Something happened earlier this week that might have sounded ordinary to most people in the room where it happened, but it didn’t feel ordinary to me.

I was at the annual JCC CEO Conference in Atlanta where Barak Hermann, CEO of the JCC Association of North America, was speaking about inclusion across our movement. In the course of his remarks, he specifically mentioned biracial families.

It was just a few words. But I had never heard families like mine named so clearly as part of the future we are intentionally building in Jewish communal life.

I’ve spent many years in Jewish professional spaces and have heard important conversations about inclusion in many forms. But this felt different. Because it was personal.

So, I wrote to him afterward to tell him what it meant to me — not only as a Jewish professional, but as a mom. A mom who wants her son to grow up in Jewish spaces where his whole identity is seen as something completely natural. Not as an exception or something that needs to be explained, but part of the beautiful mix of who our community already is.

I found myself thinking about the first time our family saw ourselves reflected in a Jewish children’s book — “Fridays Are Special,” a PJ Library story about a biracial family celebrating Shabbat.

I remember holding that book and feeling a swirl of emotions. It was such a small thing — just pages and pictures — but it felt like someone had quietly said, “We see you. You belong in this story, too.” That’s what representation does. It reaches a child before they even have the words to ask if they fit. It tells them their family is not outside the frame of Jewish life — they are already inside it.

Barak wrote back with sincerity. He shared how personal this work is for him, too, and how committed he is to making sure this kind of inclusion is authentic — not just language, but is reflected by our leadership; not just statements, but that it is a true commitment by those who are at the table making decisions.

I’m sharing this because this isn’t just a national conversation. This conversation is playing itself out every day at JCC Indianapolis and JCCs across North America.

It’s a conversation that is reflected in the families in our Early Childhood hallways. It’s on our courts and fields. It’s in adults finding community in classes, in the lobby, and in quiet conversations after programs.

People walk through our doors carrying layered identities and stories — multiracial families, interfaith families, people of other faiths or no faith at all, those who grew up Jewish, those finding their way back, and those still figuring out where they fit.

Our job is to make sure they don’t have to wonder if they are welcome. Our responsibility is simple and profound: to make sure that when people walk in, they feel they belong here. Belonging here shouldn’t feel like a question. It should feel like a given.

This work asks us to listen, to learn, and sometimes to stretch. And it matters deeply, because the future of Jewish life depends on who feels there’s space for them inside it.

This week’s exchange at the JCC Association conference reminded me that our movement is leaning into our future with intention. Here in Indianapolis, we will continue to do the same — with care, humility, and heart.

Shabbot Shalom,

Sam Dubrinsky
Chief Executive Officer