Weekly Round-up August 5-9

Dear Colleagues,

The situation in the Middle East remains extraordinarily unstable as Israel waits to see if Iran and Hezbollah will make good on their threats to retaliate in a massive way for the assassination on Iranian soil of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, along with the killing of Hezbollah chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Major US airlines have canceled flights to Israel, while some trip providers have curtailed trips. 

Earlier this week, our Israel Emergency Response Committee allocated almost $20 million to help prepare for a possible escalation in the war and to continue supporting tens of thousands of Israelis who are coping with the terrible impact of 10 months of war. Meanwhile, our historic Israel Emergency Campaign continues to break records, now reaching a total of $851 million, as you will see in our new allocations report, which includes information about our latest round of grants. See the coverage in Ynet and eJP of what we have accomplished. 

We are so grateful that, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of our Federation community, we were able to meet this moment so meaningfully and effectively. Our team is fast-tracking efforts to identify further opportunities to respond to the unprecedented challenges that Israel still faces.

You can use this marketing toolkit to share our latest Israel Emergency Fund Impact Report and the accompanying video with the generous supporters in your communities who have made this work possible. To learn more about the October 7th attacks and its aftermath, please be sure to read Gil Troy's comprehensive guide.

For a review of this week’s events relating to Israel, see yesterday’s Israel Update and Community Mobilization Center Dispatch.

As a reminder, our new weekly series focused on the situation on campus is on Thursdays from 2 to 2:30 pm ET. Please sign up here; registration is required, but you are welcome to share the links with others in your community. This week’s call focused on the standards that we and other major Jewish organizations have urged universities to adopt to protect the safety of their Jewish students. 

We are pleased to share an updated toolkit to support your planning of October 7th community-wide commemorations as well as resources to communicate Federation impact in Israel over the past year. Please make sure to visit the toolkit for the latest assets that have been added, including new speaker suggestions, invitation templates, photos and more.

Stay tuned as we will also soon release a website featuring all the community-wide commemorations across the US and Canada that Federations are leading, along with recommended actions to honor the fallen and heroes, including a collective prayer for the people of Israel. Please submit your community-wide commemoration here.

Jewish Federations of North America and the National Association of Jewish Legislators (JFNA-NAJL) held a joint breakfast meeting this week at the National Conference of State Legislators in Louisville, Kentucky. The meeting was co-hosted with the Louisville Federation and the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of Louisville. We look forward to deepening our collaborations with Jewish state legislators across the country.

Aaron Kaufman, senior legislative manager at Jewish Federations, published a powerful op-ed this week in The Hill that urged Congress to pass the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, which would enable people with disabilities to better afford their care and living expenses.

As reported in ejP this week, Jewish Federations and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies have launched a $3.7 million program to train emergency response teams in community centers in northern Israel. The initiative is being run by IsraAid and the Israeli Association of Community Centers.

For additional updates and reminders, please see below.

General Assembly 2024: Please remember to register for the 2024 General Assembly, taking place from November 10 - 12, 2024 in Washington, DC, which will focus on the most important and timely issues facing our communities in North America and around the world. To learn more and register, please visit generalassembly.org or check out the FAQs. If you have questions or are looking for additional information to support your recruitment efforts, please contact Adina Schwartz.

Rosh Hashanah Toolkit: Rosh Hashanah is just around the corner! Inspire your community to imagine a brighter future together with our marketing toolkit, including engaging social media posts, a stirring video that celebrates unity and hope, and a direct mail letter to spark meaningful conversations and drive donations.

Secure Community Network (SCN) High Holiday Webinars: “Securing the Synagogue,” the first installment in this year’s series of High Holiday webinars on safety will take place on Thursday, August 15 from 2 to 3:30 pm ET. Register here and see the full schedule here.

Creating a Culture of Candor and Safety: This workshop for senior leaders will take place on Tuesday, August 20 from 1 to 2:30 pm ET. It will be led by workplace climate expert Fran Sepler, who will offer both practical guidance and Federation-focused case studies. Please register here and read more about the session here.

Revenue Survey: Every year, Federations complete a Revenue Survey. This allows us to benchmark Federation revenues, and to capture our system’s collective financial impact. Another way we use this data is to calculate the dues amounts for Federations.  Dues payments make up a significant portion of our operating budget and enable us to support local Federations in building flourishing Jewish communities. Join a webinar on Friday, August 23 at 1:30 pm ET to learn more about this process and how we use this data.

Leading Edge Guides: Leading Edge has just released two new guides —  one for board members and one for board chairs. These cover all the essentials of how to be an effective board member and how to be an effective board chair. Please share them with the lay leaders in your community.

Overview of Professional Development Opportunities: We offer Jewish Federation professionals across North America opportunities to learn and grow. Please review our robust schedule of upcoming programs. Bookmark the page and check back often as new ones are added weekly!

Sullam Israel Residency: Taglit Birthright Israel Onward, in partnership with M², brings you the Sullam Israel Residency, a new professional development opportunity for Jewish community professionals in the early stages of their careers. The program is a month-long, immersive program based in Tel Aviv. For more information, email Rebecca Zuck Sowers.

Reverse Tashlich: Repair the Sea—Tikkun haYam invites you and your communities to sign up for the 7th Annual Reverse Tashlich on Sunday, September 29.  Reverse Tashlich raises awareness in the Jewish community about aquatic environmental threats by organizing people to extract plastic and other debris from the water. A complete program guide will be provided to participating communities. Last year, over 4,000 people from 23 countries removed about 12 tons of debris.

As a final note, please use this corrected link for the Interfaith Action Resource Guide that was sent out last week.

Shabbat Shalom,

Shira Hutt
Executive Vice President
Jewish Federations of North America

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Weekly Round-up August 12-16

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Weekly Round-up July 29-Aug 2