By Sara Klein Wagner
Thirty-four years ago, I worked my first “Super Sunday” here in Louisville. I was (and deep down, still feel like) a young Jewish professional excited for the future and the path I would forge in my hometown. I particularly remember the energy around that first Super Sunday. We were in the throes of Operation Exodus, the massive effort ultimately rescuing nearly two million Jews from the former Soviet Union.
We held that Super Sunday at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts, with hundreds of our fellow community members gathering to make phone calls to raise funds, followed by a concert featuring Mary Travers. Back then, we depended on wired phone banks. It was a maze. However, what I recall most was the enthusiasm displayed on that Super Sunday, and the many that followed. I loved it when children and teens joined their parents and grandparents, making their first calls or stepping up to fill other volunteer roles. I saw — from Day One — that Louisville was a warm, giving, intergenerational community. Watching parents engage their children on Operation Exodus Super Sunday, I knew I was right where I needed to be.
A lot has happened over these 34 years. Phone banks are much easier with cellphones. Many of those original children and teens who came back year after year are now parents themselves. If you add up all the Super Sundays over the decades, it’s clear we have built something special – a true affirmation of L’dor V’dor — “From Generation to Generation.” The bottom line is simple: Your support matters and continues to change lives.
I have watched a generation (now going on two) grow up in Jewish Louisville. Many Kesher Kentucky, March of the Living and BBYO alumni are deeply involved as role models, leaders, and connectors. Now, more than ever, we can and must meet the unique needs of families and children as they seek joyous and meaningful learning and Jewish connection. There is a renewed desire for engagement matched by a renewed level of need.
We want to meet the unprecedented needs of those coming through our doors even as we experience waiting lists. At the same time, we are embracing more and more people outside our doors. Our Jewish Journey programming, our Jewish Community Relations Council, our Next Gen, BBYO and Hillel initiatives, alongside our camp grants – continue to grow. Our ShinShinim—two young and talented women from Israel –are working to make our community more vibrant with their outreach to area schools and synagogues. We are providing more need-based scholarships than ever before. At the same time, we are responding to a new crisis, assessing and addressing the post-October 7 needs of our communities both at home and in Israel.
In short, 34 years of Super Sundays, the single day carved out to reach as many community members as possible, remind us how great the ongoing needs are, and how many more people we need to serve.
We can always learn from our teachings and traditions. When presented with need, and with more people to serve, I remember the Torah’s account of Abraham and Sarah. When they saw strangers approaching, they urgently prepared to welcome the new guests. They did not stand idly by; they did not wait — they rushed in to serve. To me, that is what Super Sunday is all about: people joining together with energy and enthusiasm to meet the community’s needs. We are not choosing to stand idly by — we are choosing to do more.
Our next Super Sunday will be this coming March 2 from 10 a.m. to noon. Dozens of volunteers will gather to call on hundreds more to partner with us to meet those urgent needs. Our annual campaign goal is $2.1 million. I believe we’ll succeed in meeting the challenges in front of us. Just as important, it will be a genuinely “super” Sunday as I love to connect with members across our community. Alongside veteran callers there will be first timers and young people beginning their own journeys. Who knows — a generation from now, perhaps they’ll share their own reflections about Super Sunday. Meanwhile, please answer the call.
Sara Klein Wagner is President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the Trager Family JCC.
If you’d like to participate or want more information, contact Gayle Shoemaker at gshoemaker@jewishlouisville.org. To give to the Annual Campaign, go online at jewishlouisville.org/give.
Thank You!