Cheryl Rattner Price

In my early life, I was not very Jewishly engaged.

When our daughters began attending SDJA, I was given the honorary position as Artist in Residence and tasked with some challenging programs to lead. My life took a new direction which allowed for art and Jewish learning, to be seamlessly combined with community art making. Together in 2003, with 200 families, educators, and rabbis, we created a 10-foot free-standing Menorah sculpture, the emblem of the school.

In 2006, I became co-founder of The Butterfly Project, a grass-roots-gone-global program using ceramic butterflies to memorialize the 1.5 million children who were killed in the Holocaust. This work deeply impacted my life and deepened my Jewish identity. My grandparents came to this country around 1914, proud to be Jewish but eager to forget their lives in Austria and Romania and become Americans. After becoming a parent, I wanted to find a way to transmute the trauma of our collective painful history and somehow develop a sense of joy in being Jewish. I feel an obligation to bring a spark of hope and include ourselves in the joy of this holy work in order to uplift and repair the world.

I am proud to have served as a Board Member of the AJE and the CJC and to serve on committees with Jewish Federation of San Diego County, plus special projects with Jewish Family Service and the ADL.

I realized the time is now to give back to the community that has so supported us. I am grateful to be able to step out and show the power of Tzedakah to my daughters, Emily and Julia.

L’Dor v’Dor… as we work together to make a difference and to build a more vibrant community.