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jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community

COVID-19 in Jewish Atlanta — The Movie!

Day-to-day living in a pandemic sometimes obscures the fact that we are living in truly historic times. Local filmmakers and storytellers, Adam Hirsch, Jacob Ross, and Gabby Spatt felt the need to document it all, and now, with funding from a Federation Innovation Propel Grant, they’re creating a film that shows how the Atlanta Jewish Community responded to the multiple and complex challenges caused by the COVID-19 crisis with unprecedented generosity, creativity, and collaboration. It’s tentatively titled “Jewish Atlanta COVID-19 Story,” and you might see it at the 2021 Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF). 

We’re thrilled that this documentary project is moving forward thanks to the partnership of The Breman Museum, Federation Innovation, and the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival to support its creation and distribution. 

jewishatl
In Global News

Lone Soldiers from Atlanta and St. Louis get a “hug” from our Partners in Israel

The concept of the “lone soldier” is almost unique to Israel where so many young men and women serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) without having immediate family in Israel. The lone solider can be a new immigrant or a volunteer from abroad. Most of them have no family in Israel to stay at on weekends when they are off base, and the pandemic makes things even worse — their relatives cannot come to visit them in Israel, and COVID-19 restrictions require soldiers to spend longer periods of time on base. Where can lone soldiers go for a reassuring hug, a hot meal, or a package from home?

This year, for the first time in the 26-year history of our Partnership, Israelis from Yokneam and Megiddo held a fundraiser to support and “adopt” lone soldiers from Atlanta and St. Louis now serving in the IDF. Local volunteers from the region will deliver packages to these lone soldiers at army bases across Israel. The effort was organized completely by volunteers and they surpassed their goal, raising approximately $6,000. Lone soldiers will receive packages for the High Holidays and also for Thanksgiving. Four more Partnership communities will follow Yokneam and Megiddo’s lead and raise funds to support lone soldiers. What a beautiful way to pay forward our sense of kesher (bridge building).

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community

AJC’s Dov Wilker Celebrates the Abraham Accords

As a Zionist, I have always lived by the motto from Theodore Herzl “.אם תרצו, אין זו אגד ה” “if you will it, it is no dream.”

I felt that way on September 13, 1993, when we were called into the gymnasium of my Jewish day school, to watch the signing of the Oslo Accords on the White House lawn. I felt that way the following year on October 26, 1994, when we were called into the same auditorium to watch the signing of the Israel-Jordanian Peace Treaty.

I remember the feeling of pride and euphoria on both of those days. As a middle-school student, I knew that something special had occurred. We sang, we danced, and we prayed that this was just the beginning. We assumed that it would be an annual thing!

And finally, twenty-six years later, I am able to feel that way again. The signing of the Abraham Accords, between the United Arab Emirates and Israel, and Bahrain and Israel, was nothing short of spectacular, the fulfillment of a dream. The dream of Israel living in peace with its neighbors.

And this peace, this dream did not happen overnight, nor the way we expected it to, but it happened and that is what matters.

It was because of dreamers and organizations like American Jewish Committee that traveled for decades to the Gulf, engaging with leaders, in an effort to help them see things differently.

We should be grateful for the dreamers, those who have taken on the monumental tasks of achieving something that none of us thought realistic, especially at a time of global crisis.

5780 was a hard year, but we should remember the bright spots: the Abraham Accords, passing of Hate Crimes legislation, increased activism, a focus on diversity within our community and a robust community response to Covid-19, just to name a few.

These bright spots are what will keep us focused on doing all we can to make 5781 an even better year.

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community

New MJP Grant Recipients

                                   Program to be Funded                                                                             Microgrant Recipient

Israeli Scouts – Scholarships for families in need Tzofim – Israeli Scouting Program
Nourishing the Soul: Conversations for Jewish adults Nourishing the Soul: 18 Doors, MACoM; Rebecca Gordon, Gesher L’Torah; The Jewish Bridge
North Fulton Treasure Hunt PJ Library
Combat COVID-19: Masks for Youth & Teachers Individual
Travel to Israel Virtually with the Atlanta Israel Coalition (AIC) Atlanta Israel Coalition & Jewish Moms of Atlanta
Shabbat in the Hood Food with Purpose
Jtext JSU Jewish Student Union
Israel Scholars Fellowship Jewish Student Union
Jewish Fertility Foundation Expanding Services in North Fulton (and Beyond!) Jewish Fertility Foundation
North Fulton Couples: Conversation Virtual Workshop Series 18 Doors and Honeymoon Israel
Meet Me in the Sukkah Temple Beth Tikvah
jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community

Even Alone We Can Pray by Rabbi Lauren Henderson

I remember my first high holidays away from home when I went off to college. There was a synagogue right across the street from campus, so I walked through the doors on Erev Rosh Hashanah and eagerly found a seat in the first row, ready for whatever new experience was coming my way. 

I quickly found out that I didn’t know any of the tunes, and no one said a word to me the whole time. I was crushed. I went back to my dorm room and decided I wasn’t going back the next day, that I’d rather just spend the day isolated in my room instead of feeling alone in a room full of people. 

Surprisingly, even though the rabbis push us toward davening in community whenever possible, the strongest models of real prayer in our tradition are of people praying alone. Chana, from the Rosh Hashanah haftarah (the reading from the Prophets linked to the weekly Torah portion), becomes the rabbis’ paradigm of what real prayer can be — crying aloud, speaking words of desire and longing straight from her heart, no minyan (quorum of 10 people needed for prayer) required. Her frustration, her anger, her despair, everything she’s feeling in that moment reaches a breaking point and spills over into prayer, as she realizes how much she wants her situation to change and how little power she has to make that reality possible.  

So many of us are carrying the weight of loss coming into these high holidays, along with our longings for what this experience should have been. Even if we’ve been telling ourselves for the last few weeks that these high holidays aren’t going to feel like last year’s, those expectations are hard to set aside.

But – I know that real prayer and connection are possible, even when we’re alone. And perhaps because we’re alone, new possibilities will emerge that wouldn’t have been accessible if we were all together in one space. May your new year be full of discoveries that bring you closer to community and closer to your own heart. Shanah tovah.

Rabbi Lauren Henderson is the new rabbi at Congregation Or Hadash. She comes to us from Chicago where she served as Mishkan Chicago’s Associate Rabbi and Director of Family Learning and Spirituality.

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community

New Ideas for the Jewish New Year: Innovation In Worship For 5781

Your support for the Community Campaign ensures the existing programs and services our community relies on, and it is also a catalyst for new ideas through Federation’s Innovation Fund. This year, as we approach the Jewish high holidays, there’s been so much creativity right here in Atlanta.  Because we can’t sit close together, sing together, blow the shofar in small spaces, or give each other happy hugs, our community leaders have amped up their creativity. You’ll be amazed by the unique ways this community is leapfrogging virtual limitations to personalize high holiday worship.

Your Jewish Bridge, funded by a Federation Innovation Propel grant, provides access to Jewish educational, life cycle, pastoral and rabbinic services to the unaffiliated Jewish community on a fee-for-service basis. Right before the high holidays, Pamela Gottfried, a rabbi at Congregation Bet Haverim and Your Jewish Bridge, is hosting a (virtual)  9/11 observance where she will livestream the ritual of “taking challah” on Congregation Bet Haverim’s YouTube channel. It involves separating a small piece of raw dough and burning it as a remembrance of the sacrificial offering in the Temple in Jerusalem. The ceremony will be in honor of those lost during the 9/11 attack, as well as those lost to the coronavirus pandemic. Over the high holidays, Rabbi Gottfried will lead several discussions and sessions to enrich the meaning of the season. See the full schedule here.

 

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Philanthropy

Kenny Silverboard: A Community Campaign Champion

Kenny Silverboard, who leads our Business and Professionals division, is a veteran of many Federation Community Campaigns, yet he’s anything but blasé about his sixth one. Today, as the 2021 Campaign opens, Kenny cannot wait to engage with the community. “In a town full of transplants, I’m a Jewish unicorn — an Atlanta native son (Morningside Elementary School, Grady HS, Georgia State) with deep ties in the Jewish community.”

“Though the pandemic has taken away face-to-face events and large meetings, I believe there‘s a much deeper understanding of Federation’s value to the community now. Our donors saw us take the lead with the COVID-19 Emergency Fund, which allowed our partners to deliver essential services and keep their doors open. They know we support the entire community, as well as needs in Israel. I know from the bottom of my heart that the community will step up for the Community Campaign to sustain the whole ecosystem for today and the future.”

Asked how he “trains” for the Community Campaign, Kenny says, “I live by the words of Mark Twain: Find a job you enjoy doing, and you will never have to work a day in your life. “Because I love what I do, I take what we do seriously, while not taking myself too seriously.”  Kenny is ready to receive your 2021 pledge: contact him at ksilverboard@jewishatlanta.org.

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