In our work at JFS, we often think about how to explain the issues our clients face to children. With the Food Drive and Food Sort quickly approaching, this question came up again. How can we help our young volunteers understand concepts like hunger and food insecurity? They proudly come to the Food Sort, drop…
The Calculus of the Vulnerable
Not long ago while working in the Polack Food Bank, I noticed an older woman who seemed to be weighing her food before she put it in her basket. Each can, each piece of fruit, every vegetable. Some things she would take and others she would set back in the box on the table. She…
Missing the Mark on Mental Illness
Learn more about upcoming support groups or events with JFS. During the past few years I have made an effort to reconnect with former students and old friends. Many common themes arose over the course of these conversations, including a topic rarely discussed in public Jewish spaces. I have lost track of the number of…
In the Season of Turnings
My story is a familiar one, almost a cliché: I married a Jewish man, began raising Jewish children and, after many years, chose Judaism for myself. Of course there is more to the story than that. This is part of that story. In the season of t’shuvah – which literally means turning toward – I…
The Dirty Laundry of Domestic Violence
The shirts pictured above were created as part of the Clothesline Project in which Project DVORA participants depicted their experiences as survivors of domestic violence. All too often, women are encouraged to keep their abuse a secret, to hide their experiences, to feel ashamed of what happened. By making these shirts, women were encouraged to…
A Selfless Mitzvah
Aviva Lyss-Loren, a rising 3rd grader at Seattle Jewish Community School, approached JFS this summer about a special donation. Here’s the story on this 9-year-old and her creative, self-initiated mitzvah. Tell us about your donation. I gave JFS stuff that people would need moving in somewhere or if they didn’t have a house. I bought blankets, pillows, toiletries, and…
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