Jonah

Father’s Day … Billy Dreskin: Ten Years Later (Part 8)

June 16, 2019 Billy Jonah, What's Happening? 3 comments

Jonah’s death ten years ago commenced a journey for many of us that has been filled with sadness (of course) but also with love — so much love. With this campaign, “10 Years Later,” you’re invited to spend some time with some of Jonah’s best friends and teachers.

And today, with his dad.

* * *

Dear Jonah,

Father’s Day. A good time in this series, “Ten Years Later,” to pause and, for a moment, to let your father’s voice come through.

It’s my tenth Father’s Day without you. Yuk. Talk about your stark reminder of what’s missing, of who’s missing. I don’t know why but it continues to surprise me, that this hole in my heart is a forever thing. The yearning to see you again, to speak with you again, to hold you again, these all quiet but they don’t cease. And so, as it must be, I remain vigilant in my determination to carry on, to live a good life even though you’re not in it and, right alongside that, to accept (and even embrace) those moments when things can’t just “carry on” because it still hurts that you’re gone.

Chana Rothman: Ten Years Later (Part 7)

June 13, 2019 Billy Jonah, What's Happening? No comments

* * *

Meet Chana Rothman.

Chana is a Philadelphia-based singer/songwriter/educator whose most recent project, 3 Songs for Justice, is a collaboration with two other singer/songwriters, Eliana Light and Isaac Zones, to create usable, soul-lifting, singable songs for today’s troubled world. Her most-recent album, Rainbow Train, is a danceable revolution of tunes about freedom of gender and self-expression for children and people of all ages. Learn more about Chana and her music at chanarothman.com.

Rabbi Jen Gubitz: Ten Years Later (Part 6)

June 12, 2019 Billy Jonah, What's Happening? No comments

* * *

Meet Rabbi Jennifer Gubitz.

Jen serves as a rabbi at Temple Israel of Boston where she runs the Riverway Project, whose mission is to connect 20s and 30s to Judaism and to each other. She is a proud product of Indiana University’s Borns Jewish Studies Program and URJ Goldman Union Camp (GUCI). In 2005, she was co-songleader at URJ Kutz Camp with Chana Rothman where they had the pleasure of knowing Jonah Dreskin. Jen lives in Boston with her partner Matan.

Amanda Battaglia: Ten Years Later (Part 5)

June 10, 2019 Billy Jonah, What's Happening? No comments

* * *

Meet Amanda Battaglia.

Having just wrapped up her time working for URJ Youth in New York, Amanda is a soon-to-be graduate student at the University of San Diego studying Social Innovation. Amanda is an alum of NFTY NAR, Kutz Camp, and University of Virginia.

Lexi Milford: Ten Years Later (Part 4)

June 6, 2019 Billy Jonah, What's Happening? No comments

* * *

Meet Lexi Milford.

Lexi lives in Queens, NY. In her spare time, she illustrates on commission and works on personal projects, practices guitar, brews beer, hikes and camps and goes on bike tours. She loves cooking, coming up with new recipes and sharing a good meal with friends. In the last year, she and her partner went on a statewide bike tour, cycling from NYC to Buffalo. Lexi’s future aspirations involve moving her career to align moreso with her passions and interests. She hopes to continue going on bike tours, aiming to someday cycle across the United States and across other countries.

Dan Reichenbach: Ten Years Later (Part 3)

June 3, 2019 Billy Jonah, What's Happening? No comments

* * *

Meet Dan Reichenbach.

Dan is a third-year student at HUC-JIR in New York in the Masters in Religious Education program. Until recently he lived in Israel after making aliyah and joining the IDF in 2012. Dan served for two years in the Nachal brigade and then traveled the world before he began his studies at HUC, taking a year to learn Talmud at the PARDES yeshivah in Jerusalem. Dan lives now on the Upper East Side with his dog Chewbacca.

Cantor Tamara Wolfson: Ten Years Later (Part 2)

May 31, 2019 Billy Jonah, What's Happening? No comments

* * *

Meet Cantor Tamara Wolfson.

Tamara was born and raised in New York where from an early age she fell in love with music, theatre, and Judaism. After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Jewish Studies from American Jewish University in Los Angeles, Tamara began her cantorial studies at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. After her ordination in May 2018, Tamara moved to London and began serving as Cantor of Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue and as Spiritual Leader of Kehillah North London. She is the first female cantor in the Liberal movement in the U.K. and is a proud member of both the American Conference of Cantors and the Conference of Liberal Rabbis and Cantors.

Abby Fried: Ten Years Later (Part 1)

May 29, 2019 Billy Jonah, What's Happening? No comments

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Meet Abby Fried.

Abby is 27 years old. She is the Youth Program Director for The Cliffs Climbing + Fitness, working with kids and adults in the wonderful world of rock climbing. She and her boyfriend, Matt, live in Long Island City, Queens, with their dog Bunny and their two cats Simba and Nymeria (the true Queen of the Iron Throne). Along with running and rock climbing, her recent hobbies have been growing basil and strawberries hydroponically, and fermenting everything she can get her hands on (much to Matt’s dismay). She would love to have you try her kombucha some day. Her beers are pretty good too.

Ten Years

March 5, 2019 Billy Jonah 12 comments

Dear Jonah,

Well, difficult as it is to believe, today marks ten years since you died.

Ten years. It’s on days like these that I wonder about the human impulse to make things fit into neat containers. It’s not that I’m not deeply affected by this anniversary. I am. But why should ten years be any more consequential than nine or eleven? Oh well. Somehow it just is.

I remember when I was in college, I’d begun bracing myself for turning twenty-one. That was going to be a big one, the transition from childhood to true adulthood. But then I turned twenty and, without any warning whatsoever, got thrown for an immense loop. My teens were over. Why didn’t anyone tell me this would be bigger than twenty-one?

The Art Auction

December 27, 2018 Billy Jonah 1 comment

Dear Jonah,

A few weeks ago, I cried for you – first time in a long, long while. I’d come across a story that captured a sentiment I often think about. Namely, the fear that one’s lost child will be forgotten when we ourselves are gone.

I imagine that many parents whose children have become memories wonder about this. But who would blame us?

Why do we bring children into the world anyway? We delight in witnessing life that’s come from us and in watching that life grow and thrive. Wanting a child’s years to extend beyond a parent’s is natural. For those of us whose kids have died, how many want the memory of their child to outlast us? I suspect that my own motivation for helping to create a foundation in your name is wrapped up in this need to see you outlast me.

Which brings me to the story I found. I’d never read or heard it before, even though an internet search found that it’s often used in sermons. Alas, there’s no attribution so I offer it with gratitude to whomever wrote it.

It’s called “The Art Auction.”

Jonah

Father’s Day … Billy Dreskin: Ten Years Later (Part 8)

Chana Rothman: Ten Years Later (Part 7)

Rabbi Jen Gubitz: Ten Years Later (Part 6)

Amanda Battaglia: Ten Years Later (Part 5)

Lexi Milford: Ten Years Later (Part 4)

Dan Reichenbach: Ten Years Later (Part 3)

Cantor Tamara Wolfson: Ten Years Later (Part 2)

Abby Fried: Ten Years Later (Part 1)

Ten Years

The Art Auction

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