Erin Coleman, a member of the Jewish Federation of North America National Young Leadership Cabinet, traveled to Latvia and Hungary on a mission trip.
On Sunday, April 16, West End Synagogue members spread out across Nashville to work on community service projects. They included the Urban Farm at Glencliff High School that grows vegetables for the Nashville Food Project; Mill Ridge Garden, a Nashville Food Project garden; a Habitat for Humanity build; MNPS H.E.R.O. program, sorting donations for homeless students; Project C.U.R.E., sorting donated medical equipment and supplies for under resourced countries; and meal preparation for Room in the Inn’s downtown campus.
As the 5783 school year draws to a close, I am reflecting on the power of perspective that only travel can provide for our students. After the long pause of the pandemic, we finally hit the road again, returning to New York and Washington D.C. with our high schoolers, and to Whitwell, TN and Montgomery, AL with our 7th and 8th graders.
Last month I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Israel for the very first time in my life. For many years, I had planned on attending Birthright with my best friend Jake, and for many years, our plans fell through for one reason or another. It seemed like a stroke of fate when I learned that I was eligible for a trip to Israel as a summer camp professional to represent Camp Davis and Nashville at the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI)’s annual shlichim training.
The Nashville Jewish Book Series 2023 season is coming to an end, but we still have one more in-person and one more virtual event to close the series.
Members of Tennessee’s legislature, community leaders, and clergy, joined Israel’s Consul General to the Southeastern United States in celebration of Israel’s 75th birthday. Led by Senator Mark Pody (TN-17), the event included prayers, the blowing of a shofar, the singing of Hatikvah and The Star Spangled Banner. Israel’s Consul General Anat Sultan-Dadon shared historic insights about the development of the Jewish state. “When U.S President Harry Truman first recognized the creation of the Jewish state, five percent of our people lived there. Today, 47 percent of our people now live in Israel.” She highlighted Israel’s leadership as a technology hub, “Israel is the start-up nation. We are second only to the Silicon Valley.”
Twenty students from Akiva and the Jewish Middle School spent three days in March visiting the nation’s capital, exploring the vibrant landmarks, monuments, and museums of Washington, D.C. During their trip students toured both the White House and Capitol, visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, took an underground tour of the labs at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and enjoyed a night tour of the National Monuments and Memorials. Adding to the inherent charm of D.C., the trip also landed right in the middle of the famed cherry blossom season, and students had the opportunity to take in the myriad of pink blossoms enveloping the Tidal Basin and National Monuments.
Affordable housing and transportation are among the most pressing issues facing Metropolitan Nashville. The Nashville Jewish Social Justice Roundtable will present a mayoral candidate forum in which the candidates will be asked to present their plans for tackling these issues. The forum will be on Thursday, June 1, from 7-9 p.m., at West End Synagogue. Co-sponsors include The Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Committee; the Social Justice Committees of Congregation Micah, The Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom, Congregation Sherith Israel and West End Synagogue; The West Nashville Clergy Group; and AMAC (The American Muslim Advisory Committee).
Israel is just about to turn 75 years old, and The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville is celebrating the occasion with three fun, community wide events.
On one of Nashville’s darkest days, a light shone in the sanctuary of West End Synagogue. As the city was still reeling from the murder of six people at Nashville’s Covenant School a day earlier, Jewish congregants, community leaders, and members of the Islamic Center of Nashville joined together to pray, to learn, and to break bread. The event had been planned for months. It was the second time Jews and Muslims would gather during Ramadan to share an Iftar, the main meal during the fasting day. But when the day finally came, it was a celebration against the backdrop of a city in pain. Rabbi Joshua Kullock, of West End Synagogue, said, “Coming after a very difficult day, an event like this won’t solve all the problems, but it is a step in the right direction.”
In her provocatively titled book, People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present, author Dara Horn delves into the notion that the world prefers stories about Jewish tragedy, like the Holocaust, rather than addressing the very real and current rise of antisemitism. “The central problem the book is exploring is the role dead Jews play in a wider society’s imagination,” says Horn.
The Nashville Chapter of Hadassah held its annual Installation of Officers and Board on February 28th at the GJCC.The evening was organized by board member Marsha Jaffa, who also provided many of the delicious dessert selections. The Installation ceremony was conducted by Edria Ragosin, a past president of both the chapter and Southern Region. The new board is chaired by Co-Presidents Mindy Drongowski and Beth Wise. To join or learn more about the chapter, please email nashville@hadassah.org
Serving as the Executive Director of Jewish Family Service lets me see over and over how our amazingly special Jewish community comes together so often to support one another, in good times and in bad.
Are you looking for a Mah Jongg game? Come solo or with friends to join Mah Jongg guru Michelle Tishler and the Gordon JCC in partnership with Asian and Pacific Islanders of Middle Tennessee for the Flower Power Mah Jongg Tournament happening May 10 from 11am-3:30PM. The fun-filled tournament day will include noshes, coffee, lunch, prizes, and some surprises.
