Cathy’s Whim Cathy’s Whim

WHIM (What Inspires Me) is a post by Cathy Gardner, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton. Here, Cathy will discuss current events, important news stories and all things related to Jewish Federations and the Dayton Jewish community. Over the past week, I have seen multiple news reports about the murder of George Floyd, an African American man who lost his life at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer. Three other officers stood by in silence as bystanders recorded Mr. Floyd’s final moments. In the video, you can hear the bystanders beg those officers to stop the other...

This week I finished reading the book “Hum If You Don’t Know the Words” by Bianca Marais. I was incredibly touched by the ending.

Over the past six weeks, there have been times where many of us have perhaps struggled to feel anything outside of worry, fear, and stress. The Coronavirus pandemic has changed our world dramatically.

I’ll never forget the first Passover Seder I conducted on my own.

Within the past month or so, there have been lots of changes – big ones, little ones, and everything in between. Most of our lives are completely different than they were “pre-coronavirus.”

March normally brings about the promise of Spring, the excitement of the NCAA basketball tournament, and preparations for Passover. Instead, we find ourselves grappling with the uncertainty of what will happen in the coming weeks and days.

Over the past month, our news feeds have been inundated with stories about the Coronavirus (COVID-19). What started out as a few cases abroad has turned into tens of thousands of cases worldwide, with some of the infected in Ohio only hours away from Dayton.

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of traveling to Washington D.C. for the Jewish Federation of North America’s FedPro Institute.

It didn’t hit me that I had accomplished something really big in my life until I was sitting in a chair, wearing my cap and gown, and listening to commencement speeches.