From Berditchev to Broadway: An evening with world renowned Tenor, Cantor Aryeh Hurwitz
As a new year begins, so does a partnership with the staff of Jewish Family Service and The Observer. The staff will be sharing this new column focused on issues of humanity. We will share with you our thoughts, opinions, and experiences as we continue to support our community through life’s transitions.
Three months ago, on the Festival of Simchat Torah we began reading the Book of Genesis. On the first weekend of January 2023, we conclude the Book of Genesis, with the story of our forefather Jacob who lived his final years in the Land of Egypt. The Torah tells us that despite Jacob’s passing at the age of 147 years old, Jacob never actually died. Since he bonded with G-d, and G-d doesn't die, Jacob never really died. His body did, but he did not. Jacob's life didn't die.
January marks the time of year when we honor and celebrate the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. After a hiatus due to the pandemic, MLK week events and march in Nashville will be back in person this year. JCRC will return to the tradition of providing transportation to the program so we can represent our community as we can stand in solidarity with the greater Nashville community to honor Dr. King’s legacy and tireless work on behalf of justice, equity, and nonviolence.
It’s been in the news for months. Nashville is in an affordable housing crisis. Service workers, teachers, police officers, and firefighters are being forced to move out of Davidson County to find housing they can afford. Many of us have secure housing, yet are feeling the consequences through understaffed emergency services, reduced hours in restaurants and entertainment venues, teacher shortages and more.
Dr. Mark Goldfarb is no stranger to the Nashville Jewish community. For 33 years, he lived and raised his family in town, and worked at St. Thomas Hospital. He was on the Board of the Gordon Jewish Community Center where he also coached his children’s sports teams, and he was a Board member at both The Temple and Vanderbilt Hillel. Now remarried, semi-retired, and living in Park City, Utah, the cardiologist says his years in Nashville, and the friendships he made, inspired him to make a lasting contribution to the future of the community. “Whenever I would enter the JCC and see the names Eugene and Madeline Pargh, and Joel and Bernice, I knew that someday I wanted to make a similar contribution. They were very special role models for me. They truly provided the infrastructure to ensure the vibrancy of the Nashville Jewish community,” he says.
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Introducing the Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville
Vanderbilt Hillel partners with Gift of Life, the Nashville Predators, and the Nashville Soccer Club to Save Lives
The Plot: The Secret Story of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion by Will Eisner
