The entire month of June is Pride Month, an annual celebration and commemoration of the LGBTQ+ culture, history, and civil rights. It honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in New York City, which served as a major catalyst for the modern gay liberation movement. Jewish Pride Greater PDX, a collaboration of Jewish organizations, will be participating in the Beaverton Pride Parade this Sunday and the Portland Pride Parade on July 19. You are welcome to join us. (FYI -- on June 25, 1978, the Rainbow Flag, widely recognized as the symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, was flown for the first time at the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.)

We continue to be fixated on the situation in the Middle East, thus, we sadly, forget about the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The war has now lasted 1,583 days – that is longer than World War I.

You will recall when the war began on February 24, 2022, our community very quickly raised over $600,000 for relief efforts. These funds went to support people in Ukraine and to help resettle multiple Ukrainians here in Portland.

For over 30 years, our overseas partner, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has worked with Ukraine’s Jewish community to build a resilient welfare network made up of Hesed Social Service Centers and Jewish Community Centers (JCCs). Chabad has also been on the ground helping people throughout the country. When the war began, JDC and Chabad were able to immediately mobilize their established networks.

In this email, I can really only speak to the work of the JDC.

During the initial weeks of the crisis, JDC’s immediate response focused on urgent safety and survival. The organization distributed emergency aid, organized evacuations, greeted refugees at the borders, assisted with their resettlement, and established an emergency hotline for Jews seeking help.

As the crisis extended into the autumn of 2022, the threat of freezing temperatures and damaged infrastructure forced JDC to adapt its standard operations. The organization transformed its traditional annual winter relief program into a comprehensive "Winter Survival" initiative. This involved setting up “Warm Hubs,” significantly increasing utility subsidies for vulnerable individuals, and organizing winter respite retreats to help people escape the bitter cold and continuous blackouts.

With the severe emotional toll the conflict was taking, JDC opened its first Trauma Support Center in November 2022. Due to the high demand for psychological care, this groundbreaking initiative was rapidly expanded to include eight large centers. These centers provided a vital space for community members to process their grief, fear, and anxiety.

With traditional schooling heavily disrupted by the conflict, JDC stepped in to support youth and families. They piloted an education program designed to provide both academic enrichment and emotional support. This program successfully grew to operate in 16 in-person locations and 80 virtual spaces.

Simultaneously, JDC focused on the most isolated members of the community -- the elderly. JDC dramatically expanded its JOINTECH platform, which provides seniors with smartphones that enable medical consultations and remote monitoring, along with the phones being loaded with age-friendly, simplified interfaces like WhatsApp, Zoom, and cognitive games like BrainHQ. This technological initiative proved to be a lifeline, connecting 157% more isolated elderly individuals to care and community support compared to the start of the crisis.

The proactive measures implemented by JDC throughout the early years of the conflict have continuously saved lives. For example, not too long ago, during a drone interception over the Zaporizhzhia Hesed and JCC -- where a matzah-baking workshop and a senior exercise program were underway -- the building suffered a fiery explosion. Because staff had previously installed protective plastic coatings on the windows and regularly conducted security briefings, the glass was prevented from shattering dangerously, and participants were quickly moved to safe areas without any physical injuries. Local volunteers were able to clear the debris, allowing vital programs to resume the very next day.

The crisis continues and conditions across Ukraine are growing increasingly dire. Drone and rocket attacks have surged, reaching even previously "quiet" regions. Simultaneously, the country’s electrical infrastructures are buckling under the strain of continuous assaults. Cities and villages face frequent, prolonged blackouts that add to the widespread emotional trauma.

As the crisis enters its fifth year, JDC anticipates needs will only increase, especially amongst the elderly and displaced. JDC remains deeply committed to providing a critical safety net for Ukraine’s most vulnerable Jews -- frail seniors, internally displaced persons, at-risk youth, and the newly impoverished -- ensuring they are not left to face this darkness alone. Through your heartfelt support of our Annual Campaign for Community Needs, we will continue to help JDC provide life-saving and life-sustaining care.

This past Sunday, two hundred participants from across the greater Portland area gathered for The Shuk, a pop-up marketplace of contemporary Jewish ideas, culture, food, and art. Produced by the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland, in partnership with Art/Lab and supported through a generous grant from the Oregon Jewish Community Foundation Community Endowment Fund, The Shuk transformed the Eastside Jewish Commons into a communal hub of exploration and learning. 

Modeled after a "marketplace" where different parts of a community mix together, The Shuk invited participants to wander, discover, and chart their own learning and interest path through the day. The energy and participation on display made clear that Portland's Jewish community is eager for opportunities to gather for new experiences that offer a high degree of personal agency, inviting participants to navigate Jewish life, learning, and culture on their own terms. Make sure you join us next year!

Finally, I should point out that 79 years ago yesterday, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank was first published, offering a firsthand look into a Jewish family hiding from the Nazis. The book had an initial print run of 3,036 books. As of now, the book has sold more than 30 million copies and has been translated into 70 languages. Think of the impact that book has made on the lives of so many, most importantly, young readers.

Shabbat shalom and thank you to those who have already contributed funds to support the people in Venezuela.