Cathy’s Whim Cathy’s Whim

Last weekend, I attended the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) Board meeting in Atlanta. While there, we discussed a plethora of topics, including our relationship with Israel. A document distributed to us from the Jewish Agency for Israel contained a rather thought provoking statistic. According to a November 2017 survey by the Guttman Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, “55% of Israeli Jews believe the government should not take American Jews’ opinions into account on internal issues such as the status of [non-Orthodox religious] movements in Israel.” It goes on to explain that Jewish life in Israel is...

This past Monday, I attended the funeral for Arthur Carne, father of Rick Carne and father-in-law of Cheryl Carne, our Director of External Relations. Three of Arky’s granddaughters spoke lovingly about their grandfather. Cheryl and Rick’s daughter, Abra, spoke in particular about the wonderful memories of her time with him, including swimming with her sisters at the DJCC’s indoor pool, while her grandfather smiled and waved at them from the walking track above. It’s incredible how powerful our memories can be. They can make us laugh, and they can make us cry. Sometimes we long to relive those memories again....

This past Sunday, I had the pleasure of speaking at Temple Israel’s Dorothee & Lewis Ryterband Lecture Series. Howie Beigelman, Executive Director of Ohio Jewish Communities, joined me as we discussed anti-Semitism in today’s world. Unfortunately anti-Semitic incidents ~ including harassment, vandalism, and assaults ~ still plague our world today. Although anti-Semitism in its most horrific forms may not exist the same way today as it did in the past, it is still an enormous problem. Anti-Semitism lives in the minds of many people we encounter in our daily lives. Sometimes these people say extremely inappropriate things, not thinking about...

Hopefully you have received your copy of our new publication, Jewish Dayton Magazine, in the mail (if you haven’t, you should receive it very soon!). This magazine was born out of the Jewish Dayton Dreams Big visioning project. We wanted a place to talk about the amazing programs we offer, and highlight our wonderful Jewish community. I’ve received very supportive, positive feedback thus far. What a delight to know that community members are so thrilled with this new endeavor. One person summed up their feelings about the magazine by saying “you’ve really hit the mark.” That comment really resonated with...

It’s hard to believe that five years ago this month, I began working as CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton. I could have never imagined then how many wonderful people I would have the privilege of getting to know, and how many incredible friendships I would form. One of the friendships I hold dearest is with former Federation CEO Peter Wells. Peter has been instrumental to my success here in Dayton. From the beginning, he has served as a mentor to me. Even though Peter has been retired from the Federation for 12 years, his commitment to the...

I have a confession to make ~ I LOVE sports. Like millions of Americans, I can be found enthusiastically watching a football game or basketball game on a Sunday afternoon. And let me tell you – I can really get into a game. If you think about it, being a sports fan and being a part of a community like ours have a lot of similarities. When your favorite sports team wins, do you say “Such and such team won?” Perhaps you find yourself gleefully announcing “WE won!!” When we exclaim that “we won,” we are fully aware that the...