At the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, we often speak about our commitment to elevating voices and engaging in purposeful dialogue. This week offered powerful reminders that this is not just an aspiration. It is a lived value, expressed in classrooms, on stages, in seminar rooms, and in community spaces across our city.
Earlier this week, I received three letters from middle school students at Community Day School. They wrote with vulnerability and clarity about their concerns regarding the divisions they see within our Jewish community. They also shared their thoughtful ideas about the role the JCC can play in helping to unify. The depth of reflection from these young people was inspiring. One student suggested that we learn from what other JCCs are doing to foster unity, while another recommended expanding our family swim times to allow more opportunities for people to “just swim and talk,” and the third encouraged us to create more intentional intergenerational storytelling experiences. Their letters were a powerful reminder that leadership and vision are not defined by age and that when we create space for young voices, we are strengthened as a community.
On Wednesday, members of REACH, the 10.27 Healing Partnership Speakers’ Bureau, continued their sacred work of elevating voice in a different setting. Survivors and family members who lost loved ones in the October 27, 2018 synagogue shooting traveled to Washington, DC to speak with students at American University in a Death Penalty Perspectives seminar. Michele Rosenthal and Howard Fienberg offered students a rare and deeply personal opportunity to understand the human impact of targeted violence and the long, complex journey through the criminal justice process. By sharing their stories — and the trauma of profound loss — they created a space of empathy and reflection. They spoke with appreciation for the legal system’s role in seeking accountability and for the opportunity to engage thoughtfully with students wrestling with difficult questions. In doing so, they helped place academic learning into the context of real lives and real communities. That is purposeful dialogue at its most meaningful.
On Thursday evening, our second Curious Conversation through our Unity in Community partnership with the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, made possible by the generous support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, with additional funding from A More Perfect Union Ignition Grant, brought together community members for thoughtful discussion about identity, honesty, connection, and how we collectively navigate questions of gender identity and belonging. These conversations are not always simple. They require courage, humility, and trust. But they are essential if we are to remain a community that holds complexity with care.
And finally, this week culminated in a different – yet equally important – expression of voice. Forty middle school musical performers took to the stage of our Katz Theater as Seussical Jr. came to life. Through song, story, and imagination, the voices of our young people filled the theater and invited audiences into the beloved world of Dr. Seuss. Art, too, is dialogue. It allows us to explore identity, courage, friendship, and belonging in ways that transcend debate and speak directly to the heart. Be sure to click HERE for your ticket to a remaining Seussical performance!
From classrooms both near and far to community forums to theatrical stages, this week reminded us that voices matter. Listening matters. May we continue to be a community where voices rise, hearts open, and dialogue becomes the bridge that carries us toward deeper understanding and closer to the unity envisioned by the young people at Community Day School and across our region.
Wishing you and your families a Shabbat shalom,
Jason
