Almost seven years ago to the day, June 30, 2018, I retired as the CEO of your Jewish Federation. Little did I know then, before COVID, before the racial unrest of 2020 that challenged our nation, before the momentous elections of 2020 and 2024 did I ever imagine I would return to the Jewish Federation as your Interim CEO, and to do so for an eight-month tenure.
It was Thomas Wolfe who authored the famous book and commonly used phrase “You can’t go home again.” This phrase, explored in his novel, signifies that returning to one's past is impossible due to the inevitable changes in people and places. It reflects the idea that both the individual and their former home have transformed, making it impossible to return to the same experience.
And my experience of the past eight months has proven the time-tested phrase to be only partially true. For certain Nashville has grown dramatically in the seven years since my initial departure from the Jewish Federation. Yet, in some respects, the Nashville Jewish community remains remarkably consistent in several respects.
Jewish Nashville, which has experienced similar exponential growth as the rest of the city and region, is still characterized by its warmth, its cohesiveness and its compassion. More than any other city I have ever lived in (and there have been more than a few over my 42-year career as a Jewish communal professional) can a member of the Nashville Jewish community avail themselves of a rich and robust engagement with Jewish institutions and express their love of Jewish culture, heritage and tradition.
You are all blessed in so many respects to be living in Jewish Nashville, so my parting advice to all of you is “count your blessings.” They are likely more numerous than you could possibly imagine. Within the limited space that I have to offer this farewell redux, there simply is not enough room to thank all of the individuals who have enriched my work experience these past eight months. I want to thank all of you for letting me re-enter your lives through your partnership and loving friendship. I am truly a lucky man.
At the 2018 Jewish Federation Annual Meeting, I offered my first farewell with these words, and now, I leave you with them again.
We Jews are a sacred assembly. Each one of us is a single letter in the Torah. If we become imperfect, the sacred assembly rushes to make us whole. We cannot enjoy meaning in our lives unless we are surrounded by the letters and words that precede and follow us. The words of this sacred assembly are impressions in grains of sand at Sinai that do not erode, do not scatter in the wind, and do not wash away with the rains. We have been pressed downward then upward for all eternity.
This sacred assembly moves across the epochs. We are blemished, bruised and battered but never cast asunder. The Jewish past, present and future stream like waves informing our deeds seeking to inspire greatness in each of us. This sacred assembly cannot be overwhelmed, nor can it ever be complacent. Its guardians stand by the gates of Torah and Talmud and beyond the gates Israel beckons as it was, is and will forever be the home of this sacred assembly.
We are in a moment of history where this sacred assembly has been many times before. We cannot fear the illness and weakness that might pervade us now for this sacred assembly can summon a cure at any moment. We are uniquely positioned, as we have always been, to renew the covenant that binds this sacred assembly to its destiny.
So, I say to you, “what grain of sand are you in the landscape of this sacred assembly?” You are with me always, letters inscribed forever in my heart with gratitude and great thankfulness in the presence of this sacred assembly.
In closing I extend my fondest best wishes to all of you, especially to my successor, your new permanent Jewish Federation CEO, Judy Alperin. Please shower upon her all the gracefulness, respect and sacred blessings you extended to me over the years.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Mark S. Freedman served as CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville from 2011-2018 and as Interim CEO from November 2024 to June 2025. He lives in Parkland, Florida with his wife, Leslie J. Klein.
The Jewish Observer is published by The Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville and made possible by funds raised in the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign. Become a supporter today.
