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Adam and I sit down for iced coffees at Aslin Beer Co one recent sunny afternoon to chat about his job at the Edlavitch DCJCC spearheading the new Capital J initiative, high hopes for Knicks basketball, seeking tangible impact through work, chamber music, seeing clouds, and Nathan Fielder. Enjoy!
Samuel: What brought you to the DMV?
Adam: I’m from Poughkeepsie, New York. I graduated from University of Virginia in 2021 and made the traditional slog up to DC. I was working in politics, though as soon as I got to DC, I ended up moving to Ohio for a few months, recruiting candidates to run for the state House.
I worked in politics until January of this year. I wanted to turn inward and change something. I’d been doing big picture data-focused work that was helping a lot of campaigns, hopefully, but it was many degrees of separation away from a sense of impact.
Now, with Capital J, I get to serve my community, which I really care about, and I get to feel and see and talk to the people I’m hoping to help out. Now, if I want to run a program, it’s on me. If it sucks, it’s going to suck because of me. If it flourishes, it’s going to flourish because of me. I’m less removed from the final product and can see it through from start to finish and get that sense of closure and completion.
Samuel: Is that stressful?
Adam: I haven’t been that stressed out. I would have thought it would be more intense because my role has that community focus, but I haven’t been that stressed. There’s a nice sense that I can bring my whole self to work, and I didn’t realize how good that would feel.
Samuel: You mentioned Capital J, this new project you’re working on – what is it?
Adam: Capital J officially launches in the Fall. It’s going to be a speaker series [with the Edlavitch DCJCC] bringing in leading voices from across the American Jewish community, talking about what it means to be an American Jew in this present moment.
That’s going to be our DC community, but also the broader American Jewish community, and [address] questions that are actively being discussed both in our media and also around our Shabbat dinner tables. It’s been exciting to really respond to a need. People have been like: I need this space, I want this community, whatever that is.
Samuel: How do you balance those two target audiences – the DC Jewish community, but also a more national Jewish community?
Adam: It’s an active question. There’s a strong and intentional desire [though] to make this explicitly intergenerational in its appeal. One of the reasons I have that distinct interest is that it is important to build community in a sense where it isn’t usually found. I think we’ll be able to do that, and to help our community – here in DC and more broadly – develop a positive sense of what it means to be Jewish in America today, rather than a reactive sense.
I’m constantly seeing information about antisemitism in America, and really intense information about what’s going on in Israel, and those two things are important to me and to a lot of Jews in America. It frustrates me when it’s only negative stuff when I’m thinking about my identity. I also want to know: What does it mean to be Jewish? We can bring in some different people to speak to that through the different lenses that they’ll have.
Samuel: Apart from work, what’s kept you in the DMV?
Adam: You know, all my friends moved to New York City…I’m convinced that Brooklyn is just ugly DC. Look, I can see the clouds here. I can get around in 20 minutes to wherever I want to go. DC has the best food I’ve ever eaten in my life. I can do everything I want! I’m running in Rock Creek Park. I’m playing pickleball. I’m playing chamber music with NPR journalists. It’s all here, and there’s a bunch of people trying to do good stuff. It’s cool to be a part of that. There’s cool, weird, good [stuff] happening in the city!
Samuel: What does your Jewish community look like?
Adam: When I first came to DC, I was doing the appetizer sampler of all the different organizations offering stuff, and that was a really nice way to meet a lot of friends. Then, I moved into this large group home in Mount Pleasant, and my friend was a member of DC Minyan, and he would put together these pretty big Shabbat dinners. We’d have 30 people at our house for Kabbalat Shabbat and stuff. And then I’ve always been the type of person who, if a friend was going to a Gather event, or Sixth & I, or whatever, I was tagging along.
Now, the Jewish community I have is half just friends I hang out with all the time, and half me intentionally showing up for things around the holidays and stuff. It’s pretty fluid. It ebbs and flows, which I like. I dive deeper when I want, and stay shallow when I want.
Samuel: What’s feeling alive for you Jewishly?
Adam: My grandma is getting older, she’s my last living grandparent. Sitting at the Seder table with her, she has certain things that she still remembers, and I’m wondering which traditions I want to keep. Like: orange zest on my challah. That feels very alive to me. I know it’s not traditional, but it feels very important and Jewish that I keep that idea going.
Samuel: Okay, a few quick ones to close. What’s something you’re bad at?
Adam: Explaining board games to people. I can’t take written rules and convey them. It’s so frustrating. I focus too much on the details and the one-off situation caveats.
Samuel: What’s something you’re feeling proud about?
Adam: Like all 26-year-olds who did okay in school and are now still seeking outside validation, I have signed up to run a marathon. My sister works at the Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx, and I’m going to be running on their behalf. I’m proud of myself for taking on the challenge; it’s going to be a lot of work. When you hit the runner’s high, it’s an amazing feeling. You just feel how your body is working really hard. It focuses and relaxes me, rather than stressing me out.
Samuel: You mentioned New York earlier, and I know you’re a Knicks fan. What are your hopes for them?
Adam: Big hopes. Although the road to a championship this year is just about as hard as it gets, I believe in this team!
Samuel: You’re hosting Shabbat dinner and can bring any three people. Who are you inviting?
Adam: Jacqueline du Pré – she was one of the most amazing young cellists to ever live. She passed away really young. Every time I listen to her I get the chills, and I would love to pick her brain about playing the cello because I love classical music. Then, I want Nathan Fielder at my table. He’d be an interesting mind to be there. And then let’s have the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks. I feel like he’d be epic at a Shabbat table, and I used to like his podcast.
Samuel: Last one. Finish the sentence: When Jews of the DMV gather…
Adam: There is wine, there is singing, there’s too many bagels (though not at the same event). And we’re making our parents happy by hanging out with a bunch of Jews.
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