This week we begin a period on the Jewish calendar called the Omer — the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot that our tradition observes through a practice of counting, day by day, week by week. We imbue these days with meaning by assigning a different theme to each week that encourages self-reflection and self-improvement for the betterment of the whole community. In that spirit, we’re doing a series of interviews featuring people who have made their life’s work an extension of their lives’ purpose.

The first week's theme is chesed (loving-kindness) and we are kicking off the series with the incredibly inspirational ambassador for kindness herself, Rena Rosen.

Links referenced in the show:

Knit for a Unique Fit
The Courage to Be Kind
Art of Compassion

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About Our Guest:
Rena Rosen is the Inclusion Coordinator for JCC Chicago. She also works as an Early Childhood teacher at Bernard Weinger JCC in Northbrook where she spends her days donning clothes with “Be Kind” emblazoned across the front, teaching kids her life’s mission, which is building kind, inclusive, accepting community. Rena is the founder of Art of Compassion, a platform building a kind, inclusive and accepting community for people of all differences and abilities. As a self-identified kid of the 90s born with craniofacial differences, Rena works from a center of compassion, kindness and courage to bring inclusion into the 21st century. She is the co-author of a children’s book The Courage to Be Kind. And most recently the creator of a Facebook Group Knit for a Unique Fit.

About Mishkan Chicago
Mishkan is a spiritual community in Chicago reclaiming Judaism’s inspiration and transformative essence. Not bound by a particular location, we create radically inclusive spaces for Jewish spiritual practice and community, engaging, educating, and empowering people across the spectrum of identity, background, age, and belief.