Submission #22096 by Olam Tikvah Men's Club - Fairfax, VA (1147)

I have read the 2021 Torch Awards Program Guidelines.
Club Name
Olam Tikvah Men's Club - Fairfax, VA (1147)
From Hate to Hope
Club Representative
Person completing form
Jordan
Baker
Club President at time of convention if known at this time
Marvin
Kon
Club President Now
Marvin
Kon
Community Outreach

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"From Hate to Hope" was a Men's Club brunch program that featured as a guest speaker, Olam Tikvah congregant Marnie Fienberg, a co-founder of the 2 for Seder initiative. Marnie's mother-in-law, Joyce Fienberg was a victim of the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh. 2 for Seder encourages individual actions to fight back against anti-Semitism.
Fifteen months after the horrible tragedy of the Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, the Olam Tikvah Men's Club welcomed fellow congregant Marnie Fienberg to be a guest speaker at our winter brunch. Marnie walked the congregation, and numerous community friends, through the stages of her immense grief and sorrow, and how it generated a call to action against anti-Semitism. This program featured a two-hour discussion and question and answer period, with Marnie going into detail about how her 2 for Seder initiative came into being, and how she wanted to honor her late mother-in-law's life by creating an international effort to encourage Jews to invite two non-Jews to attend their seders. Joyce Fienberg was a long-time educator who always kept an open door and Marnie firmly believes that this approach is essential in bringing people of various backgrounds together, especially as it times into the meaning of Passover. Regrettably, the COVID-19 pandemic made the initiative pivot to virtual seders in the months after the brunch, but the mission remained the same. The Olam Tikvah Men's Club supported the 2 for Seder initiative by raising money for the organization through its brunch, which assisted in the development of its educational material. Numerous club members participated in the seder initiative in 2020 in virtual form.
Attachments
Self Assessment
The brunch had over 120 attendees. In addition to Olam Tikvah congregants, other neighboring synagogues had members attend, as well as non-Jewish community friends that have close bonds with our club through social action activities. Several hundred dollars were raised for 2 for Seder. More than 10 club members helped out in the kitchen, sold raffle tickets, and ran the sound for the event. This was an important event for our congregation in part because it was the first time that Marnie Fienberg addressed our community about her grief from the Pittsburgh shootings, and this was also the first big local promotional push for the 2 for Seder initiative. This was an all-hands-on-deck event, and the club membership turnout was very strong.
While the brunch aspects of this event were traditional to a Men's Club brunch, club members were inspired by our partnership with 2 for Seder and how the club could buy-in to the initiative for Passover 2020. While the pandemic altered these efforts, the club tried to still participate in the initiative virtually by inviting non-Jews to our virtual seders. This brunch was important for the club because our outreach extended to the wider congregation, neighboring synagogues, and non-Jewish social action and interfaith partners. The event was innovative because it was not unidirectional. It was not just a speaker talking about what the speaker was doing, but the club partnered in with the activities of the speaker to help establish a long-term, continuing effort.
Please consider this event under Community Outreach. So many Men's Club programs are internal-facing -- this program was all about how our club was able to partner with the 2 for Seder initiative to go outside our club, promote the spirit of freedom from our seders, bring in non-Jews as an outreach to create familiarity with Jewish practices, and ultimately, make numerous individual efforts to fight against anti-Semitism.

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Original Program
Previous Submission
Yes
Gold