A few weeks ago, I sat in the dining hall at Camp Livingston with Rini Levy, our Campaign Chair; Sherri Symson, our Board Chair; and David Harris, our Chief Development Officer. Lunch was winding down. Then hundreds of kids began singing Birkat HaMazon, the blessing after meals, pounding the…
It's the beginning of June, and this is one of my favorite stretches of the Federation calendar. We just capped the year with our 130th Annual Meeting on May 20. Our 2025-2026 annual campaign officially closed on Sunday. We just welcomed our new 2026-2027 board.
Now we take a moment to paus…
Spring may be off to a chilly start. But inside, we've created some of the warmest rooms I can remember.
Two days ago, a ballroom at Music Hall had no empty seats. Every Lion of Judah in Cincinnati who could be there was there. I've never felt more appreciative to be part of it.
We were …
For the last couple of years, my family has gone to my cousin Ann’s house for Passover. I love it. Three generations around the same table, doing the same thing our ancestors did. My dad leads the Seder on the first night. Because he’s done this for so many years, it's a little more abbrevia…
Photo: Home Front Command responds to the deadly missile strike in Beit Shemesh. Courtesy: Israel Defense Forces.
The war with Iran has escalated significantly since I wrote to you on Sunday. Hezbollah has joined the conflict. Iran is striking back across the region, hitting Israel, US base…
While we were sleeping on a warm, spring-like Shabbat evening, the Armed Forces of the United States, together with the Israel Defense Forces, launched a highly coordinated military operation against Iran to end the existential threat the Iranian regime has posed to Israel, and the broader t…
The world was loud last week. And in the middle of it, I was standing in a quiet room in Mexico City, watching teenagers lead a Holocaust remembrance ceremony. The Shinshinim, young Israeli emissaries, stood beside them. The room was still. Jewish memory, passing forward to the next generati…
My word this year is mindful. Barely three weeks in, it's already being tested.
Iran. Minneapolis. Venezuela. The headlines are difficult to read.
Some of you have reached out wondering why we haven't said anything. Others are asking us to stay focused on Jewish needs here.
Many are s…
This time of year always makes me reflective. I look back at the year behind us and ask what we’ve carried. And what we’ve built together.
Last January, after a heavy 2024, I chose light as my guiding word. I didn’t know how much this year would ask of us, or how often we would have to ch…
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 Federation…
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, we sh…
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 that c…
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 stay …
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 pandemic, to …
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 Ohio t…
