Shabbat Shalom -

 
Shabbat shalom.  Many of you know that my family has been living in two different locations.  I am in Massachusetts with our 15 month old and my husband and two older children are still in Florida.  The older boys are finishing out the school year and the three of them will be coming up to Massachusetts in early June.

I traveled back to Jacksonville for the weekend so that everyone could be together for mother's day and it has been wonderful for all of us to be together. 

Spring has been so beautiful in the Pioneer Valley and I have been marveling at everything coming back to life from the cold winter.  As I arrived in Florida, I took a jump into summer and spent some of the afternoon with my children at the beach.  I have always been amazed by the vast ocean before me, the millions of grains of sand and all of the shark teeth my children are able to find.

From Massachusetts to Florida, to Israel and every place in between we are blessed with an interesting and unique world that in many ways is flawed but more so full of blessings.

As I am thinking about all of our blessings, I can't help but think about mother's day and the blessings we receive from our children and those we receive from our parents and grandparents.  We are also blessed with fruitful communities, with leaders who care and with people who are passionate about tzedakah. 

As I continue to write Shabbat messages I want to begin including vignettes about why you choose to be involved and to give so generously of your hard earned money and valuable time.  If you would share a story with me about why you give, I would love to pass these on to our community.  Some of us give because of life experiences, others because we have been taught to give by our parents, some give because they are asked and others because they want to perform a mitzvah.  Have you thought about why you give to Federation?  I would love to hear all of your reasons and I would love to pass your wisdom onto others.

This week we had two new donors who became lifetime donors by creating an endowment for their campaign contribution.  This is a Perpetual Annual Campaign Endowment (PACE).  I am quite certain there are wonderful reasons why our donors not only give now, but also desire to leave a  legacy to future generations.  Let's share those stories too.  All of the reasons we choose to give will serve to inspire others. I have always believed that what we say in words is so important, but what we do in deeds makes a lasting impression.

From Florida, I wish you a meaningful and happy shabbat and to all of the moms, aunts, sisters, grandmothers and anyone else who has a special relationship as a mom or with a mom, a very wonderful weekend full of blessings. 

 

Meredith

 

Sincerely,