director of Education, American Society of Yad Vashem, NYC
Survivor video testimonies
Special Holocaust Mezuzah hanging
Adopt-A-Survivor biographies
Upcoming programs
Upcoming events
Ribbon Cutting

The Holocaust Resource Center is a legacy gift to the greater Fairfield County community and our children. If you are interested in getting involved or supporting the HRC, click here.

A special mezuzah will be affixed to the door of the HRC. This video shows how this beautiful piece was created.

Poland had 3.5 million Jewish inhabitants before World War II. During the War almost all Jews perished and with them mezuzot. Today - 70 years after the War there are almost no traces left. These marks are holes and nails which used to hold mezuzahs. The traces are witnesses for the Jewish inhabitants in Poland.

HRC Opening Reception RSVP

Project Shema Register Here

OH WHAT A NIGHT IT WAS!

The Federation Gala celebrated the Magic of Literacy, and it was indeed, magical! Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make reading a reality for a lot of children. It was a beautiful evening, and everyone was ready to have fun. See for yourself!

Click Here to Get Updates on Merkaz 2023-2024

Ahead of holidays, Jewish and congressional leaders urge increased security funding

THE ISRAEL TIMES/WASHINGTON — Jewish community leaders, security experts and congressional representatives on Tuesday called for increased funding for nonprofit security at a briefing in Washington, DC, highlighting threats to Jews ahead of the High Holidays.

The speakers focused on funding provided by the US government’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which is used to protect Jewish communities and other organizations, but falls short of the demand.

For the 2023 funding cycle, the acceptance rate for grant applications fell below 42 percent, down from 52% last year. A total of 5,257 grant applications were submitted, and 2,201 were approved, according to the Jewish Federations of North America.