Cathy’s Whim Cathy’s Whim

Cathy’s Whim What Inspires Me

WHIM (What Inspires Me) is a weekly column penned by Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton CEO Cathy Gardner. Each week, Cathy delves into current events, significant news stories, and everything related to Jewish Federations and the vibrant Dayton Jewish community. Through her insightful reflections, WHIM offers readers a thoughtful perspective on the issues that matter most to our community.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame
Cathy Gardner

I love baseball. In fact, one of the items on my bucket list is to visit all of the baseball stadiums in the United States.

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Cathy’s WHIM – Neighbors Helping Neighbors
Cathy Gardner

While JFS continues to help our clients, we as a Jewish community can help our neighbors. By opening the Tornado Relief Fund, we will collect donations to be gifted from the Jewish Community as a whole, to the Miami Valley Community Action Partnership and the American Red Cross.

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Cathy’s WHIM – Community Concerns – Community Response
Cathy Gardner

The Whim (short for What Inspires Me) was developed to communicate to our community the inspiring stories that emanate from our work as a Jewish Federation. However, my Whim this week expresses not just the inspirational but the disturbing.

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Cathy’s WHIM – The Power of a Collective Voice
Cathy Gardner

On April 25th, an anti-Semitic cartoon ran in the international edition of the Times, depicting the Prime Minister of Israel as a dog, leading a blind American president wearing a yarmulke. When I was made aware of this disturbing cartoon, I was deeply bothered.

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Cathy’s WHIM – Do you know what today is?
Cathy Gardner

As many of you may be aware, today is a very special day. It is Administrative Professionals Day.

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Cathy’s WHIM – A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka
Cathy Gardner

I love to read. In fact, I make a point to read every day. There is something magical about escaping in the pages of a good book. Occasionally I come across a book that not only provides me that escape, but also proves to be transformative.

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Cathy’s WHIM – Driving Out Darkness
Cathy Gardner

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the Driving Out Darkness: Cincinnati Regional Summit on Antisemitism and Hate. It was an incredible day where each speaker was more amazing then the next.

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Cathy’s WHIM – From Civil Discourse to Critical Conversations
Cathy Gardner

There are several topics in this world that tend to produce tense and often destructive conversations.

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Cathy’s WHIM – No Place For Hate And Intolerance
Cathy Gardner

“Hate speech is what happens before hate crimes,” said Representative Steve Stivers. As a representative for Ohio’s 15th congressional district, he was one of the many people I had the privilege of meeting with this past Wednesday.

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