As our community wrestles with the many challenges that come with COVID-19, our Executive Director, Scott Braswell, reminds us that gratefulness is a part of resiliency and that we will get through this together. 

Friends,

Below you will find my weekly Shabbat gratitude remarks that I shared with the staff on our weekly All-Staff Shabbat call. We had a beautiful Shabbat call today with over 83 people, highlighted by Joel and Chelsea Block (plus their beautiful children, minus Elliot who was napping) leading us in the Shabbat blessings and members of the Block and Matros families joining us as well.

Today I am grateful for blood… I know another strange thing to be grateful for but stick with me on this.

Many of us know that earlier this week, the Merage JCC was filled for the first time in 8 weeks. There were many cars in the parking lot, and it felt eerily "normal." Everyone was there for a purpose, and while they were practicing physical distancing and safely moving into our theater, they were using their blood to save lives. Many of you were among the 52 people who donated life-saving blood on Wednesday that will help save the lives of 138 people. Thank you to all of you who gave and a big thank you to Heather Zucker, Nancy Chase, Adrienne Matros, and the JCC Cares committee for going above and beyond by organizing a flawless event in the middle of a pandemic.

Blood can also be negative in terms of a wound or even a plague. Blood, dam, as we learn, was a plague in Egypt and has been an unfortunate part of human existence and the history of the Jewish people. It is easy to become distracted with the deadly nature of this pandemic, worried about the future of your families, our loved ones, and even our Merage JCC. Unfortunately, I can only offer hope as none of us know what the future holds. What we can celebrate and be grateful for is blood or, in this case, life.

Each one of you should feel proud of being the blood, the life of our organization, and continuing to see that our Merage JCC lives through this global crisis. Almost half of those on this call and who give our organization life our preschool teachers, and this week is teacher appreciation week.

Today I am also especially grateful for our teachers. The ones who take families with young children into the loving embrace of our Jewish community.

Teachers, whose success depends on creativity and collaboration.

Teachers, whose dedication to our children transcends the outsized, invaluable role they play in the lives of us all.

Teachers, who provide our kids with a safe space and who fill their minds and hearts with ideas and ideals.

Teachers, who are there for our children—and for us—in good times and in times of crisis. They honor us with their service, and especially amidst this crisis, we were incredibly proud to honor them.

I encourage all of you to celebrate and be grateful for blood or, in this case, life. Choose hope over uncertainty and fear. Focus on what you can control and know that I see you and understand how scary and unnerving this time might be for you. Earlier this week, as part of teacher appreciation week, Linda Thompkins, a teacher at the JCC in Newport, Virginia, shared these 15 words with JCCA: "We're scared of going back. We're afraid of not going back. But we're not quitting." Fifteen words. Fifteen words that beautifully capture both our fears and our determination. We're not quitting. We'll be back.

Zay Gezund - Be healthy, and a very happy Mother's Day to all of you who are mothers. I am grateful for the mothers in my life, and I hope all of the mothers have a great weekend and a great day on Sunday.

Shabbat Shalom,

Scott