Jonathan Grimm on Andrea Longton’s new book: Making more money isn’t the only value driving us to invest

April 29, 2024 by Leave a Comment

EDITOR’s NOTE: This week, we are publishing two stories to introduce an important voice in the national conversation about Social Justice Investing: Andrea Longton—a nationally respected expert in this growing field of finance that encourages people to exercise their spiritual and ethical values while investing their money. This is such an important area of interest for our long-time ReadTheSpirit readers that we providing two perspectives on Andrea’s work:

In this story, below, we asked financial expert and author Jonathan Grimm to provide his persective on Andrea’s new book.

Then, our second story is a Q-and-A with Andrea, interviewed by David Crumm with links to Andrea’s book and some of her free online resources, as well.

By JONATHAN GRIMM
Author of The Future Poor
(coming from ReadTheSpirit Books)

.

The Social Justice Investor, by Andrea Longton, is an important introduction to the world of doing good with your investments while building wealth.

Click the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

Yes—you can do both!

These used to be seen as mutually exclusive endeavors, building wealth and doing good with your money, but that is not the case anymore for this generation of investors.

Many turned to ESG (environmental, social and governance) funds, which have served as a placeholder for ethical investing. But there has been an unwinding of these funds by most major investment firms over the past year. This is due in part to the increased politicization of ESG and profitability has not always been there. When a fund doesn’t perform it becomes one of the over 400-plus funds that close in a given year.

Their goal is to make money, right?

It would seem that way, but if we don’t have an easy “boxed” solution for what so many investors want that actually works, where do we go?

Michael Lewis, one of my favorite financial writers, had this helpful insight in his book Moneyball.  “What begins as a failure of imagination ends as a market inefficiency. When you rule out a class of people to do a job because of their appearance you are less likely to find the best person for the job.”

For social justice investing we need our imaginations! We must think outside the box! That is what we are exposed to in Andrea’s new book. What she shows us, over and over again, is that those who do find creative solutions, and make it happen, change the world for the better.

As an Investment Advisor myself I’m recommending this book because far too often conversations about money revolve around potential risks and rewards for ourselves and our clients. One of the most eye-opening reasons to read Longton’s new book is to come away realizing:

“Getting rich is not the only way to think about investing. And—wow! A growing number of people actually are doing this. They’re taking seriously their values of goodness, compassion, justice and a general concern for the world’s welfare in deciding where to put their money to work.”

That certainly struck me as I read her book. I thought: I want to recommend this to people as a wonderful way to learn about other people trying to do this—and the nuts and bolts of how they’re actually doing it. The book is not only inspiring; it’s a “how to” manual as well.

It may put Wall Street and the old investment advisors on their heels. They’d be wise to pick up this book and prepare for the new way people are wanting to invest. I certainly am recommending it to my colleagues.

We want to be happy with growth and the way we got it. This is refreshing and has left professionals like me having to figure this out—and there aren’t a lot of resources out there.

Perhaps it is time to start to shrug off some of the old “wisdom” and adopt more socially conscious approaches to finance as Longton writes, “Wall Street culture isn’t working for us.”

Far too often we have been narrow minded in looking at returns. 12% is better than 10% which is better than 8%. But today’s investor sees this as only one variable important to investment returns.

Today’s generation of investor says the following and perhaps you are too:

“I want my investment growth to improve the lives of others.”

“I want my investments to be in something that helps the environment.”

“I want my investment to further break down barriers across gender, race or class.”

There is helpful language throughout this book that you can use as you start investing—and language you can use with your financial advisor about how to begin.

What I have come to realize is that just as there are fees and taxes on an investment that reduce its overall effectiveness, the social justice aspects of our investing carry “taxes.”

Today’s investor sees a tax on their return if the 10% growth created a larger carbon footprint. It may not show up on a balance sheet but it certainly shows up in the human calculation we are running inside.

Similarly, investors place non-dollar premiums on the investments that do social good and align with their values. We each weigh that value differently but a 6% return with a premium-added-value of affordable housing or financing for those who do not pass the institutional “eye-test” is of significant value. Sometimes, it even generates greater actual returns!

You and I have particular social issues that would give us the greatest premium return on top of our investment growth and I encourage you to seek out those opportunities.

It isn’t simply on the individual level. I have been part of projects that raise over a quarter million dollars in a day from a local community in order to directly serve the foster care system.

I can tell you firsthand, that is investing magic! If you are unsure, give it a try and see how you feel.

As someone who has an educational background in ethics and philosophy and currently works as an Investment Advisor, I rarely see these two worlds come together and it is refreshing when they do. Often projects lean to the ethics side without real-world financial solutions. Or, there can be a disconnect between the professional financial advice offered and the experiences and needs of those to whom it is offered.

This has been a focus of mine for the past four years as I am working on a book, like Longton’s, that is focused on bringing these two important realms closer together. While The Social Justice Investor looks at ways to use our investments for social good, my upcoming book is focused on how we keep the current generation off a path of future poverty in retirement. In many ways, these are topics that link arms and walk together in the continued fight for the dual effort of good finance and social justice for all.

I am grateful for this important contribution to the national conversation and hope to continue to work with Andrea and others as these concerns expand.

Andrea Longton emerges as an important new voice in the national conversation encouraging Social Justice Investing

April 29, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Click on the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

What is the greatest good we can do in this world?

THIS WEEK we are publishing two stories to introduce an important voice in the national conversation about Social Justice Investing: Andrea Longton—a nationally respected expert in this growing field of finance that encourages people to exercise their spiritual and ethical values while investing their money.

This is such an important area of interest for our long-time ReadTheSpirit readers that we providing two perspectives on Andrea’s work:

First, this is a Q-and-A with Andrea, interviewed by David Crumm with links to Andrea’s book and some of her free online resources, as well.

(Then, in this second story, financial expert and author Jonathan Grimm adds his perspective on Andrea’s new book.)

Andrea Longton. (Photo from the author used with permission.)

‘We can go so much farther—together!’

DAVID: Along with this article about your new book, we’re going to make sure to provide readers with links to your resource-rich website—and also specifically to the area where they can find out more about your podcasts. I’m highly recommending your work through our online magazine because you share our publishing house’s value of collegial cooperation in trying to spread valuable news to people in need.

ANDREA: I completely agree about forming collegial relationships. My philosophy is a linked-arm approach to connecting with colleagues to form new friendships as we work in this area. We’re going to go so much farther that way!

Working together, our purpose is figuring out: How can we get resources, opportunities and equity into communities in the U.S. that need them? We also want to do this globally, too, but my focus is mainly domestic right now. I think most of us who are working in this area think like this: Working together, we’re stronger. So, we’re willing to link arms without being threatened by rivalries. That’s a real advantage of working in this way.

DAVID: Those values are bedrock for both of us. The first thing we’re suggesting this week is that reaers order a copy of your book. Then, let’s talk more about what readers can find online through your website right now. If people go to TheSocialJusticeInvestor.com—what do you hope they will notice when they visit?

A Free Online Book Club Starts Soon

ANDREA: We’ve designed the site to address the questions: What are we talking about? What is social justice investing? And what is this new book about?

And another important question for us as we developed this website is: When I arrive, do I feel welcome in this community? We want people to find answers to questions like: How do I get involved? Even if I’m new to the idea of social justice investing, how can I finding information that is helpful to me?

Then: How do I dig deeper? One thing we’re excited about is creating a virtual book club. We’re going to go through the book together online, probably five chapters at a time. Finance can be really overwhelming and intimidating, but if you break it down into parts, it becomes much more accessible.

As we talk about this, I believe in focusing on: What’s the next step? I don’t assume that everyone is trying to understand everything in detail all at once. That’s nearly impossible. But we can talk about: What’s the next step I can take?

DAVID: Tell us more about the book club opportunities.

ANDREA: First, we decided to set this up with start and end dates for the series so we can go through the book live and folks can join with their questions if they’re interested in doing that. We’re doing it as a Zoom experience so people can see that there’s a real community forming around you. So the first start-to-finish series will be live. But then, we’re also going to be recording those sessions so that you can go back to previous sessions, if you want.

And we’re making this available free through the website.

On our calendar right now, Book Club Meeting No. 1 is on May 9 starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time. Then we will continue on a weekly basis, so the next one would be May 16 and so on. These will be 45 minutes to an hour. The recorded sessions will be available on the website sometime afterward.

DAVID: And this is free, right?

ANDREA: That’s right. There’s no fee. We will welcome people and learn more from them, at the same time, about what areas they want to know more about.

Appearing in person to Washington D.C., California, Virginia and North Carolina

DAVID: Beside this wonderful Zoom opportunity you’re providing, people might want to take note of your schedule-and-events page.

Between now and July, for instance, I can see you’re going to be in Washington D.C.; Oakland, California; Arlington, Virginia; and Union Grove, North Carolina. Those are just some of the places that people could meet you in person if they get the information from that part of your website.

ANDREA: We are trying to keep expanding opportunities for people to get involved. We’re working on adding more locations, so it’s good to check back on that page over time. I’m reaching out to my national network of professional social justice investors and I’m so pleased that people are wanting to invite me to do events near them.

Andrea’s friends give us ‘Energy Boosts’

DAVID: And I’m pleased that your new book models that kind of collegial value. It’s literally a collaborative book. Your name appears on the cover as the author, as it should, but there are a lot of other writers who contributed interesting and inspiring stories about specific ways we can help our world, using these principles.

How many co-authors are in this book?

ANDREA: There are 20 different stories in the book that we call “Energy Boosts” and 19 of them were written by contributing authors. I wrote one of the 20. So there are 19 people who have joined me in this book.

DAVID: I think that whole approach to putting this book together illustrates the breadth of this movement. Readers will discover they’re not alone in these pages. Opening this book introduces readers to a whole community of people living and working today.

I should also explain to readers: This is not a historical book. You don’t really write about the earlier eras when faith-based leaders like Maimonides or John Wesley or early American Quaker writers—the historical list is very long—urged their followers to consider embodying their core values in the way they spent and invested their money. In this book, you are showing us the contemporary depth and diversity of this movement right now.

And you’re introducing readers to the key concepts they’re going to need if they begin stepping into this field. So, let’s talk for a moment about one of the key words readers will find as they explore your book: “sustainable.” There’s a lot of depth behind that term. So, please, talk to us about that one example of a core concept in the book.

‘Sustainability is a huge word …’

ANDREA: Sustainability is a huge word that means a lot of different things to a lot of different folks—even within the impact-investment industry. If you say ‘sustainability’ to one person they’re going to think about something completely different than what another person thinks when they hear the word.

But, mainly, I’m focused on talking to everyday people about their personal investment choices and personal finances. In that context, the word “sustainability” refers to questions like: Will your family have the financial security needed for expected and unexpected life events? And do you as a person or a family have financial earnings that will sustain you through those events? No one has a crystal ball that can show exactly what those events will be, but we can make reasonably informed decisions about what a financial cushion for your life should be.

DAVID: Let’s talk further about that concept, though, because what you just described will mean vastly different things for various people. For some, their basic financial security means an enormous house in an expensive zip code and multiple cars and other amenities. That’s completely different than families who intentionally are living on a more limited budget so they can donate to important causes and can invest some of their funds in ways you are describing.

When you talk to people about this kind of social justice investment, are you suggesting to people that they should down-size their own living situation to be able to participate in helping others?

ANDREA: You’ve just identified the beautiful part of financial planning—and the hardest part of financial planning. Sustainability looks different to everybody and everyone defines what they need in their own way—and I am not trying to pass judgment on people about those choices. It’s up to every person to decide how they want to approach this.

One person may define sustainability as trying to maintain their 3,000-square-foot home; another person may define the goal as living in community with a refugee family they are hosting in a blended household in a much smaller house. And that’s why I refer to the beautiful side of finance—meaning, it’s a set of tools you can use to try to get you where you want to be. The hard part is being real with yourself about where you can be.

I understand that these are big conversations in families. What I’m trying to show readers are practical ways to start those conversations. For a lot of people, the only financial advice they’re getting focuses on the question: Do you have enough money to get by right now?

If you do want to consider social-justice investing, these conversations and decisions are hard. Now, in addition to trying to take care of yourself and your family, you’re adding hard new questions: Do these decisions I’ve been making—and these plans I’d like to make—mesh with what my values are? Does this mesh with who I want to be as a person?

DAVID: You already have an impressive background as a professional in finance. I’m urging readers to find out more about you—by providing those links to your website and also recommending that they people read your book.

But you’re more than just a financial expert. You also live out these values you’re writing about in your own life. How do you balance your work between these big realms of secular finance and spiritual-and-ethical values?

ANDREA: It varies. If I’m going to speak at a meeting of financial professionals, if I begin by introducing myself as a person of faith, they’re going to turn off my message before I get started.

But I’m also going into settings where people already share the values that come from my faith. For example, that event you mentioned in North Carolina is in July and it’s the Wild Goose Festival. At Wild Goose, I’m comfortable introducing myself as a person of faith—and that will make sense in that context, because people at Wild Goose understand what I’m talking about when I say I want my investing to be in line with my values as a Christian.

In that kind of setting, I like to talk more about how this conversation has gone in my own family.

DAVID: I’m going to present this part of our coverage of your book as a Q and A so that readers can get a feeling for your overall style as a writer. The way you’re talking here is very much like your “voice” in the book. In many cases in these chapters, readers will find you describing family conversations and community conversations, too. Right?

ANDREA: Yeah, that’s right and those personal conversations are not quick—and often they’re not easy. Having these conversations—and doing the research involved for this kind of investing—is a multi-year process. And it involves so many questions that are all interrelated to our lives and, in my family’s case, our faith. I’m active in my Presbyterian church, for example.

DAVID: And, while your book is specifically about investing—putting your money to work in various funds and projects—a family involved in a congregation also needs to talk about donations. So, to be clear, the book is about the many issues you need to understand to start making social-justice-informed investments, but you also recommend that people be involved in helping people in other ways, too, right? Like donating to a church.

ANDREA: My family definitely supports our church and I think as Christians we are called to give—so yes, I do believe in giving. But as people with resources living in this country, there are many different ways we can use those resources to support our families—and to make the world a better place at the same time. That’s why these family discussions are a multi-year process.

Each of us has different kinds of resources: We have our time and our talents as well as our “treasures”—our money. In this country, there are a lot of us who have the privilege of enough money so that we can do more than just support ourselves and our families. We can give—that’s one very important way. And many Americans also have some money that they are setting aside for future needs that they are choosing to invest in various ways to try to ensure those resources are there for them later.

If we decide to get involved in this way, then we need to ask: How can I use the tool of my money to reflect the values I live by?

DAVID: That’s a pretty good summary of what people will find in your book. What else would you say about what you hope readers will find in these pages?

‘It takes a series of baby steps.’

ANDREA: I am very fortunate that I learned about social justice investing from some of the pioneering investors who already were doing this. Going back to our conversation a moment ago about the 19 co-authors in this book: I am thankful to that whole community for the wisdom I have learned.

So, what do I hope readers will find in this book?

I hope people will improve how they use their money. If you’re working with a financial advisor, then call your financial advisor and say, “I’d like to move my money toward social justice investing.” If you’re a DIY investor, or you want to get started as a DIY investor, then use the Investor Values Tool to research investments that you want to make. If you’re a 401K investor, then call your HR manager and say “I’d like some investment options that reflect my values. Can we look at social justice investments?”

I hope people will get these conversations started because it truly does take a series of baby steps to make all of this happen.

That’s what I hope people will find in this book—the tools they need to take the first steps in what I hope will become a life-long process.

A Yachatz prayer-poem for the breaking of matzah: ‘Let all who are hungry come and eat’

April 21, 2024 by Leave a Comment

EDITOR’S NOTE: Our publishing house is preparing to publish Torah Wrestling, an upcoming book by Chicago-based Rabbi Roy Furman about “embracing the other” in Torah—the first five books of the Bible beginning with Genesis that are central to Jewish tradition. As Passover 2024 approached, we invited Rabbi Furman to share the following prayer for Yachatz (also spelled Yahatz) that he wrote for his family and friends. As he explains, “Yahatz is that part of the Passover Seder when a piece of matzah is raised up, then broken, followed by this declaration: ‘This is the bread of poverty, the bread of affliction our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat; let all who are in need join our Seder. Now we are here. Next year in the Land of Israel. Now we are slaves. Next year, may we all be free’.” We hope that our readers will find this prayer meaningful and may want to share this prayer with friends as well—and, if you do care to share this text, Rabbi Furman gives his permission.

Yahatz, The Breaking

Lifting matzah
Bread too poor
To rise,
We snap it in two,
Intoning
“Let all who are hungry come and eat.”
Let all of bent body, of low spirit,
Rise up!
Dance mountains!
Leap streams!
Soar chasms that separate
Your world from ours.
Come! Loosen the hold on your famine and your fear.
Come into our homes.
Sit by us, shoulder to shoulder;
Be amazed at your welcome,
Eat and be sated.
But you don’t.

So we send shofar-blowers ‘round
To the wounded of our world,
Calling out to you, impoverished
And immiserated souls,
Whose home is the stench of fear-stifled breath
Where the lure of freedom is an unrequited seduction.

Come! We implore you
From the depths of our being.
Trust us, with whatever remnants of courage remain
In your desperate refuge lives.

“Let all who are hungry come and eat.”
Come! Bring your aching bellies and your shriveled babies.
Overcome if you dare, just this once,
Your distrust of glib promise,
Your visceral hatred of smooth-tongued prophets.
Come to us,
In your bitterness,
In your deep despair,
In your unending distress,
Hear this! O please hear this!
We need you.
This year even more urgently than last,
At our Seder table heavy unto groaning.

“Let all who are in need join our Seder.”
Come!
Join your stories to ours.
Tell us of your journeys,
And your dreams,
As we break the bread of your brokenness,
And ours.

But if you don’t, or can’t, or dare not,
We will sit, waiting for you
To make us whole.
And if you come not by Seder’s end,
We will eat your portion.
We will eat your pain.
We will eat your exile.
We will eat the emptiness of our lives,
That gnawing space where you
Belong.
We will sit at this table
Where a place for you is set
And wait, as for a Jerusalem
Whole and just,
For you to come,
This year or next.

Rabbi Roy Furman

Michigan’s JCRC-AJC diplomatic seder: As Passover approaches, affirming that peace is a global value

April 21, 2024 by Leave a Comment

Click on the image to enlarge it for easier reading. (Photos by John Hardwick, used here courtesy of JCRC-AJC Detroit.)

‘Confronting all forms of hate is everyone’s responsibility.’

By HOWARD BROWN
Author of Shining Brightly

In the midst of a world of strife and daily tragedy, I was thrilled to co-chair our annual Jewish Community Relations Council-American Jewish Committee Detroit (JCRC-AJC) “model seder” that represented a global gathering of religious and diplomatic leaders affirming our shared goal of peace. Each year, Jewish communities around the world host “model seders” before the start of Passover so non-Jews can experience the ancient rituals and themes we celebrate with family and friends.

The seder is a traditional retelling of the biblical account of God leading the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt. The meal features symbolic foods that remind us of everything from the bitter tears shed in slavery to the taste of unleavened bread, or matzah, during the long journey that followed.

For many years, the Detroit JCRC-AJC has hosted a combined seder for representatives of the global diplomatic community—in particular the Consular Corps of Michigan—and also dozens of our interfaith partners. This year, more than 100 people—including Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus—attended the program. Among the nations represented were: the UK, Germany, Poland, Italy, Austria, Jordan, South Korea, Mexico, Canada, and Japan.

Our honorary chair, who spoke about the need to protect vulnerable minorities, was Yusuke Shindo, Consul General of Japan for Michigan and Ohio.

I served as co-chair of the planning committee along with Carol Ogusky, who has long been active in building interfaith partnership and writing about the importance of this work.

What impressed me this year was that, despite all of the conflicts around the world and the horrific rise in antisemitism, this circle of global leaders gathered with us once again to affirm our unity in praying for peace.

Anyone who has been to a seder knows the question we ask: “Why is this night different than all other nights?”

At the end of our program, we answered that question by reading aloud together a portion of “A Prayer for This ‘Different’ Seder 2024”, written by Rabbi Noam E. Marans, Director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations for the American Jewish Committee.

In unison, we read:

We pray for the victims of horrific terrorism and their families whose lives have been shattered.
We pray for the hostages and their loved ones, who continue to live through unending horror.
We pray for the innocents who are victims of war, human beings created in the image of God. We pray for the dead, the injured, the hungry, and the displaced. …
We pray for the purveyors and deliverers of humanitarian aid who endeavor to do what is right and needed.
We pray for the peacemakers. May they bring shalom to all.
We pray for the world to wake up and say: There is no place for antisemitism in our society. Confronting all forms of hate is everyone’s responsibility.
Shirah chadashah:
Let us sing to God a new song, a hymn that longs to extol our deliverance from despair to joy, from mourning to celebration, from darkness to light, from enslavement to redemption, from war to peace.

Also, at every table, we made available my own discussion guide, titled: Interfaith Bridge Building—Why do this work? If you would like a copy of that discussion guide yourself, you can download a PDF of it for free at my website, ShiningBright.com by going to this page, then scrolling down to the navy-blue section that lists discussion guides.

Carol Ogusky and Howard Brown (at right) with Consul Generals from Michigan at the model diplomatic seder 2024. On the far left is Sam Dubin, interim executive director of JCRC-AJC Detroit.

Are you preparing for Passover with family and friends?

April 15, 2024 by

Photos courtesy of the Rosman family.

Rusty Rosman shows us how she makes—and transports—a family holiday favorite:

Nema’s Traveling Matzah Ball Soup

EDITOR’S NOTE—We are wishing our Jewish colleagues and neighbors well as they prepare for Passover with family and friends—starting on the night of April 22. Right now, Jewish families around the world already are planning for this traditional festival. These special seder meals are a lot of work! Rusty Rosman is the author of the new book, Two Envelopes, and she’s a grandmother who travels with her matzoh ball soup to various family homes as Passover begins—so she has developed a way to make that beloved soup quite portable. If you enjoy her column, please share it with friends across social media. All of us want to warmly celebrate with our Jewish friends at a time when antisemitism has risen to the highest levels the FBI has seen in their tracking of hate crimes.

By RUSTY ROSMAN
Author of Two Envelopes

I’m a very lucky Nema!

My oldest grandson took the name Grandma and turned it into Nema and I’ve been Nema ever since. I love the uniqueness of Nema and now it has an official place in our family history as the official name of:

Nema’s Matzah Ball Soup

And, yes, because we love our grandchildren so much, I have to admit that we’ve also made room for an alternative name for this family delicacy. When my youngest grandson was 5 years old, he couldn’t remember the kind of Nema’s soup he wanted—so he thought really hard and then yelled: “Mozzarella Soup!”

This coming week, I will be serving up this delicious soup to those eager grandchildren—whatever they manage to call it.

Matzah Ball Soup had its origins as a Passover food because matzah is a major part of the biblical story. These balls are made of very finely ground matzah flour that is only allowed to rise for 18 minutes. The matzah balls in chicken soup were so dearly loved that they became year-round delights.

Every year during Passover, there’s always the question: Did your grandma make hard or soft matzah balls? What’s your preference?

My family loves the soft. My six grandchildren firmly believe that every holiday meal menu is just Nema’s Matzah Ball Soup! Each child must have 3 matzah balls in their soup bowl—and there should be more in the pot if they want seconds.

So, here’s the story of Nema’s matzah ball soup.

I begin days ahead of a holiday because I make so much.

For the broth, I use 20 pounds of kosher chicken, the full sleeve of celery and three big carrots, six large onions, the whole bundle of parsley and dill and 3 large parsnips. And of course, salt and pepper.

First, the chicken is divided between two 20 quart pots which I cook at the same time. I put in the chicken, the salt and pepper and then cover the chicken with water—plus not too much more. Then the vegetables go into the pots.

I cook this for 3 hours.

Then the fun begins. I separate the vegetables into different bowls; the chicken goes into a huge bowl; and my husband pours the soup through a strainer into another huge pot. I push the green vegetables through the strainer so I get the liquid but not the green stuff.

Remember—we’ve been working with two pots. Now, I wash one of the pots, put a strainer over the pot and put a large piece of paper towel in the strainer.  Then, using a one quart pot, I pour hot soup into the strainer with the paper towel, which picks up all the little particles that I don’t want in the soup.  I keep changing the paper towel until all the soup has been stained.  Now I have a very clear soup.

Just like my mom did, I push the carrots through the strainer so they go into the soup as tiny pieces.  My husband does the heavy lifting of the pot so, after it cools for a few hours, we put the pot into the refrigerator (on a towel) where it sits overnight.  The next morning, he lifts the pot out of the refrigerator and puts it into the sink—it’s so much easier on my arms than when the pot is up on the counter.  I run paper towel over the top of the soup to skim the congealed fat from the chicken.

Once it’s clear, I stir the soup so the carrot is all around and not sitting on the bottom of the pot.  I freeze the soup by the number of soup plates I’m serving.  (Example: A gallon-size zip-lock bag will hold 6 servings; the quart size holds 2 servings.)  Next, I carefully—really very carefully—lay the bags on the freezer shelf one on top of the other. Then, I pray that I sealed them well and they won’t leak!  It can take up to 24 hours for all of the bags to freeze solid.

Then it’s time for matzah balls!

My gorgeous grandchildren can easily go through 50 in one holiday and that’s not counting the 6 adults!  I make a dozen matzah balls a day. (The recipe’s on the box.)

I freeze those on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper.  Once they’re frozen, I bag them and back into the freezer they go.

This goes on for days!

Finally, it will be travel time. Since my children live in different states, we drive for hours to get to their homes. So, I take one of the 20 quart pots and load it with the frozen soup and the frozen matzah balls.  They travel well that way. The fun begins when we arrive and the kids start counting the matzah balls and jostling to see who gets to carry them into the house!

I am the luckiest Nema in the whole world because 6 wonderful grandchildren hug me and tell me that I make the best matzah ball soup in the entire world. And I believe them because that’s all they want to eat at the holiday dinner.

I have two grandchildren that even eat it for breakfast!

My joy in making this soup overrides all the work—and it is a lot to do!  But the fun I have thinking about how happy my family is to eat this soup makes it a pure pleasure to create this memory.

I am the luckiest Nema in the entire world.

 

.

Photo by Rodney Curtis
www.RodneyCurtis.com
@rcurtis on Twitter
@that_rodney_guy on Instagram
[email protected]

Care to learn more?

VISIT RUSTY ROSMAN’s author website to learn much more about her new book: Two Envelopes—What You Want Your Loved Ones to Know When You Die.

In 2024, Rusty is considering lots of requests to appear on podcasts, in interviews, and in community groups either in person or via Zoom. She is especially popular in small groups both Jewish and Christian congregations—and meets with groups of professionals who care for our millions of aging loved ones.

Care to connect? Scroll down on her author website to learn how to contact her.

Interested in her book? Two Envelopes is available via Amazon in hardcover, paperback and Kindle. It’s also listed on Barnes & Noble, Walmart and other online booksellers.

Historic Dallas Jewish nonprofit honors George A. Mason as Pioneering Partner

April 13, 2024 by

The Rev. Dr. George A. Mason with the National Council of Jewish Women Dallas Section annual Pioneering Partner Award. (Scroll down to see more photographs from the event, provided for this story by Gail Brookshire.)

Highlighting the importance of ‘dependable allies in the struggle for freedom, justice and equity’

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine

George Mason—author of The Word Made Fresh—continues with his courageous messages about the need for good people to support each other and the most vulnerable among us in our communities. He has spoken about this urgent need on national podcasts, in short videos, at major conferences coast to coast—and he offered that same timely call to compassion again in Texas before the 111-year-old National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) Greater Dallas Section.

The occasion was the NCJW’s annual Pioneering Partner Award and the group’s leadership asked the 2023 award winner—nationally known Latino advocate, attorney and public policy advisor Regina T. Montoya—to present this prize to Mason.

In presenting the award, Montoya said:

Today NCJW recognizes the Rev. Dr. George A. Mason, the founder and president of Faith Commons, a nonprofit that promotes public discourse rooted in the common values of many faiths. Faith Commons aims to inspire more people to participate in public life with mutual respect, hospitality and generosity.

The Rev. Dr. George A. Mason is a Christian theologian and Baptist pastor here in Dallas, Texas, where he served as senior pastor of the Wilshire Baptist Church from 1989 to 2022. … He participates in numerous local and global ecumenical and interfaith endeavors. He is a contributor to the Dallas Morning News on subjects of public interest that intersect with religion, such as public education, racial justice, predatory lending, and climate change. He is truly a shining star—a gift and a treasure to us here in our community.

Then, Mason rose to accept the award and said:

Thank you so much to NCJW for this remarkable award! Receiving it from this organization is significant to me because we live in such perilous times. Democracy itself is under siege. And having dependable allies in the struggle for freedom, justice, and equity is crucial these days—whether we’re talking about the endangered rights of women on all fronts, the full dignity of the LGBTQ+ community, the right to be safe from gun violence, the opportunity for a good public education that promotes critical inquiry and is free of religious control—or simply the most fundamental right of all—to vote.

NCJW is always on the job—and we salute you. The testimony of the recently murdered Russian dissident Alexei Navalny continues to echo in our hearts. From his isolated prison cell in Siberia, he told us that the forces of evil always want you to feel alone in your struggle for freedom and democracy. But we are never alone—despite how it sometimes feels. And, if you sometimes do feel that way—look around this room.

In these days, I know that many of you here have felt the agonizing tension between your deepest moral convictions and your spiritual and communal bonds. I want you to know tht we see you and stand with you in that tension.

In my own religious world, the fissure caused by Christian Nationalism continues to widen—and it is a threat that must be addressed from within our own community. Any religious ideas—even from our own faith—that deny or diminish the humanity of others or that endanger the planet we all share must be opposed.

George was interrupted by applause.

Fortunately, I c0me from a long line of radical Baptists—little noticed at times.

Interrupted by warm laughter.

Nonetheless, we believe that dissent can sometimes be the highest act of loyalty. For 35 year, I have had the privilege of serving or being part of a Baptist church like that—a church that believes it and practices it: Wilshire Baptist. And for the past six years, I have served through Faith Commons—alongside my peerless and fearless partner in that nonprofit, Rabbi Nancy Kastin.

Interrupted by applause.

We have gained inspiration to persevere from people like you in this room—people who believe that and practice it.

So keep the faith—and keep up the struggle faithfully.

And I’ll end with these words from the late minister of Riverside Church in New York City, William Sloane Coffin:

“The world is too dangerous for anything but truth.
And too small for anything but love.”

Applause.

Care to learn more?

The Rev. Dr. George A. Mason’s most powerful messages from throughout his long career at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas are collected in the new book, The Word Made Fresh, which is available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle from Amazon.

 

As hate crimes continue to rise, this inspiring documentary about two courageous mothers—Mindy Corporon and Sunayana Dumala—is Must See TV

April 7, 2024 by

Three key people behind this new public TV documentary, Healing Hate, are from left: Sunayana Dumala, Solomon Shields and Mindy Corporon.

“Hate has no place—because it will touch everybody.”
Mindy Corporon in the documentary Healing Hate

“But both Mindy and Sunayana and their families used the worst days of their lives to empower them to engage the world in positive ways.”
Documentary filmmaker Solomon Shields

See this powerful documentary right now:

Right now, you can learn more about this documentary, created by Kansas City PBS along with filmmaker Solomon Shields, by reading our ReadTheSpirit cover story below.

But, first: Thanks to Kansas City public TV’s YouTube channel, you also can stream the entire half-hour documentary here:

To read Mindy’s entire story, including how she met her friend Sunayana—get a copy of Healing a Shattered Soul in hardcover, paperback or Kindle via Amazon.

‘Healing Hate: Turning Pain into Power’

By DAVID CRUMM
Editor of ReadTheSpirit online magazine

After weathering some of the most horrific hate crimes in America over the past decade—including a catastrophic mass shooting at a parade in February—Kliff Kuehl, the CEO of Kansas City’s PBS station, and filmmaker Solomon Shields committed themselves to arousing public action.

Click on the cover to visit the book’s Amazon page.

As the resulting 30-minute film debuts this week, Kuehl is telling viewers, “Kansas City PBS is honored to bring Healing Hate to our viewers. This documentary has the potential to inspire and ignite a collective commitment to stand against hate, fostering a more inclusive Kansas City,”

The film’s power springs from the stories of two women who have transformed their grief over losing family members, killed in earlier shootings, into major ongoing efforts to promote compassion, healing and inclusion.

The first of these two friends is author and nationally known advocate for community compassion Mindy Corporon, whose son and father were killed 10 years ago in an antisemitic hate crime outside the  Overland Park, Kansas, Jewish Community Center in 2014. Mindy has published the widely read memoir Healing a Shattered Soul and also is co-founder of the nonprofit community movement known as SevenDays.

Mindy’s friend is Sunayana Dumala, who Mindy met in 2017 after national news broke about the murder of Sunayana’s husband by a shooter in an Olathe, Kansas, restaurant. The murderer declared that he wanted to kill someone from the Middle East—and that he thought his victims were Iranian.

“I worked a lot of long hours with Mindy and Sunayana and many others on this project because all of us know how timely this documentary is,” Solomon Shields said in an interview this week.

The urgency they all feel this spring includes the latest mass shooting at the Kansas City parade—as well as national reports that hate crimes are rising to an all-time high, plus the upcoming April 13th 10-year anniversary of the antisemitic shootings that killed Mindy’s loved ones.

“All of us felt we had to share this documentary with as many people as possible—right now,” Shields said.

What’s so horrifying is: When bullets fly—they can hit anyone

“What’s so astonishing is that in all three tragedies—the gunmen were coming from a place of anger and violence that wound up killing people who they never intended to kill,” Shields said. “That’s one of the main themes of this documentary: When bullets fly, they can hit any of us.”

In 2014, Mindy’s son and father were in a parking lot preparing to participate in a community program being held inside the Jewish center—but they were not Jewish. In 2017, the shooter in Olanthe was raving about Middle Easterners and mistook Sunayana’s Indian-American husband for an Iranian, according to news reports. And, in February 2024, the one death and 22 injuries were caused by several armed young men who opened fire at each other in a personal dispute that had nothing to do with their 23 innocent victims.

“We have to realize: When guns are blazing and bullets are flying, those bullets don’t care what you look like or who is waiting for you at home,” Shields said. “It’s so important for people to understand that we all must take steps to prevent this from happening to others.

“This is definitely something that hits close to home for me as an African American filmmaker,” he said. “I have had friends who have lost their lives to gun violence: wrong place, wrong time and a bullet happens to hit them. I was very honored to work on this project because it’s something I can relate to. I remember both of these earlier shootings and they had a real impact on me.

“The main theme of the documentary is how these two families overcame such unspeakable tragedies so that they could continue to live and build relationships. That’s the flip side of this documentary: Even after such tragedies, we can decide to build relationships that can make our entire community better.

“I am so impressed by the strength of the human spirit in these two women who were able to face the world again after the worst days in their lives,” Shields said. “For a lot of people faced with this—it would have been understandable to simply say: We need our privacy and refuse to talk to anyone anymore. But both women and their families used the worst days of their lives to empower them to engage the world in positive ways.”

That took an enormous amount of emotional strength within these families—as readers learn when they read Mindy’s memoir. In this new public TV film, viewers also will see and hear these two friends talk about that process of transforming anger into hope.

Shields said he continues to be amazed at their strength. “I realize that they may not ever have a perfect day again after such tragedies—because every day they will remember the loved ones they lost. That’s why this film is so inspiring. These women chose not to close themselves off to the world. They decided to show the rest of us that there is still life worth living, if we can work on these issues together.

“When people see this documentary, I want them to come away, first, feeling informed about all the reasons this is such a timely message. Second, I want viewers to feel inspired that, even though these horrible things continue to happen, there are relationships we can form that can help us, our families and our communities—that is, if we are willing to search for those new relationships.

“Finally, I want people to feel that there are things they can do whoever they are and wherever they are,” Shields said. It’s a lesson he took to heart as he worked with these families and the Kansas City PBS staff to produce this film. “That’s what I could do right now. I’m a filmmaker here in Kansas City and I did something: I created this documentary that can share this story with so many people out there. And, now, I appreciate that others are out there trying to encourage more people to see this film.”

And one last reminder …

Wherever you live across the U.S., you can contact your local PBS station and urge the management to seek out this documentary to broadcast in your region. If you have never done this before—simply find the website of your “local” PBS station, contact station management through their website and share a link to this story. Most public TV stations appreciate local viewers making such recommendations.

To read Mindy’s entire story, including how she met her friend Sunayana—get a copy of Healing a Shattered Soul in hardcover, paperback or Kindle via Amazon.