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Atlanta Jewish Community

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In Atlanta Jewish Community, Jewish Journeys, PJ Library Atlanta

Books to Feed the Russian Soul

Meet Our Russian PJ Library Connectors

Meet Masha Vaynman and Lana Severinsky, two Russian-speaking Jewish moms who are PJ Library’s newest Connectors. Both are long-time PJ Library subscribers who love how free monthly books bring Jewish traditions into their homes. Now, thanks to a grant from the Genesis Philanthropy Group, a foundation focused on developing Jewish identity among Russian-speaking Jews, they’re using PJ Library as a platform to build and engage Atlanta’s Russian-Jewish community.

Masha and Lana estimate that there are as many as 26 thousand Russians in metro Atlanta and that around 50% of them claim some Jewish heritage. Many are married to non-Jews and know very little about Judaism, but are eager to learn by reading Jewish-themed books with their children. These parents also wish to keep the Russian language alive in their homes. PJ Library books in Russian and in English are great vehicles for both.

“Books are so important to the Russian soul and psyche,” Lana explains. “You simply cannot find a Russian-Jewish family without books.” “So many Russian Jews were intellectuals in Russian society. They actually took their books along when they left,” Masha adds.

Nathan Brodsky, Federation’s Family Impact Manager, has watched the PJ Library program grow in Atlanta and sees a great opportunity in the Russian-speaking community. “PJ Library is built on supporting families’ abilities to form strong connections with other families. We offer over 200 opportunities for families to connect in-person each year, often bound by geography or age-range, and we are eager to expand to now support the Russian-speaking community.”

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In Atlanta Jewish Community, Global News, Philanthropy

Federation Women in Cuba

Federation Women Support Nutrition and Education in Cuba

Cuba’s Jewish population, once 15,000 strong, is now a tiny remnant estimated at about 1,100 people. Since the government lifted the ban on religious practice, they are thriving as a community, however they remain economically fragile. Like all Cubans, Jews live with food rationing and lack many basic resources. Milk, which has so many nutritional benefits, is a commodity in short supply and is only provided to children under the age of seven. That’s why, on their recent Federation and Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) mission to Cuba, Atlanta women took on the mitzvah of supporting a milk program and a Sunday school for Cuban Jewish children and teenagers. The Sunday school is held at El Patronato, Havana’s Jewish Community Center and Conservative synagogue. Children learn about Jewish holidays, and culture, study bible and learn Hebrew. Adults have classes at the nearby Sephardic Hebrew Center. “Cuba’s Jews are so vulnerable,” said Debbie Schafer, Director of Women’s Philanthropy. “The Atlanta women chose the milk project because they are mothers! It was a simple and satisfying way enhance the educational and nutritional needs of children and teens.”

In Cuba, the government provides 1 kg. of powdered milk per month per child through its ration stores. Thanks to the generosity of our Women’s Mission, extra powdered milk is now given to all Jewish students (under age 25) who attend classes at El Patronato, are enrolled in school during the week and do not have jobs. The same 1 kg. of milk is also given to the fourteen Sunday school teachers. In addition, all students — children, teens, youth and adults — are offered a glass of milk with their snack during a break in Sunday school.

This October 10-14, Federation and JDC are offering another Atlanta community mission to Cuba to shine a light on Jewish community needs. Like all JDC-sponsored trips, participants will also have opportunities to support ongoing projects in Cuba to make the lives of Cuban Jews better. Reservations are on a first-come-first-served basis. If you would like more information about the trip, please contact Staci Eichelbaum, Director of Philanthropy.

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In Atlanta Jewish Community

Medical Mission Inspires Jewish Innovators

A group of Atlanta medical professionals who are passionate about medical innovation – have just returned from Federation’s inaugural Medical Mission to Israel. The week-long trip showcased Israeli medical achievements and exposed participants to the many ways Israelis think out of the box to solve complex problems. “Innovation appears to be woven into the fabric of Israeli life,” said James Rains, PE, Professor of Practice at Georgia Tech. “Seeing the underground hospital at Rambam that can handle 2,000 patients, or learning how Israel sets up field hospitals in disaster areas, demonstrated an amazing level of preparedness. I was also blown away by the maturity of Israeli young people. After investing 2-3 years in army service, they are problem solvers and team players who are ready to launch careers. We can learn from that.”

Dr. Zachary Bercu, Assistant Professor of Interventional Radiology at Emory, helped plan the trip along with Roey Shoshan, Federation’s Israel and Overseas Director. Dr. Bercu has lived in Israel, and his Israeli-American wife, Sivan, is a physician who specializes in geriatrics and palliative care. “I wanted this group to witness the unusual drive and creativity of Israel’s medical innovation infrastructure and take that spirit home,” he said. “Between Emory and Georgia Tech we already have an incredible innovation ecosystem in Atlanta. Trips like this one help deepen our professional relationships, and the possibilities for future medical innovation are exciting.”

Starla Longfellow, Director of Technology & Innovation at Emory Healthcare, Department of Radiology, was struck by Israel’s capacity to handle adversity. “Visiting the Israel Trauma Center, we saw that Israel uniquely understands trauma and PTSD and shares that knowledge with communities in crisis around the world,” she said. Asked why Israel is known as Startup Nation, Longfellow said her biggest takeaway from the trip was that “Israelis always figure out a way to say ‘yes.’ In the U.S. we often unconsciously look for ways to say ‘no.’ But it’s in the Israeli culture to make the impossible possible.”

The medical mission was such a hit that a second trip is planned for next year, possibly timed to coincide with Israel’s annual Innovation in Cardiology Intervention (ICI). “We met with top level ICI presenters on our trip,” said Dr. Bercu. “It brought us closer to the people who are on the forefront of change, and next year I hope to have twice as many people on the mission.”

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In Atlanta Jewish Community, Young Leadership Division

40 Under 40 Trip to Israel

Our 40 Under 40 Mission to Israel is Federation’s first trip of its kind. Right before Rosh Hashanah, 40 talented young adults will embark on a week-long journey throughout Israel and experience dimensions seldomly explored on a mission. These participants from our NextGen community are a diverse mix of recent college grads living Intown and those just beginning their professional careers; young parents and single professionals working in fields like law, medicine, finance, non-profit, marketing and more. Eight have never been to Israel before, eighteen are Birthright alumni — more than half of whom have not been back since. They want to deepen their connections to Israel and to the Jewish community in Atlanta when they return. They’ve met in advance and prepped for the trip, knowing they’ll be encountering Israel’s innovation leaders in tech, business, government, and spirituality. In addition to experiencing the beauty of Israel, they’re also ready to encounter the tough issues around pluralism and geo-politics that make everything in Israel “complicated.” We’re invested in building their leadership capacity and their advocacy for Israel and Jewish values.

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In Atlanta Jewish Community, Global News

I Found My Superpower in Israel

By Juli Itzkovitz, Creative Director at Federation

As I walked through Tel Aviv this spring, traffic humming, Israeli flags waving in the wind, it dawned on me that I was walking through a modern city built on timeless Jewish values. This insight is where my journey of self-discovery began, on the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project trip. Though JWRP has now been officially rebranded as Momentum, the goal is the same — to empower women to change the world by connecting with the deeply Jewish values that transform ourselves, our families, and our communities.

On Momentum I accepted the challenge of changing the world, realizing that in order to do that I needed to change myself.  The amazing result was that during my time in Israel, I discovered a courage I never knew I had, and it became my superpower.

On this trip to Israel I found:

  • Courage to travel to Israel with 40 women I had never met before. Courage to talk publicly about the amazing work Federation does in Yokneam. Courage to cry with others at Yad Vashem.
  • I found the courage to touch the wall at the Kotel and accept the incredible energy I felt. I found the courage to stand and speak and become a bat mitzvah, an experience I never had as a child.
  • I found the courage to intimately share my fears, hopes, dreams, challenges and victories with strangers who had become confidants and friends.
  • I found the courage to let myself celebrate and embrace being Jewish and to accept my brand new feelings and appreciation of Israel.
  • Courage to take on a leadership role; courage to stand up for values I hold dear; courage to be vulnerable and authentic and to lead a life based on integrity and core values.
  • Since my return to my life as I know it, I have brought this newfound courage home to Atlanta. I now have the courage to accept and talk about where I have been and where I now need to be going; the courage to be quiet and listen; the courage to step out of my comfort zone
  • I also found courage to abandon ideas that no longer serve me.

Thank you, Momentum for providing the momentum to grow and change.

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In Atlanta Birthright Community Trips, Atlanta Jewish Community, Young Leadership Division

I Honestly Didn’t Want To Leave

When I signed up for my Taglit-Birthright Israel trip, I hadn’t thought much about being Jewish since my bar mitzvah at Temple Kol Emeth. My college years at Georgia Tech had been about the usual stuff – studying, football, swim team, and my friends. This Birthright trip touched me in ways I didn’t expect. I honestly didn’t want to leave.

I’m too tall to sleep well on an airplane, so when we landed in Israel I was exhausted. But I couldn’t sleep. On the bus to Tiberius I kept looking out the window – Israel is so lush and green!

After spending a few days up North, my group headed to Jerusalem to celebrate Shabbat, my favorite experience of the trip. During this sacred time, six people on my trip, some of whom had never even been to synagogue, celebrated their bar/bat mitzvahs. They learned the Torah blessings, studied the Torah portion and prepared personal stories about what this experience meant to them. One participant wore his grandfather’s tallit for the service. It really heightened my awareness of what being Jewish means to me; even my thoughts about Judaism and marriage are evolving now. It’s important to me to raise Jewish kids.

This fall, I’ll be starting dental school at University of Florida. There’s an active Hillel on campus and I can join the International Jewish dental fraternity, Alpha Omega. Birthright was my first trip to Israel, but I hope it won’t be my last.

Federation, in partnership with Birthright Israel Foundation, invests in subsidized Birthright Israel trips for young adults (ages 22-26) to deepen their Jewish identity and build lifetime connections to Israel.

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In Atlanta Birthright Community Trips, Atlanta Jewish Community, Young Leadership Division

Leadership Lessons on Birthright

Five years ago, Maddie Cook traveled to Israel with Birthright Israel Atlanta. Her encounter with Israel came full circle when she became a leader on our 2019 Summer Birthright trip. Curiosity about Israel drove Maddie to sign up for her first trip. Creating community was her motivation to lead one.

“Growing up Jewish, I often felt like an odd one out, but traveling to Israel and experiencing it with people like me was incredibly comforting. Experiencing Birthright with people like me from Atlanta created a built-in community I never realized I had.”

“There were several new activities on this past Atlanta Birthright trip that were not part of my original trip. Some favorite additions include rafting down the Jordan River and visiting Buza Ice Cream Parlor, an Arab-Jewish collaboration in the Galilee Region. Not only does it represent a beautiful story and partnership, but the ice cream is delicious.”

“Our time in Yokneam, Atlanta’s Partnership city, was very memorable. On my first visit, we only were there for an evening event. This time, we played soccer with kids from one of the local schools. Soccer is truly the international sport and ultimate language barrier breaker. In no time, we were laughing and playing with the kids. This part of the trip was a favorite among the group.”

“Staffing an Atlanta Birthright trip was perhaps even more rewarding than my first visit. I had the chance to shape and guide others experiencing Israel and exploring their Jewish identities. The relationships that developed over our ten days in Israel have now come stateside, and that’s not always an easy thing to do. It brings a smile to my face seeing people from our trip make plans to socialize, do Shabbat dinners, and work on the itineraries for the Israeli soldiers visiting Atlanta in the coming months.”

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In Atlanta Birthright Community Trips, Atlanta Jewish Community, Jewish Journeys, Young Leadership Division

What Does Secular Judaism Mean?

Robin in isreal - jewish atlanta

By: Robin Glaubman

Just six weeks ago I traveled to Israel for the first time with 38 strangers on Atlanta’s Birthright Israel summer trip. Quite honestly, I’d never been around so many Jews in my life! I grew up never going to synagogue, attending one Passover seder, one bar mitzvah, and the only Jewish holiday we ever celebrated was Hanukkah. Still, I have always strongly identified as Jewish. I’ve called myself a Heritage Jew, meaning that I was not a religious Jew. The concept of being a “secular” Jew wasn’t even part of my vocabulary. I didn’t realize before the trip that it was yet another way to be Jewish.

Our Birthright bus ranged from people who attended synagogue every week and spoke Hebrew, to myself and eight others who struggled through a phonetic pronunciation of the Torah blessings during our bar/bat mitzvah ceremonies in Jerusalem, and just about every shade of observance in between. When we arrived in Israel we were told to make the trip about ourselves. Not to be self-absorbed, but to make sure we were experiencing our own authentic Jewish journey.  It was good advice. I never felt like my opinion wasn’t valid or didn’t want to be heard. I never felt like any less of a Jew than anyone else on the trip.

One night I had a conversation with a fellow secular Jew that really stands out in my mind. We were debating what were the most important aspects of being Jewish. Raising Jewish families? Supporting Israel? Studying Torah? His ideas startled me. And his definition of what is a secular Jew challenged me deeply.

For many years growing up he’d attended a havurah, which I learned is not a synagogue, but a group of people who get together for Shabbat and holidays, usually without a rabbi. He spoke some Hebrew, and he had a bar mitzvah at age thirteen. This shocked me! How could you call yourself a secular Jew and be so involved, so connected to Judaism as a religion. His definition of secular vs. religious hinged on whether or not a person believes in G-d.  He also implied that he could not be considered ‘religious’ because he was not Orthodox. This too shocked me. Growing up he was surrounded by Orthodox Jews, so that was what religious Judaism looked like to him.

To me, he was one of the most Jewishly connected people I’d ever met. I may have been one of the least connected Jews he’d ever met. And yet here we were in Israel, on a trip for Jewish young adults, attempting to reconcile some very macro-level questions of what it means to be Jewish. These were big conversations for me. And they’re big conversations for all of us.

While each day of Birthright was filled with a whirlwind of hikes, history lessons, monuments, water activities and limitless information, this conversation remains my biggest takeaway. There are no bad Jews. There are no lesser Jews. We all do Judaism differently and we all do it right. By making the trip about my own Jewish journey, I found a place in Judaism that I could call my own.

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community

Three Questions for Kelly Cohen

Q:  How did your background as a Judaic Studies teacher prepare you to lead JumpSpark?

Kelly: One of the most amazing parts of being the Director of JumpSpark is being able to grow with the teens and families of teens in our community. I spent my first six years in Atlanta working at The Davis Academy, and now so many of the kids I taught in elementary school are the teens JumpSpark serves. My work as a Jewish educator has taught me that there are a million ways to connect to Judaism and Jewish tradition, and that my role is to be a guide on that journey of connection. To be a part of a teen’s or a family’s Jewish journey for almost a decade is one of the true pleasures of my work and I am so happy I get to do it now with JumpSpark.

Q: What do you mean when you say, “JumpSpark creates more defining moments for Jewish teens?”

Kelly: The teenage years are crucial in terms of identity exploration and growth. I was a very active NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) member when I was a teen and even spent the first semester of my senior year of high school studying abroad in Israel. Those were defining Jewish moments for me that set me on the path to be a Jewish educator and a committed member of the Jewish community. JumpSpark wants to help teens to have their own defining Jewish moments that hopefully connect them to the Jewish community. We know that a one-size-fits-all model isn’t going to work for all teens, so JumpSpark is working to build and fund new ways to create those moments for teens today.

Q: What can we expect from JumpSpark in the 2019-20 school year?

Kelly: We have so much planned for next school year.  For teens we will be launching a new cohort of our Strong Women Fellowship and a new Teen Israel Taskforce. JumpSpark also just made a $260,000 investment in expanding and enriching the teen landscape, so keep your eyes open for new teen opportunities all around the city. Speaking of being all around the city, we are expanding our Navigating Parenthood series to three locations: Intown, Sandy Springs and Alpharetta, so more parents can gain the network, resources, and skills to parent teens today. Finally, we are expanding JumpSpark Professional and offering more high-level training and networking for the Jewish professionals in our community who work with teens. JumpSpark gained a lot of momentum this year and we are ready to take it to the next level in the coming school year.

jewishatl
In Atlanta Jewish Community, Jewish Journeys

Empowering Girls Through STEM

Despite the strides made in gender equality, it’s dispiriting to see how many young girls still avoid math and science classes. By the time these girls get to high school, their lack of exposure to STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) can foreclose exciting educational and career opportunities. Today, women make up nearly half of the working population, but only 26% work in STEM fields. That’s why Atlanta Jewish Academy (AJA), in partnership with JumpSpark, and with grant support from Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta (JWFA), created the Young Women in STEM Career Fair, held March 17 at AJA. The goal was to open doors for 8th-12th grade girls through mini-classes and face-to-face networking opportunities in STEM subjects.

“Female role models are so important,” said Rivka Monheit, an AJA parent who chaired the Program Committee. She’s just one of the parents who reached deep into her Rolodex to find professional women to would share their passion for science and math with young high school women and become potential mentors. Monheit is a patent attorney who advises chemical firms and puts her science background to work every day. She is passionate about exposing girls to STEM early, so that if they do pursue science careers, they don’t fall into the so-called leaky pipeline. “There’s a 50% drop out rate of women leaving science careers or simply not advancing,” Monheit says. “We want to help girls get the right training and plot their course.”

The STEM Career Fair definitely lit a spark with AJA students. “The Young Women in STEM event was extremely empowering! I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, but I never knew I wanted to be a doctor. This event gave me the courage and empowerment to keep going on and live up to my dreams with the strength of being a woman,” said Tali Feen, an AJA Upper School Student.

The mentors were similarly enthusiastic. Dr. Amanda Cooper Cohn, a Senior Advisor for Vaccines at CDC said, “I loved being at the Young Women in STEM Career fair both as a mother with my two teenage daughters and as a mentor.  Seeing the girls engaged with a variety of STEM professionals made me realize the world of opportunity is so much bigger for these girls than it was for me, which is exciting but also underscores the importance of mentoring girls through the process of entering STEM professions.  All the girls were curious, engaged, and interested in careers where they can make an impact. I also loved sharing my own path as well as hearing about the paths of the other amazing STEM volunteers at the fair.”

The STEM Fair was also the kick-off of a mentoring program for girls that will launch next school year. JumpSpark is the lead partner on this aspect of the initiative and is accepting applications that will match girls with STEM mentors. Find out more and apply here. Girls from any school are invited to apply. Applications are open now through April 17. Mentees will be notified June 2019.

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