David Harris
Why Super Sunday is Important to Our Family
With Super Sunday—April 2—fast approaching, I sat down with David and Amy Weiskopf to learn more about their involvement with Cincinnati’s largest annual Jewish community phone-a-thon. David and Amy are cochairing Super Sunday along with their children, Kate, age 9, and Zach, age 6. —Danielle
Danielle: Why is Super Sunday important to your family, and why did you agree to chair it?
David: Our trip to Israel last summer was certainly the catalyst. If you had asked me a year ago if I would be interested in travelling to Israel, I would have answered with a definitive no. In fact, after our wedding, my in-laws had offered a free trip to Israel for my wife Amy and me, and I politely declined. It wasn’t until I gathered more information about the Cincinnati Community Mission to Israel that I changed my mind, viewing it as an exciting adventure to be shared with my family and other members of the Jewish community.
Seeing Israel with so many from our community and my family was life-changing. I felt a new sense of home in Israel and a new feeling of pride for this beautiful country. Since the trip, my family and I have made a concerted effort to get more involved in Jewish community events.
Amy: [Laughing] David had absolutely no interest in visiting Israel—ever! Even with the generous grant being offered by Federation and the Foundation, it still took personal discussions with Rabbi Thomashow, Rabbi Kamrass, and Barb Miller to get him to even consider it. However, on the last day of the trip, David stunned me. Despite the crazy pace and lack of sleep, David turned to me and said, “Why don’t we look into renting a place in Tel Aviv for a month next summer so we can see all of Israel at our own pace?” He now jokingly refers to himself as a converted Israeli advocate as he has been telling his friends and colleagues about how incredible the country is.
David and our children still talk about our journey almost daily. And this trip has helped foster a love for Israel, its history, and a desire to understand its place in the modern world in our daughter, who’s a third-grader—when I was in third grade I was concerned mainly with Cabbage Patch Kids and Smurfs.
David: So we are very happy to be chairing this year’s Super Sunday. We can’t think of a better way to say thank you to the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati and the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati than by volunteering our time, together as a family, to raise support for our community. I know that the mission trip to Israel would not have been possible without the help of these two institutions, and I am happy to contribute in any way that I can so that someday soon another family might be lucky enough to have a similar experience in Israel.
It is a first to have Super Sunday cochaired by an entire family, including the children. Why did you decide to be cochairs as a family?
Amy: Kate and Zach have a strong sense of Jewish identity. They are extremely proud of and vocal about their Jewish heritage. This is a little strange for me as I had always been self-conscious about being Jewish when I was young. They have changed how David and I connect to our own Judaism and to Jewish Cincinnati.
For example, our very first evening in Jerusalem was on a Friday night. During our Shabbat service, Rabbi Kamrass asked the congregants to think of just one word to describe our trip. Throughout the service, he would call on people as they raised their hand. Kate, who is barely four feet tall, couldn’t be seen although she was straining for the rabbi to call on her. Finally, after some prodding from her father, Kate got the courage to go to the aisle so Rabbi Kamrass could see her. He called on her and asked what one word best describes your journey so far. And Kate said, “Home.” David was moved to tears, as were a few others. Having straddled two cities for three years, it took a 6,000-mile journey and our daughter’s insight to discover that we were home. We were where we were supposed to be with the people we were meant to be with.
For that we are truly grateful, and so we wanted to empower them and show them they could make a difference in Cincinnati’s Jewish community. Also, we thought it might inspire other families with younger kids to come out and join the fun.
Any last words?
David: It’s so important for people to help: they can volunteer for Super Sunday by making phone calls or participating in other ways, or be sure to answer the call and make a donation on April 2. We need everyone on board.
Amy: Super Sunday this year is also unique because we have a delegation from Israel coming for what I’ve been told is the first time ever—eighth graders from Netanya, on an exchange through Rockwern and Partnership2Gether. Also [smiling], we are hoping to achieve our financial goal, and we are on track for, and hoping for, the most volunteers ever.
[As we ended, I got the opportunity to ask their daughter Kate a question:] Why do you want to help with Super Sunday with your family?
Kate: They helped us by letting us go on this amazing trip so I feel like we should help them by saying thank you and giving back. My Mimi and Papa [Stuart and Terry Susskind] always talk about doing at least one mitzvah a day, and this will be my mitzvah that day.
To volunteer for the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s Super Sunday, sign up at jewishcincinnati.org/supersunday.
