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Stacy and I connected over Zoom one late afternoon to chat about her fellowship experience with Jewtina y Co, finding homes in Jewish life all across the DMV, the “mosaic” of Judaism, dancing, and our shared Philadelphia Eagles fandom. Enjoy!
Samuel: What brought you to the DMV?
Stacy: Originally, for college and to be a lawyer. I am not a lawyer, but I ended up loving the area, and have just kind of built my adult life here.
Samuel: What’s made you stay?
Stacy: It’s been 12 years. Besides work, what’s kept me here is the Jewish community I’ve become a part of. That has kept me rooted here. I tend to shul-hop a lot, which is good, because I get bored with doing the same thing. I consider my home to be between Adas Israel and Sixth & I. Sixth & I was my first landing spot in DC. I do go to Etz Hayim in Arlington as well; it’s closer, and sometimes I can’t get out of work at the right time to make it to Friday services. I also go to Mesorah DC when I can make it. So, I tend to bounce around and, if not, my house is going to be shul, and that’s fine.
Samuel: How do you think shul-hopping, to borrow your phrasing, affects your sense of Jewish community? What makes you feel at home, even if you’re not at the same place every week?
Stacy: If I go back [to a place], there was something that brought me back. There’s a different feel across all the different places I mentioned.
For instance, at Sixth & I, I’m for sure going to see someone that I know, and that’s always nice. Etz Hayim is a small, neighborhood synagogue. I love that because it feels really intimate and they’re super welcoming. Mesorah is similar, but a little more traditional, and I appreciate that aspect of it. Depending on my mood, I can choose. If I want to do something traditional, I can go to Mesorah. If I want to do something a little more musical, I can go to Sixth & I. If I’m in the mood for a bigger atmosphere, I can go to Adas Israel. It just depends on the week.
Going to services is not so much about seeing folks I know, because I consider all Jews part of my community. It’s more about: What’s different? What can shake my core? What is out there in the Jewish world? Can I insert myself and broaden my perspective a little?
Samuel: What is resonating for you Jewishly right now?
Stacy: I’m part of a Jewtina fellowship called Puentes, which is Spanish for “bridges.” The fellowship is about leadership and building bridges across two different cultures. Right now, I’m working on a Capstone to identify a couple of DMV Jewish organizations where I can help broaden their perspectives – from an organizational and educational standpoint – on what it looks like to be a Jewish and Latino person.
For people who may not interact with a Latino Jewish person very often, it’s important to arm them with the education and knowledge to say: Hey, you know what, there are Latino Jews here. We can break down stereotypes and what antisemitism may look like when it is more deeply coded and harder to point out.
This year’s cohort is 14 people all across the United States – from LA, New York, Texas, Wisconsin. All over the country, all very different, but we all have a Jewish connection. What I’m really sitting with is that even though we are all different, with different Jewish stories, we all want the same things because we have such similar values. It doesn’t all look the same, but we all want the best for the world, and to live a Jewish life, and that’s rooted in our Judaism. Judaism is kind of like a mosaic, or a quilt. Regardless of what the piece you belong to looks like, it is really beautiful when it all comes together.
Samuel: What is the change you’d like to create through your fellowship work?
Stacy: There are topics that people don’t talk about often enough; I think it’s because people just don’t know enough about it, or don’t have the education and background to feel comfortable. I want to provide resources for organizations so that if an organization like GatherDC wants to, for example, celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month through a Jewish lens, I can support and be a point of contact.
Jews are everywhere, and they all come with a different story. I think it’s empowering to say: We’ve been everywhere, we are everywhere, and we take on so many shapes and forms. There’s a lot of strength in that! And, there’s a lot of Jewish history that we don’t all know about. When I tell people that I’m Jewish and also Central American, I’ve had people say: But how? So then I have to tell you my life story – my family has ancestors that fled the Spanish Inquisition and went to Latin America.
So much Jewish history exists beyond the things we typically talk about and focus on. I think all the time about how, during [the Holocaust], we lost a lot of Yiddish culture. How many plays and books are we never going to experience – and how much is out there right now that we can grab and hold onto so that we don’t lose them?
Samuel: A few quick ones to close. What are you feeling proud about right now?
Stacy: I like to take salsa and bachata classes. I’m proud that I told myself I would do something, and I’m sticking with it. My goal is to keep doing that through the end of the year and keep building my skills.
Samuel: What’s something you’re bad at?
Stacy: I’m really bad at telling the difference between left and right. If I’m fixing something around the house with my partner, he’ll be like “Oh, to the left” and I always go to the wrong spot. For some reason, my brain always does the opposite. Like, your left? My left?
Samuel: What is something you feel particularly passionate about?
Stacy: I’m a big Philadelphia Eagles fan. It was around the time that McNabb was the quarterback, and I was like: This is my team. I stuck with them, and I was in Philadelphia for the [2017-2018] Super Bowl [Editor’s note: the video of Jason Kelce’s parade speech linked there may or may not move the Editor to tears every time he watches it, which is more frequent than you would think], which was great. I love Philadelphia. It has so much character. You know what Philadelphia is, and Philadelphia doesn’t care what you think. And I like that.
Samuel: You can invite any three people to Shabbat dinner. Who are you bringing?
Stacy: First one is Selena Quintanilla. I just have a lot of questions. A lot of questions. Second is Larry David, because I love Larry David. Third, thinking about recent events, I’d invite Claudia Sheinbaum. I have questions to ask her, too.
Samuel: Last one. Finish the sentence: When Jews of the DMV gather…
Stacy: We’re probably going to talk about work.
Editor’s note: Stacy is planning a storytelling Shabbat for Hispanic/Latinx Jews and Jews of intersectional identities on 8/16/24. During this Shabbat, she will be hosting a small workshop to tell your story that will be a part of a collection of stories representing intersectional DC Jewry. Additional details to follow in GatherDC’s newsletter!
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