By Dustin Baron
Guest Columnist
The Baron family
L’dor V’dor – we’ve all heard and recited that phrase countless times in shul, but how many of us have really taken the time to think on what “from one generation to another” truly means? I know that for me, it goes back to my grandparents, Lois and CD Baron. They are the reason that I identify as Jewish to this day. To them and to many in their generation, being Jewish was a way of life to be passed on to the next generation. It was extremely important to them that my sister and I had our Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. That was our way of carrying on an essential tradition from our ancestors. Admittedly, they lived in a different time and space when being Jewish was the common element of one’s social circle. Yet, their example and lived experience is still a reminder of where I come from.
But L’dor V’dor also means something more. I remember when my wife and I were attending High Holy Day services at our synagogue in Raleigh, NC, and I heard the same prayers and blessings that I’d learned growing up. It was in that room and in that moment that I realized the power that these blessings carry with them. Blessings that my ancestors recited when they were my age, blessings whose power resonates through the millennia, from one generation to the next and from one year to the next.
That is the legacy that we are working to teach our daughters, so that they appreciate those that have gone before us. And while my grandparents may have passed many years ago, their memories and traditions live on through our family.
As a young person, I was fortunate to have spent my summers in the camps at the JCC, as well as competing in sports and games as I got older. And now that our girls are growing, they get to have their own experience at the Trager Family JCC. Our youngest, Sadie (named after my grandfatherCD) is in her last year of Pre-K at the Roth Family Early Learning Center at the Trager Family JCC. Our oldest daughter, Lucy (named after our grandmother Lois) just finished her own summer camp experience at Camp J. She also had her entire early childhood education at the ELC. This new building and all of the resources that it holds is its own gift to future generations to grow and experience, much like I experienced in the building before it.
That is our present, our “here and now.” And while the past informs the present, we must also think about what the future holds. My sincere hope is that our girls will continue to learn and flourish from the resources that Louisville’s Jewish community has to offer. Whether that be at the Roth Family ELC, summer camps, or via their participation in Jewish Learning Experience programs at the camp building, our little family has been a fixture around the J campus for years now. God willing, we will continue that presence many years into the future.
Despite my grandparents’ best efforts, I’ve never been the most devout Jew. Nor am I a hugely outspoken presence within the Jewish community. But I do know that as my family grows, we will do our best to give back where possible. Because in the future, unborn generations will also need to find their path in this crazy, mixed-up world we live in. At some point in the future, I can foresee our family making a gift to benefit the JCL Endowment, or to the Trager Family JCC itself as a way to honor my grandparents and their generation of our family. And when that time manifests, I imagine I will be extremely proud to see their names every time I walk in the JCC.
In recent years, many families have gifted and donated to support the new building – you’ll see many of these names throughout the hallways and gymnasiums. I suggest next time you read one of those names, say it silently to yourself. It’s a small way to honor that individual or family – but it’salso a way to acknowledge the prior generations and the work they did for our community. May their memory be a blessing and may the legacy of past generations continue to support our community at the JCC in the years ahead. Shanah Tovah!!
Dustin Baron serves on the JCL Endowment Committee and is a 5th-generation member of Congregation Adath Jeshurun.