Weekend of Hope, Healing and Service

As millions of people converged on Washington, DC for a variety of reasons and different purposes over inauguration weekend, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, Repair the World, Moishe House, REALITY, ROI Community, and the Jim Joseph Foundation hosted the Weekend of Hope, Healing and Service. Over those 48 hours, hundreds of people joined in meaningful dialogue about building a more inclusive society and took action during a day of service to help others.

Aviva Jacobs, a Schusterman Fellow and a Vice President with Teach For America, recently shared reflections on the Schusterman Family Foundation Blog on the Shabbat dinner and other activities during the weekend:

 I knew that the next day I’d attend the Women’s March on Washington, but I didn’t know that an impressive group of “nasty women” would actually start “marching” at this dinner—specifically, Rabbi Sharon Brous, Lisa Eisen, and Lynn and Stacy Schusterman. I listened to the words they shared with us—messages of hope, ideas of community, and charges of action.

On Sunday, Repair the World partnered with ten organizations including Bread for the City, Ronald MacDonald House, Catholic Charities, and others to offer authentic, impactful local D.C. service experiences for those in need.

 It was a great opportunity to meet other young professionals in the community who were passionate about giving back. I stayed after and asked for a tour of the facility and asked for other opportunities to volunteer at Ronald McDonald House.
– Participant in a service experience during the Weekend

Outside D.C., Moishe Houses around the country hosted numerous events. As just one example, in San Francisco 60 Moishe House residents and community members from five Bay Area houses came together with partners such as the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties’s YAD, the Shalom Hartman Institute and Reboot for a special “Unity Shabbat” dinner and discussion. Much like a Passover Seder, the evening interwove song, questioning, debate, ritual and food, with a focus on sharing, healing and processing where each person was individually and collectively after a politically divisive year.

 The Unity Shabbat was a special venue to connect and to turn uncertainty into discussion. The environment of the Shabbat table, gathering with the tranquility and comradery of the Day of Rest and messages on respectful disagreement, set the atmosphere for serious and engaging conversation. I was pleased to see in those around me as much self-reflection as reflection on society, keying in on how we as individuals can grow in the ways that we seek to engage with people we disagree with, to listen and truly hear perspectives, and to acknowledge humanity even in the face of irreconcilable
difference of opinion.
— Asher Kaye, Moishe House Palo Alto Resident

As we reflect on the Weekend of Hope, Healing and Service, and events such as the Unity Shabbat held around the country, the Foundation expresses sincere thanks to all of the partners involved, and especially to the individuals who continue to engage in this important work.