Dear friends,
I hope you’ve had a chance to visit our Wings of Hope installation in the lobby. Wings of Hope is a beautiful and inspiring project that pays tribute to the work of Livnat Kutz, an artist from the Kfar Aza kibbutz in Israel, who was tragically killed alongside her family on 10/7.
Our Wings of Hope were created this year in commemoration of the second anniversary of October 7. This community art piece was a true labor of love, and something I found especially meaningful to help create. Last month, I spent an hour in the lobby of the JCC sorting plastic buttons and broken toys into baskets by color. Our ELC families had gathered these objects to reassemble into our Wings of Hope, which are colorful, interactive, and built by many hands. New Wings of Hope installations are sprouting up all over the world and we are proud to be among them.
But what does it mean, after two years of war in Israel and Gaza, with all of the worry and conflict that surrounds our lives as Jews, as Americans, and as human beings, to symbolize our commemoration with an image of hope?
On the most basic level, Livnat’s wings are meant to represent “the values of sustainability, creativity, and a sense of optimistic community belonging,” a natural fit for our community. Watching our kids build something that everyone can enjoy is the bread and butter of the JCC experience. Similarly, deep in the Jewish tradition is the value and the commitment to be part of something larger than ourselves – we do our part, and we count on others to do theirs: “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” It feels hopeful, and even poetic, to be part of a network of communities with shared values, popping up all over the world. And, I would suggest that the act of remembering, of being able to integrate the stories of our families and our people – even the painful ones – into our communal narrative, is an act of faith in our ability to understand ourselves and our world better, and to use that knowledge to imagine a better future.
But also, I think a lot about the fact that even on days that we’re not building wings together, the everyday work of the JCC is the work of hope. The wonderful writer Rebecca Solnit, author of Hope in the Dark, writes:
[hope is] the belief that what we do matters even though how and when it may matter, who and what it may impact, are not things we can know beforehand. We may not, in fact, know them afterward either, but they matter all the same.
We actually can do her one better. Because we have the good fortune to see who we impact, and we know that our work matters. We know that we are strengthening the social fabric in both our Jewish and local communities. We know that we are doing the jobs families need done. We know that we are an antidote to loneliness and a locus of Jewish joy. We know that even when the world feels heavy and dark, to be part of the JCC is to know that a different and better future is possible.
I hope that in the coming weeks, you will stop by and see our wings! Or that you will join us for our inaugural Schvitz for Scholarships 5K on November 2! Or that you will just send a note to say hello. Each of us has a role to play in transforming our community and our world. I’m so grateful to you for being part of it.
