A mother from Kfar Aza.
A pastor from Youngstown.
A divorced Jewish mom trying to keep the lights on.
Those stories are still in my head from last week’s General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) in Washington, where lay and professional leaders from 141 Federat…
It’s been a full couple of weeks. Pantry lines. Freshly scrubbed sidewalks. A packed room learning to argue together. Talent work with our partner agencies. This is how we show up.
…This is the rhythm of community.
We mobilize.
SNAP remains in the headlines. When safety nets wobble, …
Rosh Hashanah calls us to begin again. To pause, reflect, and ask what kind of world we want to create in the year ahead.
I think about our community as a circle, continuous and unbroken. Past generations built it wide enough to include us. And today, it’s our responsibility to keep tha…
Some weeks, the headlines feel heavier than others. In those moments, I’m talking with Federation colleagues across the country and people like you about what we’re all hearing and seeing. And in every conversation, the thread is the same: it’s hard to sort truth from noise, the images…
There’s a saying—often said in Jewish tradition: plant trees whose shade you may never sit in.
That instinct—to build something lasting, even if the benefit comes later—is part of who we are.
But over the past few years, the world has pushed us into a different mode. From a pan…
I flew home from Washington last night—tired, grateful, and more certain than ever: showing up matters.
More than 400 Jewish leaders from 100 communities gathered in DC—from New York and Los Angeles to Cincinnati—for an emergency advocacy mission on Capitol Hill. It was important for …
Wednesday night was a reminder of the highs and lows we experience as a community. Two very different things happened—and together, they defined the night.
At 7 PM, I stood in front of more than 300 community members at our 129th Annual Meeting. I had just come from our Sustainers Gathe…
Lately, it feels like we’re not just moving through time—we’re shaping it. The air is warming, birds are chirping—and in our community, there’s been a different kind of energy: focused, reflective.
Listening to Our Overseas Partners
Our partners from American Joint Distr…
This year, as I prepare for Passover, it feels different. Not just a time to retell our story, but a moment to recognize how close the story of Pharaoh and Moses feels to the world we’re living in now.
We are not enslaved. But many of us feel unsettled. Uncertain. Not yet free.
It’…
Like you, I find the weight of recent events in Israel difficult to carry alone.
This Wednesday, we mourned, as the bodies of four hostages were returned to Israel from Hamas. Itzik Elgarat z”l, Tsahi Idan z”l, Shlomo Mantzur z”l, and Ohad Yahalomi z”l were the final hostages retu…
Returning to Israel is always powerful, but this trip was different. It was not just a visit; it was a homecoming to a land that has shaped so much of my identity and purpose. I first fell in love with Israel decades ago during my time in the OTZMA program, and though I have returned nearl…
Each year, I choose a word that reflects my goals, both personally and professionally. Light is my guiding word in 2025. For me, 2024 was heavy—so my intention this year is to focus on light, a single word that encourages me to approach life’s challenges with greater ease and clari…
Dear friends,
This year, our community has faced extraordinary challenges—and embraced extraordinary opportunities. In the wake of October 7, we’ve witnessed a remarkab…
