10/05/2026
🎗️ We remember what we lost without letting loss define us.
Take a moment to read this powerful piece highlighting voices from our South Florida Jewish community, including some LEV community partners and their reflective CEO’s Jewish Federation of Broward County JAFCO - Jewish Adoption and Family Care Options
🎗️October 7th is a dark moment in Jewish history, and as we mark its anniversary in the coming days, we remember all that was lost with sorrow and reverence.
We also look toward the light.
In a recent feature in the Jewish Journal, our CEO Justin Kohlhagen, was asked what brings him Jewish joy. His answer begins with the children we serve:
"At JAFCO, we see some of the darkest, hardest moments in children's lives. But we also see some of the greatest moments of joy."
For him, joy lives in the big milestones, like a bat mitzvah, a graduation, or a wedding. It also lives in the everyday: Shabbat dinners, Hanukkah candles, a seder table, Rosh Hashanah services. It is in watching children make their traditions their own and, most importantly, feel safe.
As he reminds us, the Jewish community has learned how to respond to tragedy: "We remember what we have lost without letting loss define us."
Thank you to the South Florida Sun Sentinel Jewish Journal for allowing us to take part in this reflection.
Read his full reflection here: https://ow.ly/gW6Q50ZTUtO
