jewishatl

I love the Jewish people, and I love Atlanta. As a people, we have deep passions. As Jews living in the south who hail from all over the United States, we’ve built a beautiful mosaic here – a community with a diversity of perspectives and practices. Yet we are connected by a shared narrative, culture, history, shared struggles, and religion.

It’s complicated. That’s why everyone is experiencing this moment differently. As individuals and as a community, we are grappling with grief, working to empathize with others’ pain and struggles, and perhaps struggling at times to understand others’ perspectives.

I believe that as long as we remain connected – as long as we are a community – we have an opportunity to make a positive impact. But of course, how to do so is easier said than done.

This is a time for listening and learning. We owe it to ourselves to understand other perspectives. All voices are important. We’re all made in God’s image. I work every day to not judge anyone, and I do my best to understand how others come to their perspectives. I try to put myself in their shoes, stay open to changing my perspective, and even ready to adopt new ideas from people I love and respect. This is important to me because, in the end, we are a family. Judaism thrives when we are together as a community. Part of the beauty of our culture is that we’ve always welcomed a diversity of perspectives.

So what is the role of Federation in this context? Like everyone, we are listening and learning – guided by our mission, vision, and values. Part of building a strong, vibrant connected, caring community is playing a role in bringing different voices to the table in our community – and being at the table in the larger community.

Perhaps the greatest challenge along these lines is the perception that Federation might be attempting to speak for the community when really we’re doing our best to communicate with the community – speaking to people and listening to them – and, where we can, connecting people who might not otherwise be connected.  Because that’s part of building community.

None of this is easy. I welcome you to let us know when you don’t think we get it right. I hope you will always find an openness to criticism here. I would only ask that we all afford each other some grace, particularly in this moment. Let’s assume we’re all working for a better world for us and for our children and their children, even if we come to that work from different perspectives.

Few things get me more excited than passionate discussions with friends and colleagues about Jewish ideas and the Jewish future. Whether in leadership trainings, at professional retreats, or around my dinner table, I love how deep conversations on difficult topics light up my brain with fresh insights and get my synapses firing. Occasionally, I’ve shared my personal thoughts in Op-Eds and in online publications like e-Jewish Philanthropy, and I’m absolutely delighted that our Federation professionals are doing the same.

Four members of our Federation professional team have recently published articles in Forward, e-Jewish Philanthropy, the Atlanta Jewish Times, and on our website. As colleagues and thought leaders, they make me incredibly proud and exemplify our core values of excellence, fearlessness, and empathy, along with our culture of being a learning organization.

Jodi Mansbach, our Chief Impact Officer, draws on her urban planning background to wonder how, after the pandemic, communities will shift the way they think about public, private, and Jewish places. She reminds us that after the destruction of The Temple, Judaism pivoted to a synagogue model, and that in the American experience, we created JCCs, camps and day schools to express our Judaism. Now Zoom has turned our living rooms into sacred spaces. Read Jodi’s predictions about hyperlocalism and collectivism.

Jori Mendel, our V.P.of Innovation makes the case for the power of creativity as a driver of organizational value and community vibrancy. She argues that organizations should cultivate an innovation mindset that prioritizes collaboration and R&D, and take the time to understand what “customers” want and value. Read it here.

Rabbi Melissa Scholten-Guttierez, Federation’s Jewish Camp Initiative Manager, reflects on the genius of Jewish mourning rituals, and how even during a pandemic, when social distancing deprives us of the usual ways to grieve, a community can find solace. Read it here.

Rabbi Elana Perry, who leads Federation’s Jewish Education Collaborative initiative, lays out an inspiring blueprint for how we intend to transform part-time Jewish education in Atlanta, invest in great teaching, and make it something families and kids are truly excited about. See the flipbook about it here.

These days, the only thing I know for sure is that my Tupperware all has lids.

Yet I am centered by the ways that Judaism offers structure and meaning – a guide for how to live – in the best and worst of times. This moment of unprecedented fear, anxiety, and insecurity is no different. Even as we worry and wonder what the coming months and years hold, let’s remember that we are in a special time on the Jewish calendar called the Omer. How can it help us, in this year in particular?

The Omer begins on the second night of Passover and concludes 50 days later, on Shavuot when we celebrate receiving the Torah. It reminds us of the liberation we celebrated during Passover, and how easy it is for us to slip back into slavery. Each of the 50 days offers us an opportunity to work on our best selves and be ready to receive the rules our people will live by (Torah) on Shavuot. This year, counting the Omer is serving as a reminder to me that we need to resist the temptation to plan for a future we cannot possibly imagine, and instead, be in this moment.

Before the pandemic, Jewish communal leaders were consumed by the challenge of creating a Jewish future, staying connected to Israel, engaging the next generation in an assimilated world, caring for the vulnerable, and continuing to raise the resources necessary to support the massive communal infrastructure we have created. Innovation has entered our vocabulary out of a recognition that what brought us to this point may alone not get us to the future.

Discussions are more often now focused on life After Covid (AC). Does innovation go by the wayside? Do we go back to basics? Do we double down on the organizations that are helping us to serve the vulnerable in these challenging times? Do we lean more into the secular world for our services? Do we scale back and consolidate to save limited resources? Do we halt the capital projects we envisioned about Before Covid (BC), and focus on making the best with what we have?

Clearly the world is going to be different AC, and no one knows what that will look like and when that will be. The only thing we know for sure is where we are now. (The only thing I know for sure from these past several weeks is that my Tupperware now all has lids.) I think we must lean into the present and let it seep in knowing that it will bring clarity when that time comes.

Soon enough we will be back to planning. Attempting to do so in this moment is an illusion – an attempt to assuage our anxiety. Let’s focus on addressing critical needs in our communities, making sure we take care of the ill and unemployed, and protecting those who are healthy. Let’s take walks, plant flowers, embrace our homes, our neighborhoods, our families and take time to just be – and count each day to again receive the Torah.