JDC

Rachael Houser felt the spirit of Sukkot on a JDC Entwine-HUC trip to Buenos Aires in 2024.

“A main theme of Sukkot is hachnasat orchim, or hospitality to guests,” Rachael writes. “Hospitality was shown to us in spades in Buenos Aires — cared for every step of the way, our hearts immediately opened towards learning.”

Now a rabbi at Central Synagogue in New York City, Rachael was a fifth-year rabbinical student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) when she traveled to Argentina as part of the JDC-Weitzman Fellowship.

Read her full reflection: https://bit.ly/3Y7IMnl

This is a letter someone from the JDC community recently wrote to a struggling Jewish child.

In the face of rising antisemitism, Jewish kids around the world need us now more than ever. Let them know they’re not alone.

As we start this new year, we are asking all of you not for a donation, but to simply write to Jewish children and share your hopes for a brighter future, telling them that you pledge to stand with and support them, no matter what.

Write your letter: https://bit.ly/4xmFM6b

Chag Sukkot Sameach from the JDC-supported JCC "Migdal" in Odesa, Ukraine!

The Jewish Community Center hosted a special Sukkot celebration for Jewish children with special needs. During the celebration, participants learned about the traditions of the holiday in an accessible and interactive format, painted watercolor drawings, and baked small cakes to bring home to their families.

The event was part of the Freedom project, which creates opportunities for teenagers and children with different abilities and needs to participate together in Jewish community life. For the teenagers, involvement is also an opportunity to develop attentiveness to the needs of others, learn to care for their fellow Jews who may need additional support, and take an active role in creating an inclusive environment.

“If you want to be happy for a day,” says Kaleab Tadesse, “go do something fun. But if you want to be happy for a lifetime, serve others.” More than most, Tadesse — JDC’s country director for Ethiopia — has lived a life of service. And though he is a role model for so many vulnerable people in his native Ethiopia, it was a difficult journey that led him here.

Tadesse had few options for treatment when he developed a life-threatening spine disease at a young age. But when he connected to JDC and Dr. Rick Hodes, JDC’s legendary medical director in Addis Ababa, Tadesse, 31, found a new lease on life.

In our latest JDC Voices blog post, Tadesse walks us through his early life story and the groundbreaking work he helps lead in Ethiopia today.

Read here: https://bit.ly/4xMmyHx

Since the Ukraine conflict began more than four and a half years ago, many Jews have fled their towns and cities to find a better life elsewhere across the country. Though they’re officially called “internally displaced persons” (IDPs), to humanitarian aid workers like Yulia Andreikovets, they are the individual men, women, and children she serves on a day-to-day basis — each one with a story and a hope for a better future.

As coordinator for IDPs at the JDC-supported Hesed Bnei Azriel (ICF «Jewish Hesed «Bnei Azriel») social service center in Kyiv, Andreikovets, 49, is their bridge between the life they left behind and the life they seek to build, helping them receive food, medicine, housing assistance, and more. In a Sukkot reflection for our JDC Voices blog, Andreikovets meditates on the image of the sukkah (temporary shelter) and relates it to her work getting IDPs back on their feet.

Read the full blog post: https://bit.ly/4xQy8S0

Uprooted by the conflict in Ukraine, Maryna Zadova and her husband are now internally displaced people (IDPs) living in Kyiv. Zadova, 64, credits her persistence to the very organization she once worked for — JDC. As we approach Sukkot, Maryna connects JDC's work to the sense of protection and collective resilience we celebrate each year on this holiday.

Here's Maryna in her own words:

I like to say that our commitment to Jewish life has saved me and my husband.
When we fled eastern Ukraine on an evacuation train, we made sure the train wasn’t departing on Shabbat or any other Jewish holiday. If we'd decided to leave on a different day, I don't know whether we would have made it out safely. Maybe God saw what we were doing and protected us.

My connection to Jewish customs began in my home city. I used to work at the local JDC-supported Hesed social service center, while my husband worked at the synagogue. That's where we fully embraced Jewish customs.

Wherever we've lived since then, we’ve carried these traditions with us. They provide a structure — both literal and figurative — amidst the constant uncertainty we experience. There were many times we ended up in a particular place because we knew that was where we needed to be to observe Shabbat. More often than not, that place has been a Hesed.

You see, JDC is my whole life. When I retired from my work at Hesed, I became a client, and it felt peculiar to suddenly be on the receiving end of the support I used to deliver. Today, they provide my family with food, medicine, and housing assistance, and I volunteer in any way I can, leading talks about Jewish traditions and helping with tasks large and small — all because I just can’t let go of JDC.

Sukkot, which is my favorite holiday, can give us courage. Though the sukkah gives us a sense of protection, we shouldn’t forget that it’s also built with openings in the roof so that we can see the stars. In other words, as Jews, we're not hiding out — we're coming together in the middle of our hardship, in the middle of our wanderings, to gain strength and aim for something higher.

Who builds this shelter? It's JDC and the generous supporters who never turn their backs on us.