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Dash Continued from Page 16
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that night, my nightmares of
barking Jewish demons ceased.

Th ose seven days were a
shiva. Not the traditional ones
we held for my grandmother
or my uncle, but one of quiet
acceptance and world-altering
mourning. Aft er the week had
passed, both the sky and my
thoughts had cleared.

Th ere’s an Anne Frank quote
I fi rst read in eighth grade
that I’ve been thinking about
recently: “Th e best remedy for
those who are afraid, lonely
or unhappy is to go outside,
somewhere where they can be
quite alone with the heavens,
nature and God. Because only
then does one feel that all is
as it should be and that God
wishes to see people happy,
amidst the simple beauty of
nature.” I used to think that I
understood this quote, that
surely bright yellow daff odils
blooming in the summer and
variegated snowfl akes dancing
down in the winter could make
us smile for a time, but I never
knew nature to be so healing,
so restorative, so spiritual, and
I feel profoundly grateful that I
experienced its power.

Since I’ve been back at
school, I’ve been going on long
walks, ranging anywhere from
four to 12 miles. I don’t take a
set course, I just put on some
music and wander. Around 6
p.m., as I begin to meander
back to my apartment, the sky
paints itself in brilliant colors.

Oft en, I stop and just watch
the cotton-candy clouds and
the fading sun and I think
about stars that die quickly
but shine long and a merciful
God who sculpted such beauty
and granted us eyes with which
to see it. I think about souls’
safe passages and prayers
whispered into the sound of
paws scratching velvet ears.

I used to see God in
Jewish objects and spaces, in
pinned-on kippot, family-
fi lled synagogues, and the
neat Hebrew lettering of
printed prayers. Yet it seems
now that God is equally in
nature, holding the paintbrush
that colors the sunsets, sprin-
kling the water that quenches
the buds’ thirst, coughing
up the fog that collects on
the mountains like rings of
smoke from a cosmic pipe,
and maybe even shepherding
the souls of those who lacked
covered mirrors and funeral
processions and burial rites to
greener, endless pastures. ●
Project and Wikitongues in the
United States and the Mother
Tongue Project in Israel.

Th is is not just a Jewish
issue. Of the 7,000 languages of
the world, about half are now
endangered. Organizations
like these are our last hope
to record them before the last
speakers are gone. We can all
get involved by donating funds,
volunteering or connecting
the projects with speakers of
endangered languages.

May the memories of Flory
Jagoda and Joseph and Kitty
Sassoon be a blessing — and a
wakeup call: We must act now
to preserve their languages and
cultures while we still can. ●
Philadelphia native Dionna Dash
attends the University of Pittsburgh,
where she is a student leader at
Hillel JUC. This piece was fi rst
published by Times of Israel.

LEGAL SERVICES
ATTORNEYS! ADVERTISE YOUR LEGAL NOTICES
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THE BEST RATES!
WE CIRCULATE THROUGHOUT THE
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Benor Continued from Page 17
the COVID-19 pandemic,
more speakers of endangered
languages die. If we don’t
interview them now, we will
lose our opportunity forever.

Fortunately, several organi-
zations have been doing this
important work, including
the Endangered Language
Alliance, the Jewish Language
Sarah Bunin Benor is a professor
of contemporary Jewish studies
and linguistics at Hebrew Union
College. She directs the Jewish
Language Project and edits the
Journal of Jewish Languages. This
piece was fi rst published by JTA.

Be heard.

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C OMMUNITY / calendar
SUNDAY, FEB 14
Virtual Tour of Rome
Join Micaela Pavoncello and Golden
Slipper Gems for a virtual tour at
noon to learn about the Roman
Jews’ resilience, culinary traditions
and interesting customs. Pavoncello
is a well-known tour guide and art
historian who specializes in bringing
the history of the Jews in Rome to
life. Cost $36. Register at facebook.

com/events/3516815891747778. ‘The Vigil’ Screening
Steeped in ancient Jewish lore
and demonology, “The Vigil” is a
supernatural horror fi lm set over
the course of a single evening
in Brooklyn’s Chasidic Borough
Park neighborhood. Gershman
Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival
will stream the fi lm for seven days
beginning at 7 p.m. in partnership
with IFC Films and Tamar Simon from
Mean Streets Management. Email
info@pjff .org for more information.

TUESDAY, FEB 16
LGBTQ Art
Join art therapist Debora King and
Jewish Family and Children’s
Service LGBTQ+ Initiative Program
Manager Galia Godel at 4 p.m. to
explore your gender, your sexuality
and your questioning nature through
art making. The facilitators will
provide a safe space to express
feelings about one’s identity, build
self-esteem and increase a sense
of support. To register or for more
information, contact GGodel@
jfcsphilly.org or 267-273-6006.

Israel Bonds Book Club
Israel Bonds Women’s Division
holds a book club every two months,
normally rotating meeting locations in
private homes and currently holding
the book club virtually. Both fi ction
and non-fi ction books, with Israel
as the backdrop, are selected. The
next book club will take place at 7:30
p.m. with the selection “Murder on
a Kibbutz,” by Batya Gur. Visit conta.

cc/34DQYB2 for more information.

Participants must make a $100
minimum bond purchase in 2021.

THURSDAY, FEB 18
JEVS Career Webinar
Join JEVS career counselor Samara
Fritzsche and JFCS social worker
Sarah M. Waxman at noon for a free
JEVS Human Services Zoom webinar
discussion about the universal
emotional stages experienced due
to job loss and how to re-energize
and focus on next steps. Register at
jevshumanservices.org/upcoming/ career-strategies-events/.

The Race for America
“Jews, Race and Religion,” a free
online lecture series off ered by
the Katz Center for Advanced
Judaic Studies at the University
of Pennsylvania, will focus on
intersections of race and religion,
drawing lessons from the history of
anti-Semitism, examining the role
of Jews in the racialized culture of
the United States and exploring the
role of race in Jewish identity. All
events in the series will take place
on Thursdays from 1:30–2:30 p.m.

Register at katz.sas.upenn.edu/
resources/blog/jews-race-and- religion.

Not Antigone’s Heirs
Join the Center for Jewish History
at 4 p.m. for a talk by Miriam Schulz,
AJS dissertation completion fellow
2020/21, who looks at a little-
known chapter of Soviet Jewry:
Soviet Yiddish cultural groups and
infl uential individuals and the ways
in which they created their own
vernacular Holocaust memory culture
in the Soviet Union. Pay what you
wish and registration required at
tickets/not-antigone-2021-02-18 to
receive a link to the Zoom webinar. ●
N E W S MAKE R S
Kellman Brown Academy hosted a Tu B’Shevat cookies
and craft kit event on Jan. 31 in front of Homemade
Goodies By Roz.

KBA students Ilana Wizmur, left, and Natalie Wizmur
Photo by Lisa Feingold
Members of the Jewish Children’s Folkshul & Adult
Community gathered via Zoom on Jan. 24 for Th e
Big Bold Jewish Climate Fest, a Tu B’Shevat celebra-
tion focusing on environmental education and climate
justice. Each participating family received supplies to
start two parsley plants.

Jenia Jolley, Folkshul member and gardener, teaches
participants how to plant parsley seeds.

Photos by Leah Wright
On Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, Th eatre Ariel will
present Zoom performances of “Th e Value of
Names” by Jeff rey Sweat.

Isadora Wright, a Folkshul student, displays
artwork she created.

Rena and Harold Fruchter, performing as
Gramma and Zabba, have told Jewish stories
and performed parody songs for children since
last spring. Th eir videos are available via their
YouTube channel and the Gramma and Zabba
Facebook page. Here, the pair prepares for Tu
B’Shevat. Clockwise from top left: Robb Hutter, Joe Canuso
and Rachel Brodeur rehearse “The Value of Names.”
Photo by Deborah Baer Mozes
www.jewishexponent.com Rena, left, and Harold Fruchter
Photo by Harold Fruchter
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