This past weekend, I traveled to the Detroit area to celebrate a family simcha (a joyous occasion): the b’nai mitzvah of two of my next generation cousins.As we sat together before the service began, my cousin, the mom of one of the b’nai mitzvah boys, quietly shared something that has stayed with me all week. […]

As we close out the week, I find myself reflecting on one of the highlights of the past several days: the first meeting of our JCC Hand in Hand Annual Campaign Task Force. Led by JCC Past Board Chair Katy Cantor and JCC Board member Suzanne Rothenberg, this dedicated group has already begun laying the […]

At 7:41 a.m. on Thursday, I received a text letting me know that the JCC had lost power. As inconveniences go, it was a pretty significant one. We were in the first week of camp, transitioning classrooms in our Early Childhood Education center, and navigating one of the busiest times of year for membership, aquatics, […]

I’m going to start by sharing something that makes me feel vulnerable: when I became a 28-year-old Executive Director at the JCC in Birmingham, Alabama — my hometown — I had no idea what I was doing. I had passion and cared deeply about the mission. But I was learning in real time how to […]

Everywhere I turn at our JCC lately, I see people building something together. A few weeks ago, I asked many of you to share your stories. What came back was extraordinary: stories of friendship, healing, belonging, growth, tradition, and connection. Again and again, one truth emerged. In moments when life felt fractured or uncertain, people […]

As we move toward Shabbat, I’ve been thinking about what it truly means to build community not in the abstract, but in the small, tangible ways we show up for one another. The conversations we have, moments we share, the ways we create something meaningful together, even when the world around us can feel fragmented. […]

This past Saturday, I found myself around a friend’s kitchen table — coffee cups full, chairs pulled close, the comfortable hum of people who trust each other enough to say what they’re really thinking. We gather every Shabbat afternoon after synagogue services. That part wasn’t new. But this Saturday felt different. We had all woken up […]

Do you know that feeling of relief when a weight lifts off your shoulders — a weight you didn’t even realize you were carrying? That’s exactly how I felt last night at dinner with Jewish community leaders Beth and Steve Klapper and two of their daughters. JCC Board Chair David Katz, our spouses, and me […]

It was at a Backstreet Boys concert that I realized just how much in common the JCC community has with a 90s pop boy band fanbase. Stay with me. I promise I’ll connect the dots.This past weekend, I saw the Backstreet Boys in concert. The five-member boy band, who really broke onto the scene in […]

L–R: Erin E., Susan M., Sanna C., instructor Heather S., and Barbara F. in JFIT Lift: Women on WeightsNot pictured: Mary Beth T., Carol C. JFIT Lift: Women on Weights participants Barbara, Susan, Sanna and Erin have been JCC members for vastly different amounts of time: Barbara and family have been part of the J […]