It’s fairly easy to make me feel guilty — after all, I’m Jewish. But I’ve really been feeling guilty about not writing my blog over the last couple of months.  

One of the great privileges of writing this blog, and why I’ve missed writing it, is the opportunity to share with you ways in which your support through Federation makes a difference.

This is what you helped to make possible in just the last week:

Since the outbreak of violence in Kiev, our support of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee has allowed elderly Jews to receive food, medicine and most importantly, the human contact with the dedicated hesed workers who care for them, despite harrowing conditions.

On Friday, just before Shabbat, Federation wired $20,000 to a Jewish orphanage in Ukraine named Tikva Children’s Home, which is facing skyrocketing food costs and security concerns.

On Sunday, the Hebrew Academy of Morris County (and now known as the Gottesman RTW Academy), one of the four Jewish day schools supported by the Annual Campaign, held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new school building that will serve as a center for sustainability, purpose, and community.

Every day, your support of the Annual Campaign means that Jewish life is better, stronger, and safer than we ever could have dreamed of just a few decades ago.

And here is why the last few days are, to me, something close to a miracle.  

Seventy years ago, when Jews in Europe were hungry and needed to know that the rest of the Jewish community cared about them, we were not strong enough, or unified enough, to be there for them. Today, we are.  

Fifty years ago, the idea of a thriving, growing Jewish day school in Morris County was a dream in the hearts and minds of a few wonderful families. Today, it is a reality.

Because of your participation in the Annual Campaign, we can do many things at once. It’s like the philanthropic equivalent of patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time. We do that, because of you.  

Between now and mid-May, we are going to continue to change lives and save lives. We are going to focus on raising half a million dollars more than we originally projected for the Annual Campaign — so that we can make Jewish life better, stronger, and safer.  

Finally, I promise to find the time to share with you more of the moments and stories that I get to see. You deserve to see the impact you make.

See you back here soon –
Leslie

(Originally posted 3/4/14.)