For this week’s column, we have asked our President, Jeanine Borland Mann, to share some of the words and thoughts she delivered during this past Sunday’s 17^th Festival of Jewish Music.

At our Jewish Federation and in our community, Hanukkah began with a family Hanukkah event we co-sponsored with Vroman’s Bookstore and the 17th Festival of Music. The festival featured spectacular performances by many of our local cantors and choirs from our Jewish Federation area, as well as Congregation Emanu-El in Redlands. It is said that music heals the soul, and while no one could have predicted the tragedy of the day when selecting music for this event, each tune seemed to stitch the threads of our souls back together and begin to heal us.

It could have been easy not to leave our homes after learning about the tragic attack on Bondi Beach. But, being together as a community is exactly what Hanukkah is about. The room was filled for the Festival. Our Jewish Federation (and our community) showed that our light, as a community and as Jews, will not be diminished. The beautiful music of the Festival helped us begin to heal.

Events like the Festival are some of the happiest moments of our community. Our Jewish Federation's amazing staff and dedicated volunteers spend countless hours and energy to ensure our programs are meaningful and unique to our community. This is true not only for our music and cultural arts programs but also for all programs our Jewish Federation creates, including camps, family events, and, of course, security. 

Our community research indicates that the more frequently we participate in Jewish community events, the safer we feel. So, come and come often! Encourage and bring a friend with you. And in light of the current climate we find ourselves in, help make people feel safer by organizing active-threat training resources in your community. We can help. The more people who are trained, the safer we will all be. Active-threat training is easy to organize and is free of cost. Contact our Jewish Federation office ([email protected] or 626.445.0810) for more information. 

Thank you for being the light and being part of our Jewish Federation. We are grateful for your participation and could not host programs such as our Festival of Jewish Music, the Jewish Book Festival, and other events without you. We appreciate your light and look forward to seeing you at our next event!