Olami - Who is the JEC

[Music] I found out that I was Jewish when I was 12 years old I'm an entertainment reporter for NBC and I interview celebrities on the red carpet the Oscars the Emmys I came back from my Birthright trip and I felt rejuvenated and I felt inspired but there was nothing there for me to connect to giving to charity wasn't something that was important to me at all and Now philanthropy is an extremely integral part of my life my dad's Dominican my mother's Jewish guess you could call me a je minican I always felt connected to being Jewish but I didn't know how to fulfill that [Music] connection a friend of mine sent me an email about the bar and B Mitzvah program at the JC and it was basically Judaism for dummies and that's exactly what I needed I really wanted to learn what it meant me to be Jewish and up until that point I always felt like I should know this stuff but I don't know it and it was almost too late to learn about it the barn Mitzvah program was really great for me because every week you would deal with some part of Jewish life so that you could feel comfortable with it so this is your International Jewish passport to any Sabbath table in the entire world what are the Jewish holidays and why do we celebrate them and how do we celebrate them the Jewish wedding and you would understand that and for me was like such a relief that here I'm not going to have to go to my first Jewish wedding and be terrified you know of doing something wrong or not understanding Rabbi Lawrence who works at the J was also amazing he's hilarious so the classes were really engaging I think one of the hardest things about drawing people to Jewish organization is the fact that we have so many other things drawing us Elsewhere for me the JC has kind of realized that the JC really makes this a cool experience they have amazing parties pum party Loft parties rooftop parties it's something that I could bring anyone to people that I can drag out of the club and actually bring to a a Jewish event and be like this is just as good as anything else if not better I mean the JC is now like a middle ground between college and getting married and having kids I saw a flyer for a reloaded trip to Israel our reloaded trip was was one of the most powerful inspirational things that I have done what I enjoyed most about the trip was the fact that these things have been there for thousands of years and Israel and the Jews have fought so hard to keep it learning about all these customs and learning about all these historical things that we saw was just amazing my numerous visits to the cotel on on my reloaded trip I realized that that I wasn't an outsider to my religion I came back from the trip and I said now what I'm interested I'm engaged I'm intrigued you've taught me Hebrew words you've taught me prayers you've taught me culture and how am I going to grow that so I heard about Legacy the Legacy program is a 10-week program it is a more textual based course than the bar B Mitzvah program was that I felt gave you the basics of Judaism now this looks a little bit deeper each week I built upon previously learned knowledge that I can actually bring into my everyday life in addition to teaching me how to to be a better Jew I feel like I'm becoming the better person I got an email from the JC and from the birthright Alumni Association telling me about a group called The Young philanthropist committee or the ypc we meet once a month to discuss philanthropic issues each of the 20 members submit a grant for a Jewish or Israeli organization and then everybody votes to determine who the winner is I nominated an organization called mayor panim which is a fantastic group which runs food shelters it runs a battered women's shelter uh they provide vocational training they have children center all throughout Israel everybody voted and they ended up voting for me panim which you know which I really felt great about during one of the dinners that we had with Rabbi yakob Deo uh a great guy he was talking about how Sedaka according to Jewish law doesn't mean charity it means Justice and I always thought that sedu me charity you know what do I know you know charity it seems like it's a good thing but in fact sedu is something that you're obligated to do as a Jewish person the JC approaches teaching as a go at your own pace we're not going to judge you we're not going to push you we're going to give you the tools that you need to get there now I know the meaning behind the Western Wall I know what my homeland feels like now I never expected to know what it was like and now I know in July I'm going on my legacy trip and I'll be extending for a year and staying in Jerusalem to continue to learn with my boyfriend and I think it's really important because again we'll have the opportunity to continue the knowledge and to really create a foundation for ourselves so that we have something to pass along so that we can be valuable members of the Jewish Community I'd love to be the next Michael steinhardt he's had a larger impact on Jewish people than perhaps anybody else at least people of my generation and I'd love to have a similar impact on the Next Generation I told my mother I said I promise you that I will definitely marry someone Jewish and I will definitely give you Jewish grandchildren and there's no doubt in my mind about it that I owe in large part to the fact that the JC is here I feel so blessed and so fortunate that I was able to be the receiver of all this great knowledge and and information and to finally feel like I've been officially welcomed and accepted into Judaism where I've I've never felt that way prior to becoming involved with the J I am Kate Lord and I I am JC my name is Jennifer elen and I am the JC my name is Justin karp and I am the JC my name is Seth Goldman and I am the JC my name is Judith Yellen and I am the JC my name is Lou ezri and I am the JC