We just donated to Rethink The Conversation’s end-of-year appeal. Won’t you help reframe conversations about mental health and suicide?
Click here for more info or, better yet, click here and make your donation right now!
Thanks!
Missing My Mom
1957 … Mom and I are just getting to know each other
Ida F. Dreskin lived for 93 years, and was well on her way to 94. She was my mom and I really thought she had an excellent chance of seeing a hundred. But one month ago, her extraordinarily terrific life reached its conclusion as Ellen (my wife who, amazingly, happened to have been teaching for a weekend at my mom’s temple down in Florida) held her hand and sang to her as Mom departed this plane to go wherever it is that beautiful mothers go to when their time with us is complete.
But I miss her. This morning, with snow covering New York, I’m homebound with Charlie (Ellen is once again out of town) and the feeling washed over me that this would have been a great time to give my mom a call and say hi. But while I can certainly speak to her, I can’t speak with her. And that makes me sad.
1998 … so happy to have been able to take Mom to Israel with me
Having been my mom’s youngest, we shared a pretty special bond. Probably because she pitied me, being the youngest and the weakest and the most pitiful of her children. (I’m hoping I grew out of much of that sentiment.) Whatever the reason, she was pretty important in my life. And while I didn’t visit her enough, and I didn’t even call her enough, our relationship was always solid and loving.
Thanks to all who have contributed to our Winter 2016 Campaign!
Our Winter 2016 campaign’s a little different. You’re invited the honor and/or remember parents and/or grandparents who inspired the life you’re living. It’s a sweet and poignant way to give credit where credit is due, and to help a whole lotta kids along the way.
We are so grateful that you take the time and dollars to support our work. This list of donors is a small but earnest way to thank you. May our efforts bring ever-increasing goodness into young lives!
The campaign continues through December 31, 2016. Please give generously at jonahmac.org/donate.
Ellen, Billy, Katie, Mark and Aiden
Naomi Dreskin … in memory of Helen and Oscar Dreskin (because as members of Jonah’s extended family, they would have been proud, as I am, of your efforts in his name, to enrich the lives of others through the arts– also their passion.)
Rachel Kalmowitz … in honor of my Mama, whose current experience fighting breast cancer reminds me how strong and capable this gentle, compassionate woman is.
Julie Newman … in memory of Bernard Newman, my father — for singing with me in the car
Phyllis Opochinsky … in honor of Hy and Ruth Polikoff, my parents in the best sense of the word
Rona Oberman and Deb Franzblau … in memory of Jonny Franzblau
Robin Brigmon … in memory of Paul and Ruby Brigmon
Beth Sher … in honor of Bobbie Kraus, Choir Member and Grandmother Extraordinaire
Leona Paul … in memory of Susan Paul Sirkman
Nancy Paul … in honor of Leona Paul, my best friend and mother
In Memory of Ida F. Dreskin
Ida Dreskin: (l-r) 2008, 1957 and 1942
My mom was born in Perth Amboy, NJ, in 1923. She raised six children (me being the youngest) in Cincinnati, OH. Following her eldest (and only) daughter first to Boston and then to Florida, she died peacefully last week at the pretty grand old age of 93. At a sweet, beautiful funeral, attended by five of her six kids and loads of kids-in-law and grandchildren, we sent her on her way to the next part of her journey.
So many of you have donated in her honor and we want to take a moment here to say thank you. I was so deeply touched by all of your gifts. My mom adored Jonah and was utterly bereft when he died. She loved seeing the good work we’ve been doing in his name. Now, with your help, we can do that work in honor of them both.
With humble thanks,
Billy
P.S. Throughout December 2016, our winter fundraising campaign is called “Honoring Our Parents and Our Grandparents.” Donate today in honor of someone that YOU love.
Rabbis Bernard Mehlman, Ronne Friedman, Elaine Zecher and Cantor Roy Einhorn
Ellen and Billy Dreskin
Mitchell Feldman
Lois and Bernie Bacharach
David and Joanne Sapadin
Noah Budin: Another Good Guy Award!
This week, we send love and thanks to our good pal, Noah Budin, who donated 100% of the proceeds of CD and songbook purchases following a Shabbat Evening spent with Billy at Woodlands Community Temple this past August. As if it weren’t enough that we were given a most delightful and moving evening of singing and storytelling by this gentle, talented man, he then turned around and said, “Hey, do some good with these dollars, will you?”
We will, Noah. And we’re so pleased to offer you this week’s Good Guy Award and induction into the Order of Stalwart Friends of The Jonah Maccabee Foundation. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy!
What, you don’t know who Noah Budin is?! Well, get yourself over to noahbudin.com and meet him today. The guy writes some mighty nice tunes!
Life (and You) Still Teaching Me
Dear Jonah,
Most days, I’m okay. Really. I’m almost never without you on my mind or very close by. But I don’t dwell much. I enjoy my life, and I eagerly meet each new day.
Here’s why we love the footpath so much!
I do still feel sorry for myself. Because everyday, you’re still gone. And you’re still nineteen. You don’t disappear at an older age as the years go on. Everyday, my young kid is gone. That hurt, that profound sense of irreparable loss, never fully goes away.
On days when Charlie and I get to spend time at the dog park, we meander along the back trail enjoying the quiet and the solitude. Which is often when I will think about you.
Today, our walk was a lesson in humility and perspective. In life, sooner or later, we all confront loss. The best outcome, perhaps, is that ours will in some way prepare us to be a better presence as others confront theirs.
We met up with two families whose time of loss has arrived.
Thank you for helping us help in Louisiana!
Through your generosity, The Jonah Maccabee Foundation was able to forward an incredibly generous grant to Save the Children’s “Gulf Coast Floods Children’s Relief Fund.”
Save the Children has deployed an emergency response team to Baton Rouge to establish Child-Friendly Spaces in emergency shelters and assess children’s most urgent needs in the wake of the severe flooding there and in southeastern Louisiana and southern Mississippi.
Children, being the most vulnerable when disaster strikes, must have their unique needs be addressed from the outset during emergencies. Save the Children has been working closely with long-term local partners to make sure children are protected and cared for amidst the turmoil they and their families are experiencing.
Thank you for your caring hearts and open wallets. If you’d like to see you name in lights (well, as close to “in lights” as we get around these parts, click here).
With humble gratitude,
Ellen, Billy, Katie, Mark and Aiden
The Jonah Maccabee Foundation
JMF Awards Grant to Save Syrian Refugee Children
A dinghy arrives in Lesvos, Greece, on this past November, with more than 60 Syrian refugees, most of them children.
While we continue raising money to help those kids and families whose lives were disrupted by the flooding in Louisiana, so many more families continue to flee terror in Syria. Save the Children has launched a search-and-rescue vessel to provide lifesaving assistance to children and others left adrift — or worse — as they attempt to make the treacherous Mediterranean crossing from North Africa to Italy. The ship hopes to reach up to 20,000 people at risk of drowning over the next fifteen months. On board, a specially-trained team will provide dedicated services (including emotional support) for children (more than 90% of whom arrive in Italy without their parents) and offer medical assistance, food, water and warm clothing for as many as three hundred people.
Thank you for empowering The Jonah Maccabee Foundation to be able to support this life-saving venture.
Ellen, Billy, Katie, Mark and Aiden
The Jonah Maccabee Foundation
Thank You for Participating in Our Louisiana Relief Project!
We’re so grateful that you’ve chosen to join us in extending a helping hand to those living in areas that are struggling to contend with the flooding in Baton Rouge and other parts of Louisiana. The Jonah Maccabee Foundation is forwarding all of these gifts to help kids who are caught in the mess down there. We’ll be working with Save the Children as they deploy emergency response teams to establish Child-Friendly Spaces in emergency shelters and assess children’s most urgent needs throughout Louisiana.
Most sincerely,
Ellen, Billy, Katie, Mark and Aiden
The Jonah Maccabee Foundation, Inc.
Jason Laks and Rabbi Lisa Izes
Danielle Rodnizki … in gratitude for Noah Budin and the music he shared with me!
Joan Funk
Join JMF’s effort to help families in Baton Rouge & across Louisiana
Dear friends,
Our thoughts are with those living in areas that are struggling to contend with the flooding in Baton Rouge and other parts of Louisiana. We’re preparing to forward grants from The Jonah Maccabee Foundation to help kids who are caught in the mess down there. We hope you will join us by making a generous donation that we will send to folks who are doing some fantastic work in the trenches.
Please DONATE FOR LOUISIANA RELIEF HERE. We’ll be working with Save the Children as they deploy emergency response teams to establish Child-Friendly Spaces in emergency shelters and assess children’s most urgent needs throughout Louisiana.
We are so grateful to have you join us in this effort. All unspecified donations between now and the end of September will go directly to relief projects in Baton Rouge and across Louisiana.
Most sincerely,
Ellen, Billy, Katie, Mark and Aiden
The Jonah Maccabee Foundation, Inc.
While some knew him as Jonah and others as Mac, we all loved and respected him. And we miss him dearly.
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