Shabbat Shalom -
Last night was Federation's Major Gifts event. What a lovely evening it was gathering 45 of our major donors to be reminded of how our sacred work saves lives and to enjoy one anothers company. It was my honor and privilege to meet many of our generous donors who I had not had the opportunity to meet prior to last night's program. A huge thank you to Alissa and Steve Korn for hosting the event in their beautiful home. The warmth in the air was palpable - for each other and for the fine work that we do for world Jewry.
I was struck by the pride with which people make their contributions to Federation. Earlier in the week I met with a donor who expressed such a sincere commitment to Federation. He explained that as long as his head is above water he will support Federation's mission. Another donor told me that she recognizes the complete centrality of Federation in our Jewish world and a third said that without Federation there is no community. These are three extraordinary people. They are our donors, the backbone of all that we can accomplish.
As I have mentioned in other emails, our work is sacred and we were reminded of this again last night by Julie Wise Oreck, our speaker who talked about being a federation donor and a federation recipient after Hurricane Katrina. While most of us are fortunate in that we have not needed to avail ourselves of the services provided by Federation, some of our donors locally have been recipients too. I was particularly struck by a story someone shared with me of how his family was saved because of the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) that American Jewry supports.
We are now living in a time when many people who thought they would never need the services of the Jewish community, who had been donors are in difficult situations having lost jobs and lost resources. As a community, how we help those in need through the difficult times shows our character. I am quite certain over the coming months we will continue to hear about Jews in need of food from local foods banks - as I heard about jut today. Or, we will learn of people needing help with finding employment or accessing services for the unemployed. Let's face it, most of us do not think about the fact that there are Jews right here in the Pioneer Valley struggling with hunger, unemployment and financial burden. But this is our reality today. It is our job to help Jews in our own backyard.
Kol Yisrael aravim zeh b'zeh: All Israel is responsible for one another is a direct translation of this quote. I like to read this and think think that we not only are we all responsible for one another, but we are also integral to each other. Whether we are raising funds at the Major Gifts event for Jews in the Pioneer Valley or for Jews in Israel, we are taking care of one another and our ability to make life better for someone else, is also about finding meaning in our own lives.
Let's be thankful right now that we are donors and that we have the privilege of taking care of each other.
Meredith
