From the President: Celebrating the rich diversity of our communities

This issue of ELEVATE comes to you after four months of wonderful holidays — and we celebrate them all at 2Life. This is one of the many ways we appreciate the diversity of our residents and the richness that brings to our communities. And this year, for the first time, we have a full-time director of spiritual life who has been remarkably successful at drawing residents from all faiths and backgrounds into these celebrations — whether celebrating Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year; the Chinese Harvest Moon Festival; Thanksgiving; Hanukkah; Christmas; Winter Solstice; Diwali; New Year’s Day (particularly important to folks from Russian-speaking countries); or the Chinese New Year.

So how does this fit with our identity as a Jewish organization? Swimmingly! Our Jewish roots provide us with a collective memory of “otherness” that we cannot abide for anyone — especially since we see all people as holders of the Divine spark. Therefore, because we are a Jewish organization, we welcome, respect, and learn from all cultures and traditions, and take joy in finding our underlying common values and elements. Our core values derive from Jewish tradition and guide us in our day-to-day living:

• Honor thy mother and father (kavod), which we see as a collective enterprise.
• Love the stranger, as you were once strangers in the land of Egypt (achrayut).
• Work in multiple dimensions in repair of the world (tikkun olam).
• Share across generations (l’dor vador).
• Respect the wisdom of our elders (zakein).

These values provide the framework for our mission to provide every older adult with the opportunity to age in community, living a full life of connection and purpose in a dynamic, supportive environment. And we do this with a laser-sharp focus on affordability, going where the need is greatest and where the market fails. In addition to celebrating diverse cultures within our communities, our values drive us to expand into new geographic areas, after carefully listening to and learning about the unique desires of that community. Our cover story for this issue of ELEVATE introduces you to one of our new projects, Olmsted Village. This marks our first community in Mattapan and presents an exciting opportunity to bring multigenerational programming into our work through the Treehouse development and an on-site daycare. This is truly a new reason to celebrate!

May you enjoy all the wonders of the entire holiday season!