Growing up Jewish in the Deep South teaches you something that never really leaves you: nothing is far away. This week, I read about the arson at Beth Israel in Jackson, Mississippi — a synagogue set on fire, Torah scrolls destroyed — and I felt it in my body. Not because Jackson is close to […]

As we all settle into the rhythm of a new year, I’ve been reflecting on how generosity has a way of multiplying — how one act of caring so often inspires another.Several weeks ago, I wrote about an incredible mother-daughter duo who gave a collective $150,000 gift to provide access to JCC childcare services for […]

It is 4:00 p.m. on December 31, 2026, one year from now, and I am sitting at my desk.  The JCC has quieted in that familiar end-of-year way — the hum of the fitness floor fading, a few last goodbyes exchanged at the front desk, staff slipping out into the cold to begin their New Year’s […]

This past Sunday — just hours before Chanukah began — our world woke up to devastating news. At least 15 Jews were murdered, and many more injured, at a Chanukah celebration on a beach in Sydney, Australia. Within that same window of time came news of another mass shooting — this one at Brown University, […]

As we prepare to begin Chanukah — a holiday that celebrates the power of small lights to push back great darkness — I’ve been thinking a lot about where light shows up in our community. Not only in the menorah we light in Celebration Plaza on campus, but in the daily acts of dedication, kindness, […]

Dear JCC Indianapolis Members and Friends:  As we approached Thanksgiving — grounding ourselves in gratitude, reflection, and the simple act of gathering — I thought about what it means to pause and truly take stock of our blessings. During the month of November, those blessings showed up at our JCC in ways I didn’t expect, […]

My first job at a JCC was as a group fitness instructor. More specifically, I taught cycling classes. While I hung up my clip-in cycling shoes several years ago, I am often reminded of the power of group fitness classes. Just last week, Hand in Hand Co-Chair Katy Cantor and I attended the Aqua Aerobics group’s […]

The truth is I didn’t know what to expect.   I thought — and confidentially, I hoped — that college football was behind me.   Ever since I was growing up in Birmingham, AL, I was the oddball among my friends and family — the girl who had no interest in college football, never greeted people with […]

On Thursday evening, I slipped into the back of the Laikin Auditorium just before one of our Ann Katz Festival of Books & Arts authors began to speak. As people found their seats, I noticed two members — one who has been part of our JCC for decades and another who just joined this year — […]

Dear JCC Indianapolis Members and Friends,  In recent days, we have witnessed images of hostages returning home — scenes that have gripped the Jewish world and stirred something deep within all of us. The faces of those coming back to their families after two years of living in hellish captivity remind us that return is […]