This past Monday evening, I was thinking about my 7th-grade self, intently absorbing the horrors of the Holocaust as recounted by my Bat Mitzvah teacher. I can still see her demeanor; strong, courageous and committed to retelling the story to her students who would, one day, impart the stories to their students so that it never happens again. Now, decades later, I am seated beside two members of my youth choir during the community Yom Hashoah commemoration. They are witnessing a story of fear and hope as retold by a child of survivors. They hear how an act of kindness and love can be the way to healing our broken world.
During the last month, we rehearsed with my colleagues at Temple Emanu-El with a handful of their high school students, members of HaZamir, learning how to work as an ensemble, deriving meaning from the powerful lyrics of songs of the Shoah and experiencing community outside of their comfort zone. It was a successful and meaningful collaboration and I look forward to sharing more of these powerful experiences with my students.
My greatest wish is that we continue to plant seeds of hope in the younger generations, keep the ground fertile for more learning and understanding and gather as a community in times of both sadness and joy.
Please join us and our partners at St. Martin’s for a special Shabbat service to recognize and celebrate volunteers, donors and prospective volunteers that have devoted their time and resources for the refugee resettlement efforts over the past year+. Our initial focus was on Afghan refugee families which we named AWE (Afghan Welcoming Effort.) As new needs were identified, we have been flexible and worked with Dorcas International to help resettle refugee families from other countries too. There is a great need to meet the needs of Ukrainian refugees so stay tuned for future opportunities to get involved.
