Repair the world:

Jobs, hats and a bagel

This week, the Jewish News is sharing more stories of people, organizations and synagogues that are stepping up for their community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Whether it’s helping people find a new job in a difficult economy, knitting caps for newborns, or even surprising people with bagels to make them smile, all are ways the Jewish community continues to live the concept of tikkun olam in these trying times.

JFCS gives career assistance

David Adatto never thought he would be unemployed at 67. He didn’t expect Two’s Company Inc., the home decor and gifts company he worked for, to let him go after 28 years.

But Two’s Company had a tough year in 2019, Adatto said. And when the COVID-19 pandemic struck last March, “it was the icing on the cake. The business basically came to a standstill,” he said.

Adatto was one of thousands of Arizonans caught up in the pandemic’s wave of furloughs and layoffs; he was furloughed in March, brought back to work in April, furloughed again in May, and let go June 15. Arizona’s unemployment rate stood at 10% in June, when Adatto began looking for new opportunities.

“I haven’t written a resume in over 28 years,” he said. He quickly realized he needed help.

Rabbi Mari Chernow set to leave Temple Chai in June

Rabbi Mari Chernow didn’t plan to stay long when she arrived at Temple Chai in 2003. The freshly minted rabbi was determined to learn as much as she could within two years — the term of her contract — and then leave Phoenix.

But almost immediately, she “fell in love with this special community and its profound commitment to Kabbalat Shabbat,” she said, and it became her home for the next 18 years. “Within weeks, I would look at people, and I loved them already.”

Her love story with Temple Chai will come to an end — or transform to a long-distance relationship — on June 30, when she moves to Los Angeles to take a new position at Temple Israel of Hollywood.

Leaving Temple Chai, where she’s formed strong connections and shared in “the joyful, sad and redemptive moments” of members’ lives, will be difficult.

Debbie Biggard Berkowitz is one Temple Chai member who will feel her loss deeply. She admires how much effort Chernow put into getting to know the congregation, whether by meeting one-on-one with students preparing for their b’nai mitzvah, hosting Torah study sessions at her home or “getting down and dirty” making latkes with congregants at Chanukah.

“She’s always warm, approachable, funny, down-to-earth — the whole package,” said Berkowitz.

DNA finds surprising family connections

Samuel Burke got a big surprise when his family did some DNA testing for fun. Now he has to consider what really makes a family on his new podcast “Suddenly Family.” Pictured counterclockwise from left: Marah Burke, Tommey Burke, Samuel Burke, Marc Burke, Bill Burke. To read more, go to p. 12.

SEE TIKKUN, PAGE 2

A friend told him about Jewish Family & Children’s Services’ career services program, and although Adatto had been involved with JFCS “for years,” he wasn’t familiar with that program. So he reached out and got the help he was hoping for. His resume got a new look, and he found resources for networking. He received tips on how to interview.

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“There were four or five meetings that we had virtually, and I had homework to do for these meetings, which was great,” he said. “And it was a great help.”

JFCS made him feel like he wasn’t alone, he said. “They were in my corner to help.”

Adatto hopes to land his next sales gig soon. “I loved what I did,” he said.

Kathy Rood, manager of Jewish Social Services at JFCS, said Adatto is one of about 500 local community members who have taken advantage of the program since its inception in August 2011. JFCS created the free program originally in response to the Great Recession.

“Repairing the world happens one person at a time,” Rood said. “When you help to make one person’s world better, you help to make the whole world better.”

Knitting hats for preemies

Lauren Glick retired two years ago. She expected to spend time with her grandkids and travel with her husband. That was before COVID-19.

Instead of traveling, now she knits.

“It’s helping me stay sane,” she said. “I’m stuck in the house.” She finds knitting peaceful and takes extra comfort knowing she is knitting for a good cause.

She joined Knit a Mitzvah, a study group offered through the Phoenix chapter of the Brandeis National Committee, about two years ago. The group makes hats, scarves and blankets to be donated to HonorHealth Medical Group and JFCS.

For the past year or so, she has been knitting and donating hats for premature newborns. Each hat takes two to three hours to make, she said.

Her twin grandchildren were born prematurely, and she knows how much the hats mean to parents of babies in the neonatal intensive care unit. “My daughter always said how much she appreciated the women who knitted the hats,” Glick said. “She was just so appreciative that she still has the hats; they’re 6-years-old now.”

She donates between 30 and 40 hats per month.

“It just feels good to give it to other people,” she said.

Michelle Remis still remembers what a difference it made for her son 13 years ago, and is still “extremely grateful to whomever” made his hat. He was born at 26 weeks and weighed just over two pounds. It was almost two weeks before Remis was able to hold him for the first time.

“The NICU nurses put the hat on him the first time we got to hold him to help keep his head warm outside

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Chernow officiated Berkowitz’s second wedding and has seen her family through many lifecycle events. Pre-COVID, the two often met for coffee, meals and rock climbing.

“Aside from being my rabbi, she’s my friend,” said Berkowitz. “She provides our family with an abundance of wisdom, encouragement and comfort, and she’ll always be my rabbi and resource.”

In addition to the personal connections she’s made, Kabbalat Shabbat at Temple Chai has remained an essential mainstay for Chernow. Despite inevitable changes over time, “the passion for learning and acknowledged, but for those who’ve become fans, “they’ve all really loved the experience.”

Debbie Blyn, Temple Chai’s executive director, appreciates the creativity Chernow has developed as she’s grown in confidence and stature in her role as the synagogue’s senior rabbi.

“She found that right level of experimentation, developing new programs while remaining true to the core of Judaism,” Blyn said. “I’ve watched her say, ‘Let’s try this.’”

Collegiality is also important to Chernow. Even before she arrived in Phoenix, she knew several of the area’s rabbis. She has fostered good working relationships with many more over the years.

“The rabbis here in town are spectacular,” a native Californian, from San Luis Obispo. The couple has three children, Melila, 8, Ezra, 6, and Lillian, 2. Melila and Ezra are sad to leave their friends, but Ezra is buoyed by his fantasy that he might actually get to live in Disneyland.

And although there has been a lot of sadness in the Temple Chai community over losing Chernow, there is also widespread understanding of her need to be close to her parents and extended family, she said.

That alone “will be huge for her,” agreed Blyn, who was not surprised when Chernow was approached by Temple Israel. It wasn’t the first significant opportunity to come her way. “When you have a talented person, that’s what happens,” Blyn said. “Her new community will be getting a gem.”

Mark Feldman, Temple Chai’s president, agreed. “We’re extremely proud to have had her and learned from her and prayed with her,” he said. He admired the way people could go to Chernow with their deepest concerns, and have her offer a great perspective. But what he’ll miss most are the

Prayer Lab is an example of pushing boundaries creatively. Chernow and a group of congregants choose the most critical aspects of prayer and try to build on those elements to create a more “deep and meaningful experience,” she said.

The experimental service takes place once every six to eight weeks — with COVID-19 restrictions, the timing is less predictable. The services have included art and poetry, theatrical interpretations of the weekly parshah, and playing “Taps” on a bugle during Yom Kippur. The “haunting and powerful melody” was used to represent a confrontation with mortality, Chernow said.

“We will use anything at our disposal to create a prayerful experience,” she said. “Everybody knows that those are experimental nights, and if it doesn’t feel right, then we’ve learned something; but if it does feel right, well, maybe we’ve discovered something about how to create and deepen prayer.”

It isn’t for everyone, Chernow shocked when she discovered Chernow was leaving. “My jaw dropped,” she said.

“I took for granted we were going to be a team forever.”

The two have worked together for 15 years, and their complementary skills have led to a “wonderful working relationship,” said Koppell. “She’s the big-picture dreamer and creative visionary, and I’m the person who can translate that into action.”

Chernow’s sensitivity and ability to know how to comfort people in any situation is one of her stand-out qualities, Koppell said. She recalled one night when Chernow left her a note with the words “Great night” in Hebrew following a successful event that Koppell organized and led. Having her colleague’s support and appreciation meant a lot. Chernow knew how to make a small gesture significant — a special quality that will be missed in what has been an “amazing collaboration,” Koppell said.

Chernow’s new job in LA will be a homecoming for her. Her wife, Kara, is also

normal, day-to-day conversations they had.

“At the end of the day, she’s just a regular person trying to take care of herself and her family,” he said.

Aside from family considerations, Chernow looks forward to working with Temple Israel's visual and performing arts program. She’s also looking forward “to digging into its incredibly robust and impressive social justice program,” she said.

In May, there will be an event where Chernow can say goodbye to the Temple Chai community, but one of the “heartbreaking” consequences of COVID is that it will probably have to be a drive-thru event without the possibility of handshakes and tearful embraces.

However the farewell event plays out, it will be an emotional time for Chernow.

“The deepest truth is that it’s very bittersweet,” Chernow said. “It’s hard for us to leave this community that we love so dearly. We are excited, but both emotions are deeply intertwined.” JN