We stand at the cusp of the new year of 2022. Milestones in time are ideal moments for reflection and for setting intentions that lead to change.
The past two years have challenged every one of us and our world. With each passing wave of the pandemic, the tensions in communities locally and globally are increasing. Polarization is intensifying. In this academic year to date, hardly a week has gone by where the Greenspon Center has not been contacted to respond to an act of hate in our community or in our regional schools.
While at times, the personal and individual response of deleting our emails, turning off the news, and isolating ourselves feels like the best path to calming our fears and maintaining our balanced and best selves, the greatest of religious teachers and authors instruct us that closing ourselves off is not the answer.
Elie Wiesel taught “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
Mahatma Gandhi taught “Your beliefs become your thoughts, your thoughts become your words, your words become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your values, and your values become your destiny.”
And Reb Nachman taught: “If you won’t be better tomorrow than you were today, then what do you need tomorrow for?”
The reality is that the change we seek, needs to start with us. We invite you to set your intention for 2022. When the ball drops and the new year enters, what is your goal for yourself and the world in the coming year? How do you intend to be in relationship with yourself, with your neighbors, colleagues, family, friends, and the world? What word do you want to define the next year?
Here are some suggestions: Wisdom * Growth * Birth * Serenity * Patience * Light * Warmth * Clarity * Community * Gratitude * Adventure * Justice * Peace * Strength * Abundance * Transformation * Loving-Kindness * Awe * Joy * Understanding * Balance * Renewal * Simplicity * Healing
We encourage you to find your intention for the year and practice it, so that it can become not only your destiny but that of those around you.
The Greenspon Center intention for 2022 is transformative education. If you want support on your journey from personal change to creating broader transformation, we are here as your partners with educational opportunities. If you seek to build bridges for positive change or if you seek to support educational efforts across our region to counter hate with actions advocating human rights for all, then join our work. The options for January alone are expansive:
Join a semester long weekly course on Jewish identities, “Together and Apart: The Future of Jewish Peoplehood,” starting on January 12 and taught by Rabbi Judy Schindler and Tair Giudice, of the Jewish Federation of Greater Charlotte.
Be inspired by Charlotte’s rich Jewish history of civic, business and religious leaders, and philanthropists through a unique, engaging, entertaining, educational, and COVID-safe Jacobs-Jaffa Charlotte Jewish Heritage Tour. Our next tour will be on Sunday, January 9, 2022 from 11 am to 3 pm.
Take part in our inaugural Pop-Up History program by visiting the traveling exhibition, “Anne Frank: A History for Today” from January 14 to 31, 2022, at the Museum of the New South. This first Pop-Up History program is in partnership with the Levine Museum of the New South and the Anne Frank Center at University of South Carolina.
Join a session on “Harm and Repair: Embracing Conflict as Social Change” with our scholar activist Holly Roach Knight on January 18 at 7:00 pm as we think about conflict, train for its eventuality, and populate our organizing toolboxes with skills and wisdom for navigating harm and working towards repair.
Attend our Charlotte interfaith conference on “Sacred Threads: The Complex Tapestry of Jewish-Christian Relations” on January 30th from 1 to 6 pm (held virtually and in-person). Join people from all faiths to explore the remarkable content of Nostra Aetate – the 1965 watershed document issued by Vatican II that set into motion introspection, reconciliation, and interfaith dialogue.
Get engaged as a researcher in long needed research on the history of social justice and community organizing in Charlotte.
To join our work in the fight against hate and injustice, please consider supporting our work financially, as well.
- You can be a part of our Circle of Supporters with a monthly recurring gift of $10 or more.
- You or an organization or house of worship of which you are a part can be a founding donor for one of the two certificate programs we are in the process of developing with a gift of $3600:
- We are developing a cutting-edge innovative certificate in Holocaust Education Pedagogy with a track for regional educators and a track for community members.
- We are developing a Certificate in Social Justice and Community Organizing to train members of the broader community to use their voices and build power for change.
- You can sponsor a member of our CLT Black/Jewish Alliance as we work with Black and Jewish Young Professionals leaders with a $500 gift.
- You can sponsor a Hillel Shabbat dinner for our Queens University students as they nurture their Jewish pride and build interfaith bridges with a $360 gift.
- A gift of any amount makes a difference and sustains our work.
We are happy to meet with you about any of these opportunities for engagement. For more information, contact Talia Goldman, goldmant@queens.edu. To give a gift that moves our intention of transformative education into action click here. Thank you for being partners in strengthening our community and future.