Nov 15, 2023
On October 9, 2023, the airplane lifted off the Tel Aviv tarmac. As the flickering lights along Israel’s coastline grew smaller in the distance, my eyes swelled with tears. I had waited since summer to visit my family in Israel. Two days into my holiday, war had broken out and...
Feb 25, 2022
This week, the OFJCC was fortunate to sit down with the one and only Lieutenant Colonel Yaniv Nimrod, who will be gracing us with his presence this year at the 2022 OFJCC Annual Benefit. OFJCC: Lieutenant Colonel Yaniv Nimrod, you made waves at the OFJCC Annual Benefit last year with...
Arts and Culture / Family Life / Jewish Life / Lifestyle & Learning
Nov 3, 2020
I was born during an election year. It was 1988 – Bush v. Dukakis. My birth and the election are tied together as one story in my family’s lore because we were, at the time, living next door to Michael and Kitty Dukakis. When my parents took me home from...
Mar 26, 2020
My husband and I play Maj regularly with another couple from our temple. We are, at best, cheerfully mediocre. We don’t play for money; we play to connect, eat See’s bridge mix, drink wine and amiably trash talk each other’s Maj acumen. Needless to say, we were bereft when the...
Aug 30, 2019
Shuli Zilberfarb Sela is closing the door on a meeting room so full of school supplies, you can’t sit down. It all came out of the power of weaving an idea across multiple groups who were primed to help. Two weeks ago, in a Hebrew-speaking Facebook group where people can give...
Nov 2, 2017
M. Goodman takes a deep dive beneath surface. Becoming a proficient SCUBA diver is an iterative process. Once you learn the foundational rules of diving, you can then begin learning new skills like proper buoyancy, air control and gaining a general awareness of your surroundings. Diving evolves from being frantic to meditative—you learn...
Apr 28, 2017
OFJCC Personal Trainer Lyndsey Jones shares profound insight from her trip to Japan. The last time I wrote I had just gotten back from my first solo trip to Peru, exhilarated by the perspective I gained. Even so, I couldn’t wait to embark on another journey. My goal in traveling is to experience other...
Nov 28, 2016
My favorite activities at the Oshman Family JCC are the lectures, talks and seminars. Mental exercise! I have always loved learning. My first job out of college was at the Brookings Institution, where going to hear dignitaries, academics and researchers was “part of the job.” Like most of us, my...
Arts and Culture / Jewish Life
Sep 21, 2016
Opera is not kind to its female characters. Most of them suffer until the bitter end. In their suffering, many female roles are decidedly vocal. In Jewish mythology, a dybbuk is a malicious spirit that possesses the body of a living person until it has accomplished its task. Until recently, S. Ansky’s...
Jul 22, 2016
As a child, I distinctly remember the gestalt of singing in a choir, being on stage with my friends and making new friends who share, experience, and exchange ideas, energy and the love of Jewish texts and music. I’m so proud to know that I come from people who have...