At the Start of Summer, Navigating Challenging Times

By Nina Fondiller Woldin

Today Americans are kicking off summer: firing up the grills and opening the pools. Unofficially, it’s the start of summer. Officially, it’s Memorial Day. 

The juxtaposition of celebration and remembrance may at first appear like a conflict. How can we eat, drink, play games, and splash in the pool while at the same time solemnly honoring the men and women who sacrificed their lives for this country?

I think the answer may be in the weekend activities themselves. Friends and families celebrating together without worries – that’s the very freedom the service members we honor died to protect.

But this year, a shadow hovers over our celebrations. Jewish people all over the United States don’t feel safe. We are attacked in social media, in the streets, in our schools, and in our synagogues.

Yesterday I visited the Jewish Museum to see the exhibit Paul Klee: Other Possible Worlds. I had always found Klee’s work whimsical and inviting. But reading the stories behind his colorful pieces, I learned a dark lesson about history. 

Paul Klee was not Jewish, but he was an independent thinker. For this reason, with Hitler’s ascent to power, the National Socialists deemed Klee’s art subversive and degenerate, and had him dismissed from his position at the Düsseldorf Academy, referring to him as “a Galician Jew.” He was forced into exile in the country where he was born. “Jew” did not refer to religion or ethnicity. It was a catch-all name for anyone that those in power found objectionable. 

Reading the label next to a work entitled Protected Children that Klee painted in 1939, I felt a pang of recognition. It said in part: “Klee became sensitive and irate concerning children’s vulnerability in the face of exposure to Nazi ideological teachings…” I found uncomfortable parallels between this history and our experience today. 

Our children must be given the tools they need to navigate our complicated, dangerous times – education and strong community connections.

This task may seem overwhelming, but we can each start by connecting Jewishly with our own loved ones. Start a local Chai Mitzvah discussion group at home or in your synagogue. Join us for virtual groups on many topics, including GRANDparents Circle – grown-up conversation and intergenerational fun to take home to help navigate our complicated, dangerous times.

Nina Fondiller Woldin is the Managing Director of Chai Mitzvah, and has worked in Jewish education for decades, creating student materials and programs for all ages, pre-K – adult. Her work has been published by Behrman House, Ktav, Kar Ben Publishing, Addison Wesley and Grolier. She created one of the first online Jewish education resource centers, Yourpage.org, which became part of Jewish National Fund’s website in 2003.