By Sara Klein Wagner
Sara Klein Wagner, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the Trager Family JCC (Photo by Robyn Kaufman)
For those of you who know me, I am prone to take a few turns and tangents when sharing a story or making a point. I got that from my father, of blessed memory. He could have shared a bit less, but he never saw the value in scrimping when speaking to people. He savored it. We all know a good story should have a strong start and a strong end, but there’s no need to rush between the two. Rosh Hashanah reminds us to do exactly that – to both glance at the past and future chapters of our lives but also to concentrate specifically on this chapter, the one we are writing now. And while we have our personal journeys to create, together we are responsible for writing this chapter of the Jewish story.
What will the highlights of 5786 be and how might we strengthen Jewish Life in our community and personally? What is the story we’re going to tell together?
More Jewish experiences for Jewish people
This is a frequent request from a variety of voices. Just last week, while participating in our new Kesher Sundays high school program, I watched that story develop. Sitting alongside Cantor David Lipp, Teen Director Abigail Goldberg and our community’s new Kesher Director, Noah Klein, I watched while Noah leaned into the theme for the year: focusing on how our Jewish teens will lead in the future either in Jewish spaces or with their Jewishness guiding their values. One question he posed was, “What does it mean for Jews to lead Jews?” Following some dialogue and introspection, teens shared areas they care about and wanted to see more of, including additional Jewish experiences for more Jewish people and outreach to Jewish people not already participating, visiting Israel, learning about Jewish traditions, and Jewish participation in climate work. Like each of us, Generation Alpha, as these teens are labeled, are thinking about both personal and communal aspirations in the story they are telling.
I left the 90-minute session knowing these aspirations are aligned with where our community should be focused. I left feeling that “we can do this.” Our 2022 Brandeis study and 502.0 work have laid the groundwork for increased outreach efforts and opportunities to create new learning programs like Kesher Sundays, yet there is so much work still to be done. We each have a role: invite someone new to join you more than once, introduce yourself to someone new when you are in a Jewish space, volunteer to be an ambassador for new and new-“ish” community members through Shalom Louisville.
Shema: hear and listen
At our staff Shabbat last week, we marked the approaching new year with a d’var, or word of Torah, about what is inside the mezuzah hanging on our doorposts. Shema means both listen and hear. To hear is passive, perhaps to music, the TV in the background and the person talking, but it washes over us. Our mind wanders, we have a “to do” list in mind, or we’ve already decided we don’t really want to hear what’s being said. But when we listen, we open ourselves to understanding the message, the nuance of one’s story.
I asked our team — composed of talented, passionate and diverse individuals — to remind ourselves as we begin a new year to listen to the best of our ability. We will do our best to practice this as a team to understand your story and your aspirations. It is no secret that the post- October 7th world requires even more intentional opportunities to listen and share even when it is uncomfortable and difficult. Please see the front-page article announcing this initiative embracing a Year of Civil Discourse. I am grateful to the leaders in our community who are working diligently to bring this project to fruition, and to the Jewish community at large for its continued support. Together, we continue writing that story.
This week was not only Rosh Hashanah but also marked the day my dad would have turned 100 years old. If asked how Jewish life and Jewish Louisville influenced the choices he made, he would have shared a long, meandering collage of beautiful moments, people and communal experiences that made him the kind and loving mensch that he was. It was never the beginning of his long stories or when he wrapped up that mattered most — I always knew that one story merely led him to another. Indeed, the purest joy for him, and now for me, lay in the tangents or journeys that occupied that resonant middle ground.
May we work together to strengthen the stories our children and children’s children will share.
l’shana tova tikateyvu: May you be written [in the Book of Life] for a good year.
Sara Klein Wagner is President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the Trager Family JCC.