FEDERATION

.Federation Commentary An honor to raise money on behalf of Federation

By Jesse Feld

Director, Development & Engagement

Five years ago, my wife, Anna, and I made the decision to move to Richmond, so I could continue my Jewish communal career with the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond. We didn’t have any family or friends in Richmond, and the truth was we had The officers, Boardof oard of direcTorsand irecT sTaff only spent a couple of days here. ofThe JeWish communiTy federaTionof richmond

Friends would ask, “Aren’t you nervous to move to a place where you don’t know anyone?” And, although we knew This year, of course, is not like ev- stronger. we’d miss the community we were leav- ery other year. However, our mission is For more about Community Chroning, our answer was often, “no, with a Jewish community that strong, we know we’ll be surrounded by great people.” Luckily for us, we were right. I’ve always been proud to be Jewish, and being able to carry that pride has always been easy for me. The pride and ease that I’m lucky enough to feel is directly linked to the work of Jewish Federations. The Jewish preschool, day school, overnight camp, teen movements and Hillel program that helped to shape whom I am today, were all supported by community dollars to the Jewish Federation. Working for, donating to, and raising money on behalf of our Jewish Community Federation of Richmond is a distinct honor that means so much to me Jesse Feld . JCFR Photo every year, and feels even more important during these di cult times we’ve been facing. This being the Federation’s 85th year, makes it so evident the Federation is ‘here for good.’ Both here to stay, and here to do good in, and for our community. Every year, we ask each community member to make a donation to the Federation’s Annual Campaign. Every year, these gifts help sustain historical entities that represent the backbone of our Jewish community, build exciting and innovative ideas to work toward an even more vibrant Jewish future, and support the vulnerable to ensure all members of our community can live with dignity. our constant. Sustaining, building and supporting the Jewish community is more relevant than ever, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Our organized Jewish community is not immune to the fi nancial uncertainty that has a ected so many. That’s why this year, we are asking everyone to make a donation, and ensure that our community continues to build from strength to strength. Making a gift today has never been easier. You can visit our website at: jewishrichmond.org or send me an email at jfeld@jewishrichmond.org. My family’s decision to move to Richmond fi ve years ago was an easy one because of the strength of this Jewish community. With a little Tzedakah, you have the power to make it even How good & pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity. The Refl ector is published monthly by the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond. Copy must be received two-and-a-half weeks prior to the date of publication. The Refl ector reserves the right to edit or refuse any copy or advertisement submitted. Views expressed by guest writers and reader’s letters do not necessarily REFLECTORTHE icles and the Annual Campaign, contact Federation Director of Development Jesse Feld at jfeld@jewishrichmond.org. Happy Hanukkah. refl ect the opinion of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond. VIRTUAL SUPER SUNDAY Call for information about advertising in The Refl ector at 545-8655. Acceptance of advertising does not endorse or guarantee Kashruth. Ellen Renee Adams, President Daniel Staff enberg, Chief Executive Offi cer December 6 Raymond (Skip) Kozakewicz, Editor Sara Rosenbaum, Director of Impact and Community Planning Jesse Feld, Director of Development and 10 A.M. - 1 P.M. Engagement David Cohen, Director, Jewish Community Relations Meghan Kelly, Marketing Manager

PLEASE ANSWER THE CALL YOUR GIFT HELPS JEWS IN RICHMOND, IN ISRAEL AND AROUND THE WORLD

Jewish Community Federation OF RICHMOND 5403 Monument Avenue • Richmond, VA 23226 (804) 545-8620 Email: refl ector@jewishrichmond.org

.Federation Happenings

Federation community investments make a significant impact

Around the world, attacks against Jewish ter Jewish Community into the program, ensur- over $457,000 in Homeland Security Grants (a communities and institutions are on the rise. ing resources are maximized throughout Central four-fold increase over previous achievements) From anti-Israel vitriol on American campuses to Virginia. Together we are fostering a culture of • 30 Law Enforcement briefings and meetings desecrated religious centers in Europe, and even empowerment, collaboration and vigilance, en- • Responded to 29 incidents of concern or Daniel Sta enberg threats right here in Richmond, Jews have be- suring all Jewish organizations operate safely and security issues Chief Executive O cer come targets of extremism. securely. • Trained 182 members of our community Jewish Community These new threat levels have compelled the Last December, the program took a huge during 12 training sessions including Stop the Federation of Richmond Jewish community to think di erently about secu- step forward, welcoming the community’s first Bleed, Greeter/Usher and Active Threat training rity. Safety and security of the Jewish community Regional Security Advisor, Dave Brackins. Dave Having a Regional Security Advisor locally is has long been of primary importance to the Jew- leads our program serving as a single-point of a vital element of Federation’s collaboration with ish Community Federation of Richmond. A year contact for critical incident coordination, infor- SCN, the o cial safety and security organization ago, our Federation took a regional and national mation and intelligence sharing, safety and secu- of the American Jewish community, as all work leadership role in responding to these concerns. rity training and resources for Jewish Richmond together to create a knowledge and security safety Thanks to investments from donors and our and Central Virginia. net here in Richmond. Annual Campaign, Federation launched the first As we come upon the one-year anniversary of To learn more about the program, contribute Federation regional security program in the U.S., the program, there is much to be proud of with to our Security Fund or arrange a security trainpartnering with Secure Community Network these impressive results: ing for your group or organization, please reach (SCN) and United Jewish Community of the Vir- • 176 security consultations completed out to Dave at dbrackins@jewishrichmond.org, ginia Peninsula to launch the initiative. In recent • 17 security assessments completed, resulting Feel free to reach out to me at . months, we were excited to welcome the Tidewa- in partner Agencies and Synagogues receiving daniel@jewishrichmond.org. Rabbi Reflection The real hero of Hanukkah is hope

Rabbi Hugo Gryn, a Holocaust Survivor who grew to become a promishould rightly lead one to believe otherwise. This definition makes hope sound greatly outnumbered and outmatched. Hope is why some anonymous Temple

nent British Rabbi, once told a story about the time he shared a barrack in Auschwitz with his father:

In spite of the unspeakable horror, oppression and hardship, many Jews held onto what scraps of Jewish religious observance as they were able. One midwinter evening one of the inmates reminded us that tonight was the first night of Chanukah, the festival of lights. My father constructed a little Chanukah Menorah out of scrap metal. For a wick, he took some threads from his prison uniform. For oil, he used some butter that he somehow obtained from a guard. Such observances were strictly ‘verboten,’ but we were used to taking risks. Rather, I protested at the ‘waste’of precious calories. Would it not be better to share the butter on a crust of bread than burn it? “Hugo,” said my father, “both you and I know that a person can live a very long time without food. But Hugo, I tell you, a person cannot live a single day without hope.”

Hope, of course, is the expectation that something good will happen, even though past experience or present circumstance like delusional fantasy. It’s not. Hope is a perspective we can choose to adopt about our experiences, a posture that helps us determine the next best course of action. Only if we choose to hope when looking at pervasive and stubborn negative circumstances in our lives and world, only if we believe that brokenness is not inevitable, will we remain committed to doing what is necessary to pursue a better future. On the other hand, when we despair, our spirits wither, our passions wane, and we leave things as they are, compounding upon their inevitability.

That’s why neither great warriors nor long-lasting oil jugs are the real heroes of Hanukkah. The real hero of Hanukkah is hope. Hope is what empowered a motley crew of rural priests to rebel against the mighty Greek King Antiochus IV and his far more powerful army. Hope is what encouraged those Maccabees to persist in their struggle for freedom even though Priest hid a cruse of kosher oil while the Greeks controlled and defiled the Temple, with the expectation that, one day the Menorah would be relit. And hope is why the Maccabees poured the contents of their only oil cruse into the Menorah, even though they needed an 8 day supply. Without hope, there would be no Hanukkah, and there would be no Judaism. So the lights we kindle on Hanukkah are flames of hope, essential for illuminating a dark world. “A person cannot live a single day without hope.” So often, it can feel that there is too much darkness in our lives and in our world to repair. The pandemic, economic crisis, uprising for Black Lives, tumultuous election season have, for many of us, only exacerbated those feelings. This wild year has given us plenty of reasons to despair. But Judaism insists we work to make our world a more compassionate, just, and peaceful place. If that’s our task, then

Rabbi Michael Knopf

Temple Beth-El File Photo nothing is more important than hope. Only through hope, only through believing that our lives and our world can be repaired despite prevalent and stubborn brokenness, will we remain committed to doing what is necessary to fix it. As Rabbi Gryn’s father put it, “Never let it go out. Not here. Not anywhere.”

.Federation Happenings

Answer the Call on Super Sunday: Dec. 6

Join the community on Sunday, Dec. 6 from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. to make and answer the call on Virtual Super Sunday to support the work of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond.

A host of 2021 Annual Campaign volunteers hope to reach 1,000 community members by making calls from the safety of their homes.

Your gift to the 2021 Annual Campaign supports Jews in our community, in Israel and around the world. This year has been tough for many in our community as we continue to struggle with the uncertainty unleashed by COVID-19 as well as the accompanying economic turmoil. The Federation has stepped forward and assisted our local Agencies with their unexpected needs during these tough times.

On Super Sunday your phone conversation can make a di erence in the lives of Jews in our community, in Israel, and around the world. Work with other Federation volunteers and help us make a positive impact in someone’s life.

To volunteer, contact Jesse Feld at jfeld@jewishrichmond.org or call (804) 545-8623.

To make a gift to the 2021 Annual Campaign, contact Jesse Feld, Federation director of development and engagement, at (804) 545-8623 or jfeld@jewishrichmond.org.

Pictured are a few more of our Super Sunday volunteers from past years. This year, Federation volunteers will be call-

ing from the safety of their homes. JCFR Photos

New Digital Refl ector We are working on an enhanced digital Refl ector that will work well on Smartphones, tablets and other devices. This new digital publication will have all the up-to-date news and information on the community, Agencies, Synagogues and more. The Digital Refl ector will supplement our printed newspaper. Scheduled to launch in January! To be the fi rst to try it out in January, email Refl ector Editor Skip Kozakewicz at skozakewicz@refl ector.org

David Cohen

Director - Jewish Community Relations Jewish Community Federation of Richmond

As the fall election season approached, the community relations fi eld was focused intently on the idea of “the center.” This was in response to what has been aptly described as the “polarization” gripping our country, our Richmond community – and most defi nitely the Jewish community.

As election results came in during the week of November 3rd, and it looked like we may have a Presidential transition, many people spoke a great deal about how our divided country needed to be brought together – to fi nd its center.

However, as the election results began to indicate a winner – we discovered not everyone seemed interested in this ephemeral center. And so, we found ourselves at another infl ection point.

This moment revealed what many already knew - that our election season was not just about disagreement, but also about seeing each other as polar opposites. The rhetoric and ideology of our polarization not only pitted one side against another, but it also framed the divide as good against evil. For many, this had been the frame for many years.

Students of history are well aware that this “iframe” is actually a consistent one in our political discourse The Civil War itself, Populism, Progressivism, the Red Scare, the McCarthy hearings, the 60s, the 80s – these have all been moments in our political history when it seemed as if the forces of evil were pitted against the forces of good.

For each side in this battle you could say it was either a foreign, liberal evil pitted against an American good, while the corollary would say an extreme, nativist, nationalism was pitted against a liberal communitarian good.

In the Jewish community, we often use the lessons of the Holocaust to frame how we see this battle. We all speak about Nazi Germany as the case study for the rise of fascism, the use of propaganda, and the scapegoating of “the other.”

In our modern Jewish world, however, there is no agreement on which of our political groupings is the exemplar and legacy of the Nazi era. For many of us, it is the people in the other group who are the fascists.

Because our community does often rely on the lessons of the Holocaust, we are also very sensitive to times when a leader engages in rhetoric or proposes policies that bring those times into stark contrast with our modern life as a diaspora community.

This is to simply say that even many of my conservative friends admit that President Trump is not their ideal candidate nor their ideal model of leadership – and that yes, he does often engage in such rhetoric.

Many Federations have felt compelled to make note of this in the most respectful of ways. But honestly, the more important point here is not what one man says or believes – but what the people who support him say and believe. And I do not mean that as a critique of them – because this President was so much more than his problematic rhetoric.

If those who voted against the current President do not acknowledge the down ticket success of the GOP and take to heart their complaints about the left or the far left – we will have missed any opportunity to fi nd that elusive center.

On the fl ip side of that coin, I would ask my conservative friends and colleagues to see if there is any way to disagree with the left or the Democratic party without demonizing it. As this article is being written, the President just retweeted a tweet from the Dean of Virginia Wesleyan University who wrote “anyone who chose Biden for president is ‘ignorant, antiAmerican, and anti-Christian.’”

I will likely never change this person’s mind, nor will my articles have any impact on him or anyone who thinks similarly. But I don’t believe this point of view should be the focus of our hard work ahead.

I have always believed that our country is made up of fringes and centers. At times of great turmoil, the fringes are amplifi ed and overshadow the well-meaning people at the center – this author’s version of the silent majority.

I do believe there were times when fewer di erences existed between left and right - when it was just a matter of how much people would be taxed and not that taxes were evil.

When it was a matter of how much to spend on healing the environment, not that the environment was just fi ne. When it seemed that immigrants were a valuable and necessary part of our society – but that we should clearly have a transparent process and limits.

This seems to be the conservative party of John McCain and the Democratic Party of Tip O’Neill. But those subtle differences clearly were not enough to bring out the fringes of each party enough to sway elections. And so – our polarization became entrenched.

But if we believe the movement that elected Donald Trump was all about racism and white supremacy, we would be making a very big mistake. Just as it would also be a mistake to say those fringe voices were not emboldened. Similarly, to say the Democratic party is the party of Marxists, communists, and the radical left is a mistake. But to say there isn’t a farleft message that millions of people in this country do not relate to – this would also be a mistake.

The question is whether there is any desire to admit that these fringe opinions of each other have driven us to this polarization. Our choice is about whether we choose to even fi nd value in the center? Do enough of us see that our community and our country may be a better one with less passionate extremism and more moderate compromise? Isn’t this the kind of compromise we celebrate and encourage in other countries?

Speaking of other countries, this polarization clearly applies to the American Jewish community’s view of Israel as well. Over the centuries, the Jewish community has done a very good job at debating Torah. But when it comes to debating Israel, we don’t seem to have the same tolerance for divergent points of view.

It is no longer about a slight di erence of policy from one candidate to the other – but that one is the best there has ever been on Israel and the other will lead to

Continued from page 6

to Israel’s destruction. Is this not another example of the fringe driving the debate - the tail wagging the dog?

What is ironic is that one of the things criticized most about the Palestinian leadership is their “maximalist” positions.

To want everything or nothing is said to be unreasonable and unproductive. So, what about how our candidates and parties must view Israel? Do they have the luxury a orded to the Israeli public – to hold positions that include critique, candor, and vigorous debate – but always with an unbending support for the country itself?

Both parties will be and should always be vigilant of anti-Israel based anti-Semitism. But is there a way for us to return to a time when bi-partisan support for Israel was seen as of prime importance? That will be the question we will have to answer in the months and years to come.

And in terms of the larger work for our community – and the country – we must admit the work ahead is a noble endeavor that acknowledges and appreciates the interests and needs of the other side.

And as we recognize that – as our founding fathers and mothers did – we must also stand vigilant against an extremism and vitriol that could permanently damage our democracy and our future.

I would simply ask that if any of this work seems right and just, that you see the value in working toward a louder and stronger center. And if you do – then this is the work that needs more adherents, followers, and friends.

Will you join us?

Feel free to reach out to me at dcohen@jewishrichmond.org.

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