As the pandemic zooms away in our collective rear-view window (pun intended), I keep getting exciting emails from friends like: “Vaccinated? Let's grab lunch or coffee soon?”

I disappointedly respond: “How about we meet up on Zoom?”

“Box seats at the Dodgers? Knicks in the playoffs at the Garden? You in? Post-COVID is HERE!”

Sorry, maybe in a few weeks.

“Oh, are you an anti-vaxxer?”

No, I just tore up my knee at exactly the wrong time. A few weeks ago, I somehow ripped some ligaments, had knee surgery, and I am now relegated to our couch for the next three weeks. So while everyone else is ripping off their masks like they’re Nicholas Cage in Face/Off, I’m the last man on Zoom. Maybe I should just date my emails 2020?

It’s frustrating being stuck on the couch when everyone else is finally getting out. At least during quarantine I could get up and out every once in a while or find a private space to work, but now I’m literally stuck. At first, I felt like I was in a hostage crisis--except my captors were our five amazing daughters, the food was a lot better, and the preferred method of torture was constant inescapable DMCs (Deep Meaningful Conversations).

After a few days of wallowing, I remembered a quote from Viktor Frankl that meant a lot to me: “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” I then made the brave decision to embrace my pathetic condition, swallow my pride, and go full steam ahead booking as many Zoom meetings as my schedule allows.

When faced with unprecedented challenges in life, we just can't run away. We must confront them head on.

This June will be our organization's 10th birthday. It also couples as my 10th anniversary of being CEO of a nonprofit. I’ve never felt stuck or held hostage doing this job and I’m loving every second of it through good times and bad. When faced with an unimaginable pandemic shutdown this past school year, not only did our organization refuse to scale back --we doubled down and expanded our Jewish programming from 67 to soon-to-be 100 grad campuses.

And as anti-Semitism on campus now rears its ugly head, JGSI is leading from the front-- empowering our students to stand up for their community and heritage and strengthen their Jewish pride. While many instinctively may want to avoid displaying their Jewishness these days, we’re not running away. We refuse to bow to anti-Semites by hiding our identity.

Stuck in the living room or not, I’m ready to confront whatever challenges our organization and Jewish community face--head on. See you back on Zoom :)