Generous Gifts Funds Listings Summer Bulletin July 2010
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Rabbi's Message
A Myriad of Services From JVS and JFS
After eleven years as rabbi here, I thought I knew this Jewish community well. I am familiar with the demographics, I know many of the leaders personally and I am knowledgeable about the issues especially important to those of us who live here.
I also thought I knew a lot about the agencies that serve our local community. A few days ago, however, I learned how little I really know.
Reuben Rotman, the head of Jewish Family Service (JFS), gathered a group of rabbis together to educate us on the various services his organization and Jewish Vocational Service (JVS) offer the Jewish community. Sounds boring, right? It was anything but.
First, in over a decade in this position, it was the first time I ever sat in a meeting with rabbis of every stripe around one table, treating each other equally as peers. It was surprisingly easy, relaxed and collegial. The reason became evident: the subject at hand was something we could all relate to.
Largely because of the economic crisis that has continued these many months, all of us face similar challenges: congregants who are unemployed and underemployed, family tension resulting from core financial difficulties, domestic strife that touches adults and children, and further strains from a desire that results from wanting to keep up appearances.
While I thought I knew JFS and JVS well, there are a wealth of services of which I was unaware. Jewish Family Service, of course, offers wonderful counseling and therapy services, but it also works with families and individuals in financial straits providing occasional emergency cash assistance, linking clients to entitlement programs that may help them and providing ongoing professional support of many kinds, making transition to a new reality easier.
Many Temple members have taken advantage of JVS in employment searches over the years, but there were a number of specialized programs about which I learned. One I thought particularly valuable is JVS’s work with current college seniors to prepare them for the job market they will face upon graduation. Especially in these times, those not going on to graduate or professional school, especially liberal arts graduates, have particular challenges; a JVS staff member knows their world well, and stands ready to help.
And while all this was important information, the setting in which the session took place was fascinating. One small example will suffice: an Orthodox rabbi described the awkardness of congregants celebrating a simcha by sponsoring a kiddush that, especially in these times, they really could not afford. Each one of us present could relate to that, and while the subject was not a happy one, to learn that there are so many resources available and that in this area we rabbis could rely on one another for support even if there are many other area in which we disagree….well, it turned out to be a more productive, more satisfying and more meaningful session than I had expected.
We need to do a better job of seeing that all members of Temple B'nai Abraham are informed about the myriad of resources that exist in our community, and I will see to that personally. In the meantime, if you even think there might be a way in which some effort in our local community might be beneficial to you or your family, please, in confidence, be in touch with me or with our social worker Ann Hicks directly. I make no guarantees about what may or may not be possible. But it is certainly worth exploring.
Finally, Pesach comes early this year from the perspective of the civil calendar, though Hebraically it arrives on the 15th of Nisan, like always! Robin, Noah, Molly and I wish you and yours a meaningful, joyous holiday. May the commemoration of our people’s liberation be a time of celebration for us all.
B'shalom,
Rabbi Clifford M. Kulwin
Rabbi Clifford M. Kulwin
