It’s Only Words . . .
On Friday night, many of us will gather together to recite the Haggadah – the telling of the story of the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt which Jews have recited annually for millennium. The story is the same, but it is through the repetition year after year that we incorporate the message of Passover into our very being.
Amidst the family and the food, we will collectively recite the following passage: “Let all those who are hungry come and eat; let all those who are in need come and celebrate the Passover.” In ancient days – and in some homes today – this passage was and is taken literally, whereby those in need were invited into the homes of those who had enough. But in most modern homes, it is simply something we read.
If we take the time to hear the passage as it was meant to be heard, we may find that it refers not just to those outside of our doors, but to those at our table as well. What is it that we hunger for? What is it that we need? What is it that we might find in this story of slavery, exodus and redemption that will add meaning to our lives?
And at the same time, how can we add meaning to the lives of others?
There are nearly 1 billion people in the world today who go to bed hungry, many of whom will die from starvation and malnutrition; in America itself, nearly 1 out 5 children don’t have enough to eat. And throughout the world – especially in parts of Africa – slavery is still a rampant business. One would have thought that in the age of CNN and the internet, such practices would have been eradicated by the sunlight that the modern world heaps upon it. But sunlight only works when people are looking. At this year’s Seder, will we look? And when we do, will we act? Or will it just be words?
At this moment of introspection, may we be blessed with the gifts of understanding and compassion, and may we turn our words into actions as we seek to redefine ourselves by giving to others. May we ask not only the traditional 4 questions, but also the questions that Rabbi Hillel asked of us so long ago:
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?
And may we act, so that the true meaning of this holiday does not pass over us.
My deepest wishes to you and yours for a Zissen Pesach – a sweet Passover – and a joyous and meaningful Easter to all our Christian friends as well.
All my best,
Arnie
President & CEO
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
The Summer Seven
In an article recently published in Psychology Today, Michael Unger Ph.D., a family therapist, a researcher at Dalhousie University, and the author of The We Generation: Raising Socially Responsible Kids, wrote a simple yet brilliant piece on the importance of summer camps in building resilient kids. The conclusions he reached were the result of conversations with 300 camp directors in both day camps and resident camps. Summer Camping – he said – provides 7 essential things that all children need. I call them the Summer Seven:
1) Camp helps form new relationships, not just with peers, but with trusted adults other than their parents. Just think about how useful a skill like that is: being able to negotiate on your own with an adult for what you need.
2) Camp can foster a powerful identity that makes the child feel confident in front of others. Your child may not be the best on the ropes course or the next teen idol when he sings, but chances are that a good camp counselor is going to help your child find something to be proud of that she can do well.
3) Camps help children feel in control of their lives, and those experiences of self-efficacy can travel home as easily as a special art project or the pine cone they carry in their backpack. Children who experience themselves as competent will be better problem-solvers in new situations.
4) Camps make sure that all children are treated fairly. The wonderful thing about camp is that nearly every child starts without the baggage they carry from school, and in those cases where the baggage travels with them, the camp will find opportunities to just be kids who are valued for who they are. No camps tolerate bullying.
5) At camp kids get what they need to develop physically. Ideally, fresh air, exercise, and a balance between routine and unstructured time.
6) Perhaps best of all, camps offer kids a chance to feel like they belong. There really is a purpose to all those goofy chants and team songs; it creates a sense of common purpose and attachment to the identity that camps promote go a long way to offering children a sense of being rooted.
7) And finally, camps can offer children a better sense of their culture. It might be a Shabbat song, or a special camp program, or maybe it's just a chance for children to understand themselves a bit more as they learn about others. Camps give kids both cultural roots and the chance to understand others who have cultures different than their own.
Any parent who would read this might be tempted to rush out and enroll their child in camp tomorrow, spending as much as they could afford to get the “best” camp possible, assuming that the more prestigious the camp, the more likely he or she is to get the most of the Summer Seven benefits. But here’s the rub. Cost and prestige doesn’t mean better; in fact, sometimes it may mean worse.
According to Dr. Unger, “The worst camps pander to children as if they are entitled little creatures whose parents are paying big sums of money. Children at camp can't be treated like customers if they are going to get anything out of the experience. They need to be treated like students whose caregivers, the counselors, know what the kids need to grow.”
Here at the Friedberg JCC Family of Camps, children’s growth and development is our number one concern. We’re not just a camp – we’re a social service agency, whose philosophies and programs reflect the best of the Summer Seven. Think about our STARFISH program (Sportsmanship, Tolerance, Appreciation, Respect, Friendship, Integrity, Sensitivity and Helpfulness) that permeates all of our camp activities and philosophies. When it comes to building character, friendships and sense of self, we’re number 1! So spread the word. Camp is good for kids, and our camps are GREAT!
Best,
Arnie
1) Camp helps form new relationships, not just with peers, but with trusted adults other than their parents. Just think about how useful a skill like that is: being able to negotiate on your own with an adult for what you need.
2) Camp can foster a powerful identity that makes the child feel confident in front of others. Your child may not be the best on the ropes course or the next teen idol when he sings, but chances are that a good camp counselor is going to help your child find something to be proud of that she can do well.
3) Camps help children feel in control of their lives, and those experiences of self-efficacy can travel home as easily as a special art project or the pine cone they carry in their backpack. Children who experience themselves as competent will be better problem-solvers in new situations.
4) Camps make sure that all children are treated fairly. The wonderful thing about camp is that nearly every child starts without the baggage they carry from school, and in those cases where the baggage travels with them, the camp will find opportunities to just be kids who are valued for who they are. No camps tolerate bullying.
5) At camp kids get what they need to develop physically. Ideally, fresh air, exercise, and a balance between routine and unstructured time.
6) Perhaps best of all, camps offer kids a chance to feel like they belong. There really is a purpose to all those goofy chants and team songs; it creates a sense of common purpose and attachment to the identity that camps promote go a long way to offering children a sense of being rooted.
7) And finally, camps can offer children a better sense of their culture. It might be a Shabbat song, or a special camp program, or maybe it's just a chance for children to understand themselves a bit more as they learn about others. Camps give kids both cultural roots and the chance to understand others who have cultures different than their own.
Any parent who would read this might be tempted to rush out and enroll their child in camp tomorrow, spending as much as they could afford to get the “best” camp possible, assuming that the more prestigious the camp, the more likely he or she is to get the most of the Summer Seven benefits. But here’s the rub. Cost and prestige doesn’t mean better; in fact, sometimes it may mean worse.
According to Dr. Unger, “The worst camps pander to children as if they are entitled little creatures whose parents are paying big sums of money. Children at camp can't be treated like customers if they are going to get anything out of the experience. They need to be treated like students whose caregivers, the counselors, know what the kids need to grow.”
Here at the Friedberg JCC Family of Camps, children’s growth and development is our number one concern. We’re not just a camp – we’re a social service agency, whose philosophies and programs reflect the best of the Summer Seven. Think about our STARFISH program (Sportsmanship, Tolerance, Appreciation, Respect, Friendship, Integrity, Sensitivity and Helpfulness) that permeates all of our camp activities and philosophies. When it comes to building character, friendships and sense of self, we’re number 1! So spread the word. Camp is good for kids, and our camps are GREAT!
Best,
Arnie
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
A Million Dollars Worth of Love
Philanthropy is the core of what we do. Without philanthropic individuals who contribute to the JCC, we could not exist. Scholarship for families who cannot afford the cost of camp or school, subsidies for seniors living on a fixed income, low costs for teen memberships to encourage participation at the JCC...all this can only occur through the generosity of others.
Nat Glanz, who sat on our Board of Directors for nearly a decade, was one of those “others.” He and his wife Muriel set up the “Glanz Challenge,” which funded the JCC’s special needs programs and Sunrise Day Camp. The premise of the challenge was simple: for every $2 raised, Nat and Muriel would put in a dollar of their own money, up to $10,000. Nat wanted to inspire others to give, and each year the Glanz Challenge succeeded in doing just that, bringing in $30,000 each year between their gift and the gifts of others.
We lost Nat in 2010, and when I say it was a loss, I mean it in every sense of the word. Nat’s passing left a hole in our hearts and in our agency; his generosity was only overshadowed by his sunny, gregarious personality. Nat made a room shine when he walked in, and the loss of his presence is still felt in our halls today. But what we didn’t know at the time was that we would lose Muriel soon after in 2011. Muriel, a deeply kind and generous person in her own right, used to accompany Nat to Board Meetings, and the folks around the table loved her so much that they made her an honorary board member – a position rarely bestowed upon anyone. Her loss, coming so soon after Nat’s, left us stunned. Two of our most loving, generous board members would no longer be with us, and the void left by their passing will always remain.
But the Glanzs’ believed in the future, and their wish was that the JCC – which they both loved so dearly -- continue to be a strong, vibrant Center long past their time with us. And so, just last week, we received a check from their estate for one million dollars. This was a legacy gift that Nat and Muriel had begun making provisions for years ago, their goal being that it help the JCC to grow for generations to come.
Part on the funds they left us will be used towards the construction of an addition to the JCC building, while the balance will be used to develop new programs over the years as well as increasing our services to special populations – all areas that mattered to them and which will help to secure our long-term viability. And because they loved our staff so much, a portion of their gift will be used to create some staff awards, to recognize and encourage the most innovative among us.
The Talmud says, “Just as my ancestors planted for me, I shall plant for my children.” Nat and Muriel, by looking to the future with generosity and forethought, have planted for generations to come. May their memories be a blessing, and may we all follow their example and remember those who will inherit the earth long after we are gone.
Best always,
Arnie
Nat Glanz, who sat on our Board of Directors for nearly a decade, was one of those “others.” He and his wife Muriel set up the “Glanz Challenge,” which funded the JCC’s special needs programs and Sunrise Day Camp. The premise of the challenge was simple: for every $2 raised, Nat and Muriel would put in a dollar of their own money, up to $10,000. Nat wanted to inspire others to give, and each year the Glanz Challenge succeeded in doing just that, bringing in $30,000 each year between their gift and the gifts of others.
We lost Nat in 2010, and when I say it was a loss, I mean it in every sense of the word. Nat’s passing left a hole in our hearts and in our agency; his generosity was only overshadowed by his sunny, gregarious personality. Nat made a room shine when he walked in, and the loss of his presence is still felt in our halls today. But what we didn’t know at the time was that we would lose Muriel soon after in 2011. Muriel, a deeply kind and generous person in her own right, used to accompany Nat to Board Meetings, and the folks around the table loved her so much that they made her an honorary board member – a position rarely bestowed upon anyone. Her loss, coming so soon after Nat’s, left us stunned. Two of our most loving, generous board members would no longer be with us, and the void left by their passing will always remain.
But the Glanzs’ believed in the future, and their wish was that the JCC – which they both loved so dearly -- continue to be a strong, vibrant Center long past their time with us. And so, just last week, we received a check from their estate for one million dollars. This was a legacy gift that Nat and Muriel had begun making provisions for years ago, their goal being that it help the JCC to grow for generations to come.
Part on the funds they left us will be used towards the construction of an addition to the JCC building, while the balance will be used to develop new programs over the years as well as increasing our services to special populations – all areas that mattered to them and which will help to secure our long-term viability. And because they loved our staff so much, a portion of their gift will be used to create some staff awards, to recognize and encourage the most innovative among us.
The Talmud says, “Just as my ancestors planted for me, I shall plant for my children.” Nat and Muriel, by looking to the future with generosity and forethought, have planted for generations to come. May their memories be a blessing, and may we all follow their example and remember those who will inherit the earth long after we are gone.
Best always,
Arnie
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Take a Sad Song and Make it Better... A New Year's Message
Hey Jude. It was the blockbuster for the Beatles that broke even their own records, including being the longest playing song to reach number 1 on AM radio without being edited down (at 7:11, it was far longer than the traditional three minute single that radio stations liked to play) and staying the most weeks at number 1 in the U.S. than any previous record by any group or artist. The song starts slowly - a wistful ballad filled with advice (Hey Jude, don’t make it bad...) - and gradually crescendos into a powerful sing-a-long rocker that indeed takes a sad song, and makes it better, better, better, better...
While the impetus for the title of the song came from a countrified adaptation of the name of John Lennon's son, Julian, the words "Hey Jude" (rather than "Hey Jules") actually created a small uproar when Paul McCartney painted it on the window of the Beatles' closed Apple shop in the middle of a busy London street. What he hadn't realized was that "Jude" was the German word for "Jew" and that the Nazis had painted the same word on the windows of Jewish-owned shops during the opening phases of the holocaust as part of the attempt to isolate and economically starve their Jewish citizens. To the survivors of Hitler's extermination plan, writing "Hey Jude" on a store window was an ugly reminder of an unspeakable tragedy that had occurred just years prior; to McCartney, it was merely an attempt to publicize a song that he had written to soothe the hurt that a dear friend's son had been feeling over his parent's divorce. The store window was soon broken by angry Britons, and McCartney himself was threatened by an outraged survivor who was incensed to see the word "Jude" once again scrawled across a shop window. In the end, Hey Jude would go down in musical history as one of the most successful songs of all time. But it also stands as a reminder of how deeds or words can be misunderstood and cause pain where none was intended.
On Yom Kippur, we ask forgiveness for "the sin we have committed either knowingly or unknowingly," thereby acknowledging what McCartney didn't understand when he painted his sign - that sometimes we hurt people without ever meaning to do so. During these Days of Awe - the time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - we are given the opportunity to look deeply inside of ourselves... to examine our words and deeds with honesty and humility and to seek forgiveness from those we may have injured, even if we did not mean to do so. The Rabbis caution us not to expect forgiveness from God for trespasses against another person unless we first seek forgiveness from the injured party; God forgives trespasses against God, but only people can truly forgive the hurt caused by another person. Although the responsibility may seem daunting, in truth, this is a tremendous concept, as it places within our hands both the power to heal as well as the power to forgive.
Or as the Beatles put it, to take a sad song, and make it better.
Shanah Tovah everyone,
Arnie
While the impetus for the title of the song came from a countrified adaptation of the name of John Lennon's son, Julian, the words "Hey Jude" (rather than "Hey Jules") actually created a small uproar when Paul McCartney painted it on the window of the Beatles' closed Apple shop in the middle of a busy London street. What he hadn't realized was that "Jude" was the German word for "Jew" and that the Nazis had painted the same word on the windows of Jewish-owned shops during the opening phases of the holocaust as part of the attempt to isolate and economically starve their Jewish citizens. To the survivors of Hitler's extermination plan, writing "Hey Jude" on a store window was an ugly reminder of an unspeakable tragedy that had occurred just years prior; to McCartney, it was merely an attempt to publicize a song that he had written to soothe the hurt that a dear friend's son had been feeling over his parent's divorce. The store window was soon broken by angry Britons, and McCartney himself was threatened by an outraged survivor who was incensed to see the word "Jude" once again scrawled across a shop window. In the end, Hey Jude would go down in musical history as one of the most successful songs of all time. But it also stands as a reminder of how deeds or words can be misunderstood and cause pain where none was intended.
On Yom Kippur, we ask forgiveness for "the sin we have committed either knowingly or unknowingly," thereby acknowledging what McCartney didn't understand when he painted his sign - that sometimes we hurt people without ever meaning to do so. During these Days of Awe - the time between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - we are given the opportunity to look deeply inside of ourselves... to examine our words and deeds with honesty and humility and to seek forgiveness from those we may have injured, even if we did not mean to do so. The Rabbis caution us not to expect forgiveness from God for trespasses against another person unless we first seek forgiveness from the injured party; God forgives trespasses against God, but only people can truly forgive the hurt caused by another person. Although the responsibility may seem daunting, in truth, this is a tremendous concept, as it places within our hands both the power to heal as well as the power to forgive.
Or as the Beatles put it, to take a sad song, and make it better.
Shanah Tovah everyone,
Arnie
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A Different Type of Camp Training
This past week, we held orientation for approximately 350 counselors. Most had been with us for years, some had just begun their journey with us, but all had chosen - for myriad reasons - to spend their summer working with our children. Some will teach sports and lanyard, offering everyday kids a chance for everyday summer fun; others will work with children with special needs, be it cancer or autism, and still others will teach specialized arts like theatre to budding thespians. Each of these counselors will leave a mark on the life of a child this summer and, if they are smart, they will allow a child to leave a mark on their lives as well.
But it's the way in which we as an agency teach these counselors to interact with our children that defines who we are, and so - in a break from the usual first aid and safety training - we taught them all about the basic Jewish tenets that are the underpinnings of our summer camps. We spoke about the JCC, and what it means to be a Jewish Community Center, and about the mission we have to enhance life for both Jews and non-Jews alike. We spoke about the central core values we hold and want them to teach their children: Tzedakah - to live justly, righteously, and charitably; Tikun Olam - to repair the world, whether it be the world entire or the world of an individual child. We spoke of our traditions - of our bond and commitment to Israel, its culture, people and our shared history, and of Shabbat - not necessarily the physical day, but the power of stopping... of "taking Shabbat" so that we can rest our bodies, think about what we have accomplished in the week that just passed, and commit ourselves to doing better. And we likened all of these Jewish precepts to our new STARFISH program in camp - standing for Sportsmanship, Tolerance, Appreciation, Respect, Friendship, Integrity, Sensitivity and Helpfulness. All of these character traits, each of which we stress in our camp programs, derive from our values and traditions as Jews.
Starting today, nearly 1400 children will descend on our campgrounds, and we will be ready. We will be ready because of our rich traditions, our values, and the strength of a calling and a history that binds us l'dor v'dor - from generation to generation.
Best always,
Arnie Preminger
President & CEO of the Friedberg JCC and Sunrise Day Camp
But it's the way in which we as an agency teach these counselors to interact with our children that defines who we are, and so - in a break from the usual first aid and safety training - we taught them all about the basic Jewish tenets that are the underpinnings of our summer camps. We spoke about the JCC, and what it means to be a Jewish Community Center, and about the mission we have to enhance life for both Jews and non-Jews alike. We spoke about the central core values we hold and want them to teach their children: Tzedakah - to live justly, righteously, and charitably; Tikun Olam - to repair the world, whether it be the world entire or the world of an individual child. We spoke of our traditions - of our bond and commitment to Israel, its culture, people and our shared history, and of Shabbat - not necessarily the physical day, but the power of stopping... of "taking Shabbat" so that we can rest our bodies, think about what we have accomplished in the week that just passed, and commit ourselves to doing better. And we likened all of these Jewish precepts to our new STARFISH program in camp - standing for Sportsmanship, Tolerance, Appreciation, Respect, Friendship, Integrity, Sensitivity and Helpfulness. All of these character traits, each of which we stress in our camp programs, derive from our values and traditions as Jews.
Starting today, nearly 1400 children will descend on our campgrounds, and we will be ready. We will be ready because of our rich traditions, our values, and the strength of a calling and a history that binds us l'dor v'dor - from generation to generation.
Best always,
Arnie Preminger
President & CEO of the Friedberg JCC and Sunrise Day Camp
Friday, May 6, 2011
A Mother’s Day Memory
I can still remember when my mother applied to Bronx House Emanuel Camps for scholarship so that my sister and I could go to camp. As an agency in the UJA-Federation system, the folks at Bronx House (now known as Berkshire-Hills Emanuel Camps) made sure we could go to camp, despite my family not having enough money to send us. Many years later, my mom, whose fortunes had slowly turned over the years, attended a fundraiser with me for our JCC, where she made a significant contribution to our own scholarship fund. "When I needed help for you kids," she told me, "people were there for us. Now it's my turn to give back so that someone else's children can go to camp. That's how it works."
One of the highest forms of tzedakah - I learned from my Hebrew School days - is when the giver and the receiver don't know one another. No one should be beholden to another; those of us who have the ability to give should do so with an open heart, while those of us who need a little help should never feel embarrassed to accept it. That's always been our philosophy here at the JCC, where the inability to pay has never prevented someone in need from attending a program, be it camp, preschool or membership. And who knows... maybe someday - like what my mom did - someone in need today will help someone else tomorrow.
On the front page of our website - www.friedbergjcc.org - there's a little button on the right that you can click on which says "Make a Donation". On page 2 of the donation page, you can then allocate your gift to anywhere you want it to go; just write in the box marked "my gift is a tribute to" the name of a person or program, and we'll take it from there. You can write "Camp Scholarship" or "Preschool Scholarship," or even the name of someone who you would like to honor. Maybe even your mom. After all, there's no better way to honor our mothers than by helping care for a child in need.
Warmest regards,
Arnie Preminger
President & CEO of the Friedberg JCC and Sunrise Day Camp
One of the highest forms of tzedakah - I learned from my Hebrew School days - is when the giver and the receiver don't know one another. No one should be beholden to another; those of us who have the ability to give should do so with an open heart, while those of us who need a little help should never feel embarrassed to accept it. That's always been our philosophy here at the JCC, where the inability to pay has never prevented someone in need from attending a program, be it camp, preschool or membership. And who knows... maybe someday - like what my mom did - someone in need today will help someone else tomorrow.
On the front page of our website - www.friedbergjcc.org - there's a little button on the right that you can click on which says "Make a Donation". On page 2 of the donation page, you can then allocate your gift to anywhere you want it to go; just write in the box marked "my gift is a tribute to" the name of a person or program, and we'll take it from there. You can write "Camp Scholarship" or "Preschool Scholarship," or even the name of someone who you would like to honor. Maybe even your mom. After all, there's no better way to honor our mothers than by helping care for a child in need.
Warmest regards,
Arnie Preminger
President & CEO of the Friedberg JCC and Sunrise Day Camp
Monday, April 18, 2011
Passover and Us
Around 15 years ago or so, a JCC decided to buy a slave for Passover.
When I say they decided to buy a slave, I mean that they tried to buy a slave's freedom from slave traders. As unimaginable as it sounds, human beings are still owned, bought, and sold today throughout the world, including right here in the United States. In a recent book published by Princeton University Press entitled Buying Freedom: The Ethics and Economics of Slave Redemption, the authors estimated that over 25 million human beings are living in some form of slavery today, ranging from children who are stolen and forced into armed conflicts, to trafficking of girls and women, to just pure sales of children by their parents into bonded servitude in some of the world's poorest and least governed areas. If you expand the definition of what constitutes a "slave" more broadly, the number rises to nearly 200 million.
The question at the JCC came about when their teen social action group decided - in honor of Passover - to redeem a slave. Through overt, yet semi- public channels, freedom for some people can actually be obtained for a price. For many of the enslavers, human freedom boils down to a simple business transaction; for enough money, you can buy anything. And so these teens, with the words of the Haggadah searing in their minds, decided that it was not enough to simply sit at their Seder table and retell the story of our enslavement; they wanted to make the story of the exodus real for someone today. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, the Haggadah implored them. They heard those words clearly.
There are many schools of thought - echoed by our own State Department at the time - that says that such actions are counter-productive... that purchasing enslaved people from their captors only encourages them to enslave more. And yet the intrinsic value of each individual human life is so precious that the Talmud teaches us that by saving but a single life, you save a world entire. How do we reconcile the two? But what if - by helping one person - you inadvertently cause more harm to another?
Clearly this is a complex issue, and in truth, I don't remember if the redemption ever really took place. But I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during these discussions. If a JCC environment can bring about a level of engagement among our youth on a subject this serious - with a real plan for social justice attached to it - then we're doing our jobs well. Judaism - as practiced in our JCCs, synagogues, schools and particularly in our homes - must not be a passive activity. And as we retell the story of enslavement and exodus at our Seder tables tonight, we must also rededicate ourselves to the basic Jewish concept of Tikun Olum - of repairing the world - so that the stories of old bring real meaning into a still-troubled world. That's what this group of young people tried to do at their JCC.
Wishing you a wonderful Passover filled with discourse, sweetness, tradition and love.
Arnie Preminger
President & CEO of the Friedberg JCC and Sunrise Day Camp
When I say they decided to buy a slave, I mean that they tried to buy a slave's freedom from slave traders. As unimaginable as it sounds, human beings are still owned, bought, and sold today throughout the world, including right here in the United States. In a recent book published by Princeton University Press entitled Buying Freedom: The Ethics and Economics of Slave Redemption, the authors estimated that over 25 million human beings are living in some form of slavery today, ranging from children who are stolen and forced into armed conflicts, to trafficking of girls and women, to just pure sales of children by their parents into bonded servitude in some of the world's poorest and least governed areas. If you expand the definition of what constitutes a "slave" more broadly, the number rises to nearly 200 million.
The question at the JCC came about when their teen social action group decided - in honor of Passover - to redeem a slave. Through overt, yet semi- public channels, freedom for some people can actually be obtained for a price. For many of the enslavers, human freedom boils down to a simple business transaction; for enough money, you can buy anything. And so these teens, with the words of the Haggadah searing in their minds, decided that it was not enough to simply sit at their Seder table and retell the story of our enslavement; they wanted to make the story of the exodus real for someone today. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt, the Haggadah implored them. They heard those words clearly.
There are many schools of thought - echoed by our own State Department at the time - that says that such actions are counter-productive... that purchasing enslaved people from their captors only encourages them to enslave more. And yet the intrinsic value of each individual human life is so precious that the Talmud teaches us that by saving but a single life, you save a world entire. How do we reconcile the two? But what if - by helping one person - you inadvertently cause more harm to another?
Clearly this is a complex issue, and in truth, I don't remember if the redemption ever really took place. But I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during these discussions. If a JCC environment can bring about a level of engagement among our youth on a subject this serious - with a real plan for social justice attached to it - then we're doing our jobs well. Judaism - as practiced in our JCCs, synagogues, schools and particularly in our homes - must not be a passive activity. And as we retell the story of enslavement and exodus at our Seder tables tonight, we must also rededicate ourselves to the basic Jewish concept of Tikun Olum - of repairing the world - so that the stories of old bring real meaning into a still-troubled world. That's what this group of young people tried to do at their JCC.
Wishing you a wonderful Passover filled with discourse, sweetness, tradition and love.
Arnie Preminger
President & CEO of the Friedberg JCC and Sunrise Day Camp
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