JCC State of Mind - December 8, 2023

Last night in partnership with the?Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the JCC hosted?Light the World, a community-wide candle lighting in celebration of the first night of Chanukah and an opportunity to hear from Israeli survivors of the October 7 Hamas attack. Pittsburgh was the first community to host a delegation of our Israeli neighbors who were selected through a joint venture of?the Zionist Enterprises Department,?the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs?and?the JCC Association?for the way they stood up to evil in the face of incredible challenge and adversity on that fateful day. Each of their stores had elements of horror, confusion, unimaginable risk, agonizing delays, loneliness and terror, and those in attendance hung on our guests’ every word.

The ghastly tales, however, were tempered by moments of optimism and compassion. Take for example when survivors and the families of those lost at the 2018 synagogue shooting stood together with the Israelis to light the chanukiah or when, similar to the way that Mr. Rogers spoke about finding the helpers, Shani Teshuva from?Kibbutz Zikim?encouraged us all to look for the rays of light no matter how much darkness fills our days. Or when the shinshinim from our?Partenrship2Gether?region of Karmiel/Misgav stood in front of Levinson Hall and, as they have done so many times for our community since October 7, once again led us in the recitation of?Hatikvah.?Throughout the evening, I found myself struggling with a wide range of emotions, as was very much the case during my recent trip to Israel with 12 other JCC executives from across the country when we saw firsthand the impact of the atrocities of October 7 and also heard stories about and helped create moments of incredible inspiration and hope.

The truth of the matter was that I had arrived in Israel only having given myself permission to feel the sadness, the anger, the despair. But at the midpoint of our trip, when we met with?Rabbi Doron Perez?from the Mizrachi World Movement, I was given a gift that will stay with me forever – the gift of?gam v’gam.?We can be and feel things that seem contrary to one another. Rabbi Perez, whose one son fighting in the IDF was to be married in late October and whose second son, also fighting in the IDF, was taken hostage on October 7, gave us all permission to make space for contradicting emotions.

So, as we continue to make our way through these days of uncertainty and complexity, I encourage us all to be fully present in the moment and to feel whatever it is that we are feeling. Afterall, as Rabbi Perez insisted, this is what makes us human.

Wishing you and your families a Shabbat shalom

Jason