I recently shared our story not to seek empathy, but with the hope that I can help other couples experiencing infertility feel less alone, embrace their emotions, and feel empowered to advocate for themselves. For this week’s ‘Jewish thought,’ I offer two suggestions for how you can be supportive to those in your circles who are trying to fulfill one of our most important mitzvot: to be fruitful and multiply.

Through my work as a board member for the Bureau of Jewish Education, the vice chair and then chair of LiNK Jewish Buffalo (formally the Center for Jewish Engagement and Learning) I helped develop the plan to merge the two organizations. As the chair, I lead the team at LiNK to develop strategic goals and a robust annual survey.

For the last few decades in the education sector, innovative teachers have experimented with things like a flipped classroom and project- or problem-based learning that turn the traditional style of teaching and lecturing upside down. Here in the local Jewish community, we’ve seen a few examples of this type of innovation and learning, too.

After the Jewish people were freed from slavery in Egypt we wandered the desert in search of the promised land. We walked, we camped, we ate manna, and — believe it or not — we kvetched and at times, longed for our days as slaves. Being tired of manna, we craved the foods of the land we escaped: “We remember the fish that we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.”

As part of the leadership team, I helped plan the first Buffalo Israel Experience helping 80+ adults between the ages of 20 and 90 have a meaningful and engaging visit to Israel.

I served on a task force to collective plan a community-wide conference about Jewish engagement — the cultivation of relationships to support people in building a relevant form of Jewish life that places the person—not an organization—at the center.

In partnership with other community leaders, I chaired and helped build Nickel City Jews, an organization that helps young adults in Buffalo (and their friends and life partners of other faiths) find ways to grow Jewishly in meaningful and relevant ways.