If you were to walk into my office, you will see two diplomas hanging on my wall. One is from Hebrew Union College, where I earned a master's degree in Jewish Communal Service (now called Jewish Nonprofit Management), and the other is from USC for my Master's in Social Work. Both degrees have helped me professionally, but over the years, I have come to realize how much I rely on my social work degree in my professional life. I have come to this realization because a lot of what I try to do is meet our community's needs – and specifically the needs of our community members – "where they are at." This is a fundamental tenet of Social Work.

I have worked extremely hard to build strong relationships, both personally and professionally, to perform my job as effectively as possible. These relationships include colleagues, community members, local elected officials, and many others. I value these relationships and try to ensure I convey a sense of appreciation for what each other brings "to the table."

One of my most profound relationships is with the former director of my graduate program at Hebrew Union College. Dr. Steven Windmueller is one of the leading American Jewish political scientists and thinkers today. I find his perspectives profound, enlightened, and often at the forefront of trends that we witness; I frequently use his writings to both motivate and inform the work I do on behalf of our community.

For the last several years, I've tried my best to articulate and share what I believe we as American Jews have been experiencing and feeling. However, in a soon-to-be-published article, Dr. Windmueller captures the essence of what I have been feeling and experiencing – something I'm pretty sure many of our community members share as well. That feeling is trying to wrap our heads around and deal with the competing values, ethics, and morals – both personal and those rooted in our faith – as they relate to everything we are witnessing around us.

Living in this moment, dealing with our own perception of our duality has left many people struggling to decide the "right" approach to respond to what we are facing. This also includes the large National Jewish organizations (i.e., Jewish Federations of North America, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee, etc.) that are often at the forefront of these fights. While we have been confronted with the rise of antisemitism and a growing hatred towards Jews before and after October 7, the current climate of both divisiveness and actions that come in conflict with how we feel all people should be treated, and the impact (and subsequent fallout) of the current war between Israel and Hamas, Windmueller postulates that we are in a moment of Jewish paralysis. And this paralysis is something we need to recognize and address.

And, as he points out, "this paralysis has profound implications. Jewish organizations struggle to articulate unified positions. Younger generations are disengaging. Long-held alliances—such as those between Jews and progressive coalitions—have been badly weakened and in some instances abandoned. The very question of what it means to be a Jew in the 21st century has become an existential question."

I know that at times it can feel bleak and that we are alone in this "internal struggle." However, as I learned in my social work program many years ago, to address a specific issue effectively, you first need to identify and label it before you can adequately address it. Now that Dr. Windmueller has helped us identify the problem, Jewish leaders, leading American Jewish organizations, and the American Jewish community as a whole can begin the complex yet essential process of working through the issue and emerging stronger on the other side.