L’Dor V’Dor: How the J Shapes Lives Across Generations

The Pozez JCC of Northern Virginia is the kind of place where time folds in on itself. Where past, present, and future share rooms and hallways. Where belonging can and does stretch across decades and generations. Where preschoolers play with blocks and seniors play card games, all in a shared space.

For some families, the J is part of their story.

It certainly is for the Chabrows.

When Andrea Chabrow walked into the J’s old building as a young adult who was new to the area, she wasn’t looking for a legacy. She’d moved to Virginia for a teaching job and was already thinking about returning to New Jersey. A friend suggested she check out the J’s young adult programs to feel a little more at home.

What she didn’t expect was Michael. She met him in the J’s summer volleyball league, and at first, she wasn’t that impressed.

“He wasn’t really my type, but I had a friend who was interested in him, so of course that made me interested, too,” she remembers.

But then came the dinner with friends, the unexpected warmth, and the moment he showed up at her door helping her move on a rainy day, carrying flowers so drenched that all their petals had fallen off. Something shifted. And from that shift grew a marriage, a family, and a story that would eventually return to the J again and again.

Decades later, their son Bryan found his way back to Northern Virginia after years in Los Angeles. With his wife Sarah and their children Levi, 4, and Olive, 6 months, he returned seeking something familiar — family support, more space, and a sense of community.

They toured a number of preschools, but the J stood out. Levi was already used to a JCC preschool in Los Angeles, and when they walked into the Early Childhood Learning Center (ECLC) in Fairfax, something clicked.

“We really wanted a place with community,” Bryan says. “Somewhere people actually get to know each other.”

Now Levi is thriving there, and Bryan finds himself in the fitness center regularly, learning to work out in a space that feels welcoming rather than intimidating. The J, once the setting of his parents’ love story, has become the place where he builds new memories with his own children.

“It’s nice that it’s a place that has special memories for my parents and that will also have special memories for Levi,” he notes.

The Adler family’s story stretches even further back, woven tightly into the very origins of the J itself.

Laura Adler, today the Pozez JCC’s Senior Director of Marketing and Communications, grew up watching the J evolve because her parents, Dotty and Al Fuchsman, were among those who helped create it. In the early years, her father served on the board, her mother worked on the staff fundraising to make the building possible, and they both worked on various committees for decades.

“I remember licking envelopes at the J’s office on Dorr Avenue and helping with mailings as a kid,” she recalls. “It’s always felt natural to me to be involved with the J and to help build the Jewish community in Northern Virginia.”

Her brother, Michael, was among the first to go to Camp Achva in 1969, back when the camp had only a handful of kids. Laura and her older brother eventually became campers too, and then all three were counselors. It felt like a natural progression when she joined the J’s board as an adult, then joined the staff in 2007.

When Laura and her husband, David, had children, it was important to them that they grew up at the J to feel the same comfort in the Jewish community that they did. The kids attended preschool, participated in after-school programs, spent summers at Camp Achva, and later returned as staff. Until last year, Ilana (now 33) served as the Assistant Director and Family Support Specialist of Pozez JCC’s Sunrise Day Camp.

For Laura, walking into the building feels like stepping into a living scrapbook. She sees the faces of people who are friends of her parents, watched her grow up, and celebrated milestones with her children.

“I feel so at home here, and so does my family. This sense of belonging to this community, the J family, it’s been a constant in our lives.”

What makes the Chabrows’ and the Adlers’ stories remarkable is how seamlessly the J holds these generations together. It’s a place where a preschool class might walk through the lobby on their way to the gym, waving to seniors playing Mah Jongg. Where a young parent can meet new friends who become lifelong companions. Where families who arrived decades apart find themselves connected through shared experiences and shared values.

As Laura puts it, “The J is truly a home for all generations. Through the dedication of our staff and the reach of our programs, we hope that everyone who engages with the J, no matter their age or background, feels welcomed and part of a large, vibrant Jewish family.”

Behind every one of these stories — every wedding that began with a volleyball game, every preschooler’s first challah, every memory made at Camp Achva, every senior who finds connection over coffee — are donors who made it all possible. Their generosity is the quiet engine that keeps the J thriving. They ensure the ECLC can nurture children like Levi, the fitness center can welcome adults like Bryan, and the J can create camps, classes, and celebrations that support families just beginning their Jewish journeys as well as those whose roots stretch back decades.

A gift to the J sustains a community where stories like the Chabrows’ and the Adlers’ can unfold, a community where people of all ages feel welcome, and where legacy shapes the future.