Reb Lisa's Message

5/3/23

May is Jewish Heritage month. This national month of recognizing Jewish contributions to the American tapestry began in 2006. And guess what we did on April 30th? We kicked off this month of exploring and celebrating the Jewish experience with the Annual Bagel Brunch! We also revealed and debuted the new sign that replaced the one desecrated by fire and antisemitic vandalism back in November. It was a fantastic day of noshing and schmoozing. It was a day of witnessing the power of communal support, kindness, and love.

Two days after our wood sign was burned and covered with swastikas and SS thunderbolts, we picked up the following message on the CBI voice mail:

"Hi my name is Sterling. I'm sorry about the tragedy with your sign. I'm a metal worker. I'm offering to make you a new sign for free."

Sterling Sparkle’s message was one of dozens that came pouring in at that time, expressing love, concern, outrage, and support.

We were stunned that someone would extend that kind of generosity. We met with Sterling and his wife Susie to design and execute the reality of a new sign. Throughout the process, we continued to be awed by their sincerity and open heartedness. Sterling and Susie’s gesture of tikkun olam, repairing the world, renewed our faith in humanity.

One act of evil was met 100 fold with kindness. One person’s darkness was stamped out by light. One moment of hate was transformed into something permanent and enduring–a new sign that reminds us that goodness exists in this world. Not only that, this full circle story demonstrates that there is exponentially more good in the world than bad. We have a literal living example of that.

This evil act back in November definitely shook us. Remarkably what has grown out of that experience fortified us. And it is through the many interconnections, the network of relationships, that we are strengthened. We are stronger now than we were in November. Hallelu-Yah!