JDC Voices

In the midst of a year of crisis, Brazilian Rabbi and Kaplan Leadership Fellow Ari Oliszewski considers what it means to be truly rich.

Nitza Kamil reflects on the women she serves as a social worker with JDC’s Families First program in Israel, and how their lives have changed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Andrew Williams learned about community and responsibility when he volunteered with JDC Entwine in Kharkiv in 2018-2019. When the pandemic struck, he jumped at the chance to continue volunteering, this time virtually.

In honor of Shabbat Shuvah (the “Shabbat of Repentance” between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur), Camp Szarvas Program Director Mina Pasajlic asks us to look forward toward new beginnings.

In honor of the High Holy Days, Rabbi Alex Braver shares a talmudic story of isolation and offers a contemporary complement — the story of Liudmila Starikovich, who has been unable to leave her home in Belarus for over a decade.

For a Yom Kippur unlike any other, Taryn Silver brings the Yizkor memorial service home, sharing her grandparents’ story of surviving the Holocaust and journeying to Australia. It’s one that inspired her to explore Jewish Europe and brought her back to her hometown of Melbourne.

In this final Elul reflection, JDC-Europe’s director of Jewish education considers three Jewish lessons we can take from the coronavirus pandemic.

JDC-Israel staff member Saeed Diabat has helped build a program to empower the Arab community in Israel with Hebrew language skills. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the program had to quickly adapt to the new reality.

Marina Gatskan grew up wondering about her grandparents’ lives in Moldova. As a JDC staff member, she delved into the archives and made an incredible discovery.

Rabbinical student and Weitzman–JDC Fellow Anna Calamaro traveled to Romania and Russia with JDC Entwine. Along the way, she discovered the power of opening ourselves up to one another, instead of closing ourselves in.