Greater Naples Women in Philanthropy luncheon

By Judith Finer Freedman, Women in Philanthropy Chair

On Thursday, Jan. 23, 120 women gathered for two reasons: 1) to experience the spirit and excitement as Women in Philanthropy in the Greater Naples Jewish community gathered and 2) to learn how each person can help our children and ourselves navigate the changing and challenging landscape of rising antisemitism.

After a delicious lunch, we welcomed our speaker, Robin Friedman, cofounder of TribeTalk and vice president of content and education. As a lawyer, her legal practice is concentrated in dealing with civil rights issues such as age, gender, race, religious and national origin discrimination. Within her work, she saw the dangers of violations of civil rights going unchecked, and she was inspired to do more. She knew, as a lawyer and as a Jew, the need to expand her skills into the antisemitism and anti-Israel arena was essential.

Friedman told us the goal of her presentation was to leave our audience with hope. And she did just that! She provided many specific examples, straightforward language and clearcut actions that Jewish students can incorporate into their lives. She went on to provide us with takeaways that can help both ourselves and the next generation deal with antisemitism when out in our communities.

In the spirit of making our voices heard, each attendee received the Blue Square pin to proudly demonstrate that our community is standing up against hate in any form. For more information, explore #StandUpAgainstAnyHate on the internet.

The work of TribeTalk is making significant inroads to put out the fire of the uptick in antisemitism over the past few years. The Women in Philanthropy in Greater Naples refuse to sit idly by while our academic institutions become places where young Jews too often feel on guard for their Jewish heritage and beliefs.

Our work is not done, but the tools from TribeTalk will help us all make a difference and keep the work of Tikun Olam alive. For more information on TribeTalk, please go to https://tribetalk.org/.