Dear friends of DJCF,
Leonard Cohen, z”l was a Canadian-born poet, author, and late in his life, reluctantly became a singer-songwriter, the talent he is now most well-known for. As I prepared for the Jewish High Holy Days, primarily represented by two significant holidays – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, which this year coincided with a particularly painful reflection on the horrific events of October 7th, I came across a song by Mr. Cohen called “Anthem”. It is a serious and solemn song, which contains the chorus, “Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”
Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to be perfect, that it gets in the way of progress. This was on my mind throughout the 10 Days of Awe, another name for the period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. To me, Marnie Perlstein said it best in her Instagram story “There is something extra poignant this year about Jews all over the world sitting in synagogues actively working on being better people for the year ahead. Actively reflecting on their mistakes, asking for forgiveness, and thinking about how to make themselves and their world a better version of the one that came before. Unlike our enemies, we do not celebrate our bad deeds and our failings. We have no interest in destroying things. We only wish to repair things. That’s called Tikkun Olam and is a central tenet of Judaism.” But repairing things is a messy business. It’s rarely perfect.
I’m sure most parents can tell a similar version of this story – a precious family heirloom becomes the unfortunate victim of roughhousing and takes a tumble, breaking into pieces. According to Japanese legend, a teahouse owner, Ashikaga Yoshimasa, sent a cracked tea bowl back to China to undergo repairs. Upon its return, Yoshimasa was displeased to find that it had been mended with unsightly metal staples. This motivated a contemporary craftsman to find an alternative, aesthetically pleasing method of repair, and kintsugi was born. Poetically translated to “golden joinery”, kintsugi is the centuries-old Japanese art of fixing broken pottery with a lacquer made from tree sap, dusted with powdered gold, silver or platinum. Once completed, beautiful seams of gold shine in the conspicuous cracks of ceramic wares, giving a one-of-a-kind appearance to each repaired piece. (Kintsugi, a Centuries-Old Japanese Method of Repairing Pottery with Gold (mymodernmet.com))
Leonard Cohen wrote the song that would become “Anthem” in the 1970s, inspired by his service during the Yom Kippur war. An early version of the song was mistakenly erased by the studio in 1983, and it was ten more years before it would be ultimately released. Leanne Ungar, the engineer for those sessions said, “Of course I was devastated and wanted to repair it, but Leonard said, “No, it’s a sign. It’s not meant to be. I’m going to put it away and look at it later.” In the 1990s, Mr. Cohen picked the song back up and partnered with producers in Los Angeles who added the line about the light getting in. The song first appeared on Mr. Cohen’s 1992 album, The Future.
I recently moderated a panel discussion with the Dallas Council of Charitable Gift Planners. The panelists were City Councilwoman Jaynie Schultz, and longtime community leaders, Beverly and Cary Rossel. We began our conversation by talking about Jewish values that are related to philanthropy, Tzedakah, L’dor v’Dor, and Tikkun Olam. Jaynie shared with the mainly non-Jewish attendees the Kabbalistic legend of Tikkun Olam, which I’m borrowing here from My Jewish Learning to further articulate, “God contracted the divine self to make room for creation. Divine light became contained in special vessels, or kelim, some of which shattered and scattered. While most of the light returned to its divine source, some light attached itself to the broken shards. These shards constitute evil and are the basis for the material world; their trapped sparks of light give them power.
“According to the Lurianic account, the first man, Adam, was intended to restore the divine sparks through mystical exercises, but his sin interfered. As a result, good and evil remained thoroughly mixed in the created world, and human souls (previously contained within Adam’s) also became imprisoned within the shards.
“The “repair,” that is needed, therefore, is two-fold: the gathering of light and of souls, to be achieved by human beings through the contemplative performance of religious acts. The goal of such repair, which can only be effected by humans, is to separate what is holy from the created world, thus depriving the physical world of its very existence—and causing all things return to a world before disaster and before human sin, thus ending history.”
So much of the Jewish experience today feels dark and depressing, but then, as I am repeatedly drawn back to in my personal introspection year-round, but particularly during the Days of Awe, we are called to bring our imperfect offering, our broken vessels, before one another and God to let the light in.
There is a prayer recited during Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur called Hineni. It is a meditation on hope, a moment of standing tall and stating our presence, literally saying “Here I am!” and conveying a millennia of Jewish transformation and acceptance of responsibility. These are heavy times, for sure. To know that 101 hostages remain underground, countless innocent lives torn apart and destroyed by hateful ideologies, fear and violence. Yet, our tradition forces us to show up, for one another and ourselves. We are required to put one foot in front of the other and act, in whatever forms our individual skills and capacities allow, toward repairing the cracks in our world.
Since October 7th, DJCF has hosted on our website a thematic listing of organizations in need of philanthropic support. Your generosity has resulted in $3.5 million sent to qualified, vetted nonprofits serving critical people and causes in Israel, combatting antisemitism, and securing our local communal institutions. This list has evolved, as the war and humanitarian and diasporic situations have as well. You don’t need to be a fundholder to add your support to these causes, so please do share them with your friends who may be wondering how to use their voice and resources during this time.
Soon we will celebrate Simchat Torah, the grand, joyous finale of a month-long rollercoaster of Jewish tradition and holidays. I’m grateful to know that it ends on a high note, focused on new beginnings and hope for the year ahead. As I write this, the news just broke that Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of October 7, and the leader of Hamas has been killed by Israeli forces. I’m relieved, emotional, and now anxious to see the swift and safe return of the hostages to their families. May this year-long nightmare soon be over.
I am so grateful to have this opportunity to engage alongside you in our shared responsibility of repairing the world. I look forward to the new beginnings this new year will represent for each of us and wish you a healthy and sweet 5785.
October Nonprofit Spotlight
Aaron Family Jewish Community Center – Founded on Jewish values, the JCC of Dallas empowers people of all ages and religious backgrounds to pursue wellness in mind, body, and spirit. The JCC of Dallas has programs for everyone – families and singles, children and teens, adults and seniors. Within their walls, members gather together to meet, play, learn, celebrate, and be part of the community. Give Here: Support: Help our community grow
JET – Jewish Education Texas strengthens and supports the Dallas Jewish community by engaging, educating and enriching the lives of the “Young Jewish Family” regardless of background or affiliation. JET is non-congregational and endeavors to help all individuals attain a deeper relationship with their privileged heritage through Torah-study, Socio-religious events and a connection to the land of Israel. Give Here: Make A Donation
Texas Jewish Arts Association – Texas Jewish Arts Association (TJAA) is a community of visual and performance artists, arts professionals, and art enthusiasts. Membership is open to all who value the quality of life that the arts provide, regardless of religious affiliation or level of expertise. TJAA believes that artistic creativity brings out the best in humanity. Give Here: Help Us To Support Jewish Arts in Texas
Torah Day School of Dallas – Caters to Jewish children of all backgrounds, providing a warm and caring environment with an immersive, Torah-based curriculum. Torah values are imbued in everything we do, both in and out of the classroom. In partnership with parents, we are teaching children to be the leaders, builders, and scholars of the next generation. Give Here: Invest In Our Children’s Jewish Future
Upcoming Programs & Events
DHFLA – Unlock the Power of Legacy
10/29 | 2:00 – 3:00 PM
October is National Financial Planning Month and National Estate Planning Awareness Month. What better time to educate our community on creating a legacy? Join the Dallas Hebrew Free Loan Association (DHFLA) and Dallas Jewish Community Foundation (DJCF) for a fireside chat that will help you think about how to unlock the power of your legacy through gift planning.
DJCF & The Legacy Senior Living Communities – Your Legacy, Our Jewish Future
11/4 | 1:00 – 2:00 PM
Join host Bob Weinfeld with Megan Hyman, CEO of DJCF, Gerardo Weinstein, Legacy at Willow Bend Resident, Melissa Orth, CEO of the Legacy Senior Communities, and community leaders Beverly and Cary Rossel for a discussion about charitable legacy planning.
RSVP to Crystal Barnett at cbarnett@thelegacysc.org.
Jewish National Fund – Global Conference
11/14-11/17 | 1:00-5:00 PM
Jewish National Fund will be hosting a Global Conference for Israel. This conference will be filled with solidarity, inspiration, tactical and practical solutions to standing up against Jew-hatred. Learn how to be a voice for Israel. Stand together loud and proud in support of the Jewish homeland.
DJCF/SWCF Annual Meeting
12/3 | 5:30 – 7:30 PM
DJCF/SWCF will be hosting its Annual Meeting to recognize the outgoing and incoming Board of Trustees and celebrate our community’s success of the past year.
Investment Reports & Fund Statements
The Foundation’s investment portfolio is managed by Graystone Consulting, under the guidance of the Foundation Investment Committee. This relationship has allowed us to offer seven investment models for our constituents to choose from. Graystone provides monthly investment return information on the models as a whole and fact cards for the individual models and the sub-funds that make up each model.
The DJCF/SWCF Investment Committee has been implementing a series of changes in follow up to the revised Investment Policy Statement approved by the board of trustees in September was adopted. Highlights include:
- Reducing liquid alternative exposure throughout the managed pools, renaming the remaining exposure “Real Assets” to more closely reflect the composition of the fund.
- Restructuring the pools to be comprised of sub-funds based on asset classes. The same managed pools are available for investment, and donor-advised or custodial fund holders with assets in excess of $1mm now have the option to select individual asset class funds to build a custom allocation.
Our investments page will be updated in the near future to better explain our investment options, and the same detailed investment reports will continue to remain available for review.
If you’d like to revisit your funds’ investment allocation, please contact Jerry Blair at jblair@djcf.org.
DJCF’s investment performance reports through September are posted on the website. These reports can be found on the Investment Reports page under ‘Tools + Resources’ tab on our menu toggle, found here: Investment Reports – Dallas Jewish Community Foundation (djcf.org)
September fund holder statements will be released in your My DJCF portal soon.
