If not now, when?

by Jill Maidhof

I’m an Air Force brat whose heart still swells when I hear the sound of jet engines. One of my most vivid memories was being at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor, Maine, hearing the blare of an “alert” and watching my father, a pilot, get from the shower to the cockpit of his plane in 5 minutes. It was the Cuban missile crisis, and he didn’t come home for weeks. That year, we had Thanksgiving dinner with him on base. Not the in Officers Club — in the barracks where he remained in a state of constant readiness. (His squad actually did start out for Cuba but was called back in midair. The crisis was averted.)

It was in the Air Force that I learned to make friends quickly but not to get too attached to people because they could be gone any day. I was 11 when my dad retired. We moved to Kansas City where I learned that many people, even kids like me, enjoyed what I never had: deep roots. They were friendly but busy with long-time friends and I felt like an outsider.

That experience  is one of the reasons I was drawn to Chai Mitzvah. Here was — is — an organization that is as committed to creating community as it is to imparting Jewish information.  In person and on Zoom, we learn each other’s names and invite perspectives harvested from lived experiences; there were and still are no “inner circles,” all are welcomed all are heard and together we are strengthened.