The year was 1978, and my parents decided to move to Reisterstown because they heard that The Associated had bought a plot of land and was planning on building a JCC in Owings Mills. The JCC, my parents told me, would be a good place for me and my brother to grow up.  So my parents, and many other families like mine, moved to Reisterstown and joined the new Owings Mills JCC.   

It wasn’t easy growing up in Reisterstown. I was called antisemitic slurs and was given zeros on tests that were given on the high holidays because I wasn’t at school. I even remember one of my teachers telling me that I had to choose between being a good Jew or being a good student.   

In third grade, a classmate called me Jew Bagel. I went home and cried to my parents. But they did not switch me to a new school, call the principal, the board—all things that I think we would do today. Instead, my mother looked at me and simply stated, “You’ll go to the JCC, where you will find kids like you.” And I did.  

While the J became my home, it also became my story. 

It was where I met my best childhood friends and discovered my connection to Judaism. The J was where I fit in and where I learned that I could make a difference.  

Back in 1978, the JCC board of directors had the vision to create an engagement and communal platform with the goal of reaching unaffiliated and unengaged Jews. The goal was to immerse them Jewish community and create Jewish connections for these families, their children and hopefully, the next generation: Their children’s children.   

I am that child, and my children are those children.