From the Desk of the Executive Director
There's a popular phrase going around at the beginning of articles and long emails--"Too long/Didn't Read" or "TL/DR" for short. For those who are unfamiliar, it's a playfully-intended way of saying "here's a summary of the rest in case you find yourself just too overwhelmed right now to read this in full." Rabbi Aimee taught me "TL/DR" a few years ago, and while in my role as Executive Director I've more often preferred to simply put a bulleted list at the top of long emails so as not to confuse those who don't know the shorthand, in honor of Rabbi Aimee and the likelihood that we are all feeling overwhelmed right now, here we go:
TL/DR: It has been an extraordinarily difficult roller coaster in this community the past several weeks. But we are here, and we are not going anywhere. Let's keep showing up for each other.
We celebrated a beautiful High Holy Days season—attendance was the highest it's been in years, and the inspired, smiling faces I saw exiting services warmed my heart to no end. We had the highest turnouts perhaps in our history for Tashlich at the Arboretum and our Young Family Yom Kippur service-- the future is bright! We celebrated Sukkot together, gathering both at PJTC and in some of your backyards to connect and share a meal.
Then just before Simchat Torah, we received the horrific news out of Israel. We mourned. We prayed. We reached out to each other to check in. And we danced in defiance the next day at our intergenerational Simchat Torah celebration with 130 of you in attendance. We danced for those in Israel who could not. We danced to show our children and grandchildren Am Yisrael Chai, that the people of Israel live.
Last weekend we celebrated together as Leo Garroway became Bar Mitzvah. Another beautiful light to witness after such a dark week of further news of hostages and violence. Leo was brilliant in every way. And then, at the end of the service, the congregation learned that we had lost our beloved Rabbi Aimee Gerace after her fierce battle with cancer. This coming Sunday and Monday, we will come together to mourn this heart-breaking loss. Kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh—all of Israel is here for each other. We will mourn together. We will share stories together. We will show up for Rabbi Aimee's family and for each other.
The original topic of this Flame Newsletter article was to encourage you to be there for each other at our upcoming "Passing the Torch" event honoring Edie Taylor for her decades of volunteerism at PJTC, and honoring all those volunteers in our community who tirelessly show up for us. For the kiddos there will be a parallel program focused on volunteerism (with some bouncy houses just for fun!) and for the adults a wonderful luncheon prepared and sponsored by Sisterhood, entertainment, and more. If the roller coaster we have been on says anything, it's that there is a reason we choose to be part of a community—because that community stands together, catches each other, and lifts each other up. Let's join together to lift up our volunteers, and encourage the next generation to give their time and expertise to ensure we continue to thrive.
I look forward to seeing you soon.
Melissa Levy
Executive Director
