COMMUNITY

Four Keys in Survival Kit for Future

The second part of a three-part series.

We’re entering unknown territory as our kids and grandkids head back to college and Dr. Terry Segal school, whether in the physical classroom or virtually. I offer 10 keys to nourish body, mind and soul to help you manage your stress and create meaningful experiences. The first part of this series covered mindfulness and altered perceptions, www.atlantajewishtimes. timesofisrael.com/keys-to-mindfulnessand-altered-perceptions/

The next four keys:

Journaling releases stress, anger, frustration, fear, and moves them out of your body and mind, onto the page. Hopes, dreams, inspiration and repetitive patterns also appear in the writing.

Many schools have implemented journaling as a daily practice to develop critical thinking, self-exploration, expression, and stress/anxiety reduction, all within the boundary of the journal. Students have the option to fold a page they prefer not to be read.

A composition book or notebook paper are great for writing daily journals. The occasional collaged art journal piece with a few meaningful words returns you to the time you wrote it. (This entry of mine says: “Sometimes her heart cracked in half at the suffering in the world. But she was always able to staple it back together.”)

How to practice Journaling: Parents guiding their children’s learning at home can make journaling part of the curriculum. Allot 10 to 15 minutes daily and set rules regarding privacy/sharing about what’s written. I recommend a mix of free writing, which is unstructured, and prompts. An example of prompt writing is: “What I’m struggling with about learning from home is …” or, “I feel mad, sad, glad, or scared today because …” Everyone benefits from this practice, so you can journal, too, at the allotted time each day. Journaling can foster conflict-resolution. For younger children and adults, journaling may contain images and colors rather than words.

Sensory Experiences. Awareness of sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures makes life’s experiences memorable. Certain fragrances can transport you to another time. A perfume may spark memories of a departed loved one. Ocean sounds can invoke a sensory snapshot from a special vacation. Opportunities occur every day, but mindfully stopping to observe a bird twittering on the branch or a fluttering leaf twirling to the ground halts moments that connect us all to Hashem and the world’s beauty.

Matzo ball soup evokes sensory experiences of being home for the holidays or of healing aromas.

How to practice Sensory Experiences: Recall group memories that conjure a sen

sory experience. For example: “Remember when it was so hot at the beach and we ate cold watermelon at sunset?” You can initiate a family ritual for each member to observe (or record in their journal) one experience for each of the senses, every day, and share them at dinner. For example: “Today I saw a yellow butterfly, heard thunder, smelled oregano on the pizza, tasted a tart cherry, and felt soft, damp grass on my feet.”

A clean, organized space and a clear, expansive mind reflect each other.

Reduced Clutter. Physical clutter congests space. When the environment’s messy, often so is the thinking, with no room for order or inspiration. Figuring out whether a room is cluttered because the mind is, or vice versa, becomes important.

Physical clutter can also take place in the holy vessel of your body when you feed it processed foods, sugary drinks, excessive alcohol or unhealthy substances. This clouds the mind and dulls the spirit, resulting in depression, anxiety, disconnection from self, others, and G-d.

Mental clutter keeps too many plates spinning in your overcrowded mind. Fear of dropping them causes stress and anxiety, which compromises your health and quality of life. If you’re the cruise director of your household you have to manage your own work, supervise the work of others, perhaps also be the one to cook and clean up after the crew and tend to everyone’s health and well-being.

Spiritual clutter. I’ve defined and observed this in people who become so caught up in their mundane tasks and responsibilities that they don’t carve out time to allow Hashem to enter. G-d and G-d’s messengers, the angels, call out to us when we’re off balance. When there’s no room for them, the angels beat their wings inside of our chests to awaken our hearts. It’s often perceived as panic or anxiety.

Emotional clutter. This occurs when there’s no time for self-exploration of emotional responses that are wounding, explosive, etc. A mindful self-check and acknowledgement of your emotions can help clear them. Yom Kippur offers us a chance each year to clean house with regard to relationships, but consider making it a real-time process each day so the clutter doesn’t mount.

How to practice reduced clutter: On the physical plane, it’s a valuable life skill to teach discernment regarding what’s worth keeping and what can be discarded. Regular disposal of trash, seasonal sorting of clothes, toys and the like develops a habit of only keeping what’s loved or serves a purpose (á la Marie Kondo) and sets up a practice of creating space while also giving to those in need. Mindful eating that honors your body and fuels your energy becomes desirable rather than drudgery. Mental clutter can be eased with organizational systems such as dry erase boards or planners, so your mind isn’t the container for it all. Delegating responsibility to others can be helpful. You may give up control but gain space. Say “no” to taking on more responsibilities. Reserve the right to sleep on a request before responding. For spiritual connection, devote a specific time each day to invoke holiness. Talk to G-d, offer gratitude, pray, and remember that you are not alone. Emotionally align with your triggers of anger, sadness, fear and even joy. Consider tightening the circle of those who have access to your inner world.

Toffee, our 13-year old rescue dog, has provided humor for years, by putting herself in these positions, along with her joyful antics.

Humor. Laughing with, rather than at people is vital. It fosters connection versus separation. Sarcasm, a tenet of our people, is not cognitively understood by children nor often those raised in other countries and cultures. Cultivate the

My daughter Sage, at 9 months old, dressed for her first Halloween (and then again for Purim) is still displayed at the children’s corner in our tearoom at home, bringing happy smiles and laughter to all who see it.

ability to see humor in situations. Laughter releases tension and endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, and resets your breath.

How to practice Humor: Seek opportunities to laugh. Animal videos are abundant and provide humor. Hang a board in a common area or create a humor Pinterest board and post jokes, memes, photos that make you laugh.

Historically, Jews are known for our sense of humor, which has been used universally to bring us through the darkest times.

Play with at least one of these keys

on your path forward. ì

COMMUNITY

Texting Contest Engages Jewish Teens

With teens spending a large portion of their days on their smartphones, a new Jewish trivia game that engages them via cell phone is gaining traction in North Fulton and East Cobb counties.

Launched by the North Fulton chapter of Cteen, the Chabad teen outreach arm, Jtext is a pilot Jewish trivia game with gift card awards for teens that text the correct answer to trivia questions they receive on their phones. Every Monday and Thursday at 7 p.m. a Jewish trivia question is texted out. The 18th person to respond with the correct answer wins an Amazon gift card.

“Teens can now put the time on their phones to good use by learning important Jewish facts with Jtext,” said Evan Pollack, who has been playing Jtext for the last year.

Heather Blank and her husband paid to have their faces in the stands at Truist Park for Braves games this season. The concept inspired her to initiate a similar fundraiser at Congregation Or Hadash.“We call it ‘Punim in the Pew’ and so far we have had 60 congregants purchase photo cutouts of their own heads, which we will attach to the chairs in the sanctuary for the high holidays,” Blank told the AJT. “It’s a fun way for members to be in ‘the room where it happens’ and to give Rabbi Lauren Henderson familiar faces to keep her company as she leads our community.”

“We are charging $36 a punim.” The profits, over $1,100, benefit the Sandy Springs Community Assistance Center as Or Hadash’s high holidays tikkun olam project.

On Aug. 16, congregants who were concerned about uploading a photo had the opportunity to have their “punim picture” taken at a social distance outside Or Hadash, Blank said.

Four innovative programs received the latest Propel Innovation Grants from the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. The nonprofit announced $100,000 in grants to organizations and entrepreneurs serving the community and meeting its “evolving needs.” The grant recipients include: • A film highlighting and documenting the history of the Atlanta Jewish community during COVID-19; • Trybal Gatherings, an overnight camp for millennials; “Jtext is a fun way to test your general knowledge of Judaism,” added Pnina Sasson, a Pope High School student in Marietta.

Along with the question, the text includes four multiple-choice answers. Once they submit an answer, the students immediately receive a response telling them if they are correct or not. The questions range from a wide spectrum of Jewish trivia such as “Which country had the earliest settlement of Jews?” “Who were the first set of twins in the Torah?” and “Which location celebrates the longest Shabbat?”

Steve Kramer, a Johns Creek resident who is a supporter of the pilot program, said, “It is gratifying to me so see my daughter excitedly engage in Jtext.”

Jtexter Hunter Siegel, an Alpharetta Photographer Devi Knapp takes

Ed Berman’s photo to be used as a

“Punim in the Pews” facial cutout.

Meanwhile, Or Hadash has improved its streaming production quality by purchasing new cameras for the sanctuary and partnering with LiveControl, which will manage the two cameras remotely. High holiday services will incorporate pre-recorded elements, such as a congregational song montage of ‘Avinu Malkeinu,’ the annual youth production of the Book of Jonah, and thoughts from congregants, as well as the live view of the sanctuary, featuring the punims.

“The response from the congregation has been extremely positive,” Blank said. • Be’chol Lashon, which will offer diversity training and facilitate conversations about race and identity in a Jewish context; and • The Jewish Fertility Foundation to support a growing number of single moms by choice and an increase in multi-faith couples using JFF’s emotional support services and receiving JFF fertility grants.

Since last year, Federation Innovation has awarded $500,00 in similar grants, intended to ignite innovation in the Jewish community. student at The Weber School, said, “Jtext is a great way to make some Amazon cash while learning about Judaism. For me, personally, it has become one of my ‘Jewish moments’ of the week.”

Bella Spector of Johns Creek High School agrees, adding, “Jtext is a fun way to learn about Judaism and the Torah while competing with your friends!” Bella and Hunter are among more than 150 teens that have actively played Jtext during its pilot year.

“Jtext is a simple, yet innovative game, which is rich with content, engagement, value and Jewish thought. It’s a real win-win,” says Rabbi Gedalya Hertz, youth director at Chabad of North Fulton. “We were trying to find a way to engage the widest spectrum of Jewish teenagers, especially during the coro

Troy Baker, Pace Academy director of student life, with Scott Horowitz. During a virtual Honors Day ceremony in May, Pace Academy named rising seniors Logan Baker and Jamie Kornheiser as the first recipients of the new Horowitz Athletics Leadership Award.

Recognizing two junior studentathletes for “consistently demonstrating qualities that represent positive athletics leadership, both on and off the field,” the annual award was created in conjunction with Pace’s newest endowment fund, the Horowitz Athletics Leadership Endowment, established late last year by alumnus Scott Horowitz, class of 1984.

The Horowitz award includes a leadership development component, an aspect that distinguishes it from other student awards. Recipients will participate in lead

Jtext is a pilot Jewish trivia texting competition twice a week with gift card rewards.

navirus lockdown, and that is exactly what Jtext is all about,” he said. “Through Jtext we get to have a weekly check in and contact with our teens.”

Jtext is open to all Jewish teens. To sign up, text “JtextCobb/NF” to 678-263-2232. For more information and for sponsorship oppor

‘Punim in the Pew’

Four Programs Receive $100,000 in Innovation Grants

Pace Academy’s First Horowitz Athletics Leadership Awards

tunities, email Rabbihertz@chabadnf.org. ership development training as seniors and help lead a new student organization, the Athletics Leadership Council, that will offer programming for student-athletes in grades nine through 12.

Horowitz credits his convictions to his Pace experiences — both as a student and an athlete — and to his parents, Gerald and PearlAnn Horowitz, for whom he named the endowment. “They instilled in me the values of integrity, pride, responsibility and determination,” he said.

Experience as a varsity soccer player from 1982 to 1984 made a lasting impression on Horowitz. “The team was very competitive and was typically playing for the state championship.” In addition to the thrill of competition, he said the experience contributed to his “personal development.”

Horowitz added, “Through sports, students learn to be inclusive and to support their teammates’ success.”

Baker and Kornheiser will lead the Athletics Leadership Council in its inaugural year.

Baker, a varsity soccer and basketball player and a member of Pace’s 2020 state-champion basketball team, said “As a student athlete at Pace, I’ve tried to be a coachable player and an all-around team player.”

A catcher for Pace’s softball team and member of the basketball and tennis teams, Kornheiser said, “Both [academics and athletics] play an important role in the development of a person’s leadership qualities.”

SIMCHA SPOTLIGHT

Mazel Tov Zev Fine

Zev Fine was valedictorian of The Cottage School. Zev was to participate in the Aardvark Israel Immersion Program before studying at Boston University. At The Cottage School, Zev received many distinctions for his leadership and academic excellence, including studying the highest math level in school history.

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Engagement Announcement

Bock-Habif

Debi and David Bock of Highlands, N.C., and Atlanta announce the engagement of their daughter, Hannah Josephine Bock, to Daniel Alan Habif, son of Elsie and Steve Rothstein of Atlanta and the late Mark Habif, also of Atlanta.

Bock graduated from the University of Maryland in 2014 with a Bachelor of Science in education and a Master of Fine Arts from George Washington University in 2018. She is an interior designer at an architecture firm in Washington, D.C.

Habif graduated from the University of Michigan in 2015 with a Bachelor of Arts and earned a law degree from American University last year. He is an attorney with the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C.

Bock is the granddaughter of Bill Weiller and the late Margaret Weiller, and Barbara Bock and the late Leonard Bock, all of Atlanta.

Habif is the grandson of the late Ike and Louise Habif of Atlanta and the late Saul and Sarah Sacks of Indianapolis.

The couple plan to marry in 2022 in Atlanta.