JDC Voices

I’m grateful to JDC for having such an important mission and working hard to help Jews around the world like, once upon a time, my grandmother.

The support of American Jews, at this crucial times are so needed and so greatly appreciated by those of us who understand well the realities – both the challenges and the opportunities – in Hungary right now.

My route to JDC was less direct than others I assume. I came from a very reform Jewish family in Boston area where history and tradition were important but we were not very observant.

This past weekend marked Lag B’Omer, the thirty-third day of the Omer, a light-hearted Jewish holiday that marks a break in the mourning customs associated with the counting of the seven-week period from Passover to Shavuot. Jews traditionally celebrate the holiday with outings, bonfires, weddings, and other community ceremonies.

We left Moscow at the crack of dawn this morning and headed out for a trek to the edge of Siberia to a town called Yekaterinburg. There are about 62,000 Jews in this rural central region of Russia, which comprises about 20% of Russia’s territory. This includes some 11,000 elderly Jews (many of whom are Holocaust survivors) that JDC supports with food, shelter, and medical assistance. JDC is also active in helping organize and sustain the Jewish community, including a variety of youth programs

I have known about and spoken about the amazing work JDC does on behalf of the Jews all over the world, but not until a recent trip with JDC Ambassadors to visit the Jewish Community in Cuba was I was able to witness the rebirth of a Jewish community first hand

As people around the world gear up to celebrate Earth Day on Saturday, April 22nd, the recent work that JDC, the Jewish Association of the Philippines (JAP), and Israel did by planting trees to absorb flood waters still present at the Mambusao Elementary School in the Philippines has important resonance.

The program helps families change old habits, make new healthier lifestyle choices and achieve their family goals.

Despite many challenges, including anti-Semitism and the rise of extremist nationalist groups, many Jews in Hungary are proud to express their Jewishness and we can support them and learn from their experiences.