2013-05-22T23:02:24-04:00 Jerry Silverman http://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/index.php?author=jerry-silverman Copyright 2008, HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. HuffingtonPost Blogger Feed for Jerry Silverman Good old fashioned elbow grease. tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2012:/theblog//3.2253136 2012-12-10T11:36:33-05:00 2012-12-10T11:47:00-05:00

Jerry Silverman http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-silverman/ General Assembly (GA) of The Jewish Federations of North America. Each year, the GA helps re-energize our community around the federations' timeless mission: to care for people in need at home, in Israel and around the world, and to nurture and sustain our community for the future.

Just as importantly, the GA showcases how federations are taking our commitment to chesed, chinuch and clal Yisrael -- charity, education and Jewish unity -- and innovating and collaborating with scores of community organizations to drive a huge collective impact in more than 70 countries worldwide. In our continued efforts to evaluate the GA and our work, and to raise the bar, we welcome and learn from the constructive feedback we receive. Our goal is to inspire our community, and create and foster the dialogue we need to grow.

I have the privilege of seeing federations in action every day. I've visited more than 115 communities, and learned how federations are evolving in a rapidly shifting world. In Detroit, the federation is helping the next generation create social change through a new micro-grant program called Do it for Detroit. In Los Angeles, the federation's new Next Gen Engagement Initiative is convening Jewish organizational professionals who manage programming and engagement for Jews in their 20s and 30s. In San Francisco, the federation is empowering Jewish teens to run their own nonprofits and become strategic grant-makers. And in Boston, Combined Jewish Philanthropies launched Israel 360, a forum to educate the community and foster conversation about Israel.

Federation innovations are addressing a range of communal needs, from offering gift vouchers that make Jewish preschool and daycare more affordable in Chicago, to providing training for the many Jews who remain unemployed and seek to re-enter the job market in New York. Across the country, federations are partnering with P.J. Library to offer Jewish books for young families. Federations are supporting Taglit-Birthright Israel, which has sent 300,000 young people to Israel, and with the Jewish Agency's MASA are providing in-depth Israel experience programs. Federations are also working with a range of vibrant and creative newer initiatives geared to younger Jews like Moishe House, PresentTense and Hazon.

Even as they continue to change, federations and their partners are still pursuing the critical, life-saving and life-enhancing mission they've followed for generations. In our own communities, you only have to see the communal experiences of JCCs, the advocacy of JCRCs and the identity-building work of Hillel on hundreds of college campuses to sense the power of our partnerships.

In Eastern Europe, and throughout the FSU, federations support critical projects of partners like the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to help rebuild Jewish life once close to extinction, and ORT, which provides technology-driven education to younger Jews.

Significantly, the GA was marked by two events that underscored how Jewish federations have rapidly addressed dramatic challenges. In the days before the GA, federations raised $5 million to help the New York area respond to Hurricane Sandy. Then, even as the GA ended, federations raised $5 million to help more than a million people in southern Israel face life under fire.

At the GA we heard many stories of federation impact. At one plenary, we saw a historic dialogue between Elie Wiesel and Natan Sharansky, who spoke on the 25th anniversary of the march on Washington for Soviet Jewry that federations helped mobilize, and looked at contemporary Russian Jewry as well.

Meanwhile, the GA itself is evolving. The Baltimore GA featured 55 distinct sessions, from non-traditional topics like "How to transform your community through Jewish environmentalism" to Israel-focused issues such as "Israel's democracy in the headlines: perceptions and realities" to more practical matters, like "Shifting sands: the volunteer-professional leadership relationship in the age of accountability." In fact many GA sessions provide the kind of tangible content federations seek -- tools and models participants can apply locally.

The GA is shifting in other ways, partnering with leading figures to provide thought leadership. For the past few years the GA has featured the Jewish Futures Conference, collaborating with JESNA, the Jewish Education Project and UJA-Federation of New York. The Jewish Futures Conference gathers visionary thinkers on Jewish education, and features sessions like "Legacy vs. Innovation: A False Dichotomy?"

This year's GA also ushered in ELI Talks, a collaborative venture with the Avi Chai Foundation, a Jewish version of the popular TED Talks. ELI Talks offered 13 inspiring sessions on topics from student empowerment in the start-up nation to connecting Jewishly while doing Haiti relief work. Other exciting new events at the GA included a mini-conference on tikkun olam, with Israel's Reut Institute and the Alliance for Global Good, which called on our community to help the world's 24 million disadvantaged people in a decade. The forum highlighted how such important work, however, can only happen with communal collaboration and leverage.

For more than a century, Jewish federations have done just that, leveraging key partnerships to create the greatest collective impact. Every year, the GA showcases that incredible collective power, even as we build on our core values.

Spurred by our commitment to Clal Yisrael, we began convening the GA in Israel every five years. We hope you will join us at the 2013 GA in Jerusalem when we will create an open-tent dialogue to foster and deepen the diaspora-Israel connection and to continue to challenge ourselves to build our global community for the future.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.1161142 2011-12-25T22:00:32-05:00 2012-02-24T05:12:02-05:00

Jerry Silverman http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-silverman/
Yet, you don't need to look to centuries past in order to celebrate miracles today. In our own time, every day, Jews are achieving new miracles, great and small, and this Chanukah we celebrate their inspiring leadership.

These past five months, the Jewish community has helped shine a light on our own contemporary community heroes. For the third year in a row, the Jewish Federations of North America sponsored the Jewish Community Heroes Awards, a national online contest that recognizes and promotes selfless acts of kindness.

This year, over 300 people nationwide were nominated for making the world a better place. Over the course of three months, the Jewish Heroes contest generated over 230,000 votes, with many voters also encouraging others to participate and thereby further raising awareness of these modern-day Jewish Heroes.

The nominees themselves were simply inspiring. Whether they were creating jobs in the community, leading birthright trips with local universities, or simply helping others through troubled times, the nominees helped shine a light on incredible stories of heroism.

After months of public voting and a review by a panel of judges, Randy Gold of Atlanta, GA, was named this year's Jewish Community Hero and the recipient of a $25,000 grant. Randy and his wife, Caroline, founded the Atlanta Jewish Gene Screen back in 2010, after they discovered their second child, Eden, was diagnosed with Mucolipidosis Type IV, a preventable Jewish genetic disease. Jewish couples are required to go through pre-natal screening, but they were surprised to learn that they were only screened for eight of a possible 19 known diseases.

This experience with their daughter fueled their motivation to found the Atlanta Jewish Gene Screen. This organization creates awareness and educates rabbis, doctors and Jewish couples on the importance of genetic counseling and screening for preventable and life-threatening disorders commonly present in Jewish families. Their work so far has increased pre-natal screenings in Atlanta by an incredible 400 percent. They aim to one day have screening for all 19 Jewish genetic diseases as the standard medical practice for Jewish couples worldwide, so no one has to experience what they went through.

Heroes judge, actress and former star of Blossom, Mayim Bialik, said, "What Randy has done is lay the groundwork for changing the way Jewish people understand and create future generations with our genetics. Randy is literally taking one life and turning it into generations and generations of simchas as numerous as the stars of the sky!"

The Heroes grant is intended to help the Hero expand their work even further, touch more lives, and continue their efforts. Last year, Jay Feinberg was named the Jewish Community Hero for his work to found a Jewish bone marrow registry. After being diagnosed with cancer, Jay soon learned that a patient's best chance of finding a genetic match lies with those of similar ethnic background. There was an urgent need to add diversity to the registry, and time was of the essence. Jay went on to found the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation and it has been a great success since. Since becoming the 2010 Hero, Jay had been able to use the grant to make life-saving matches between five people with cancer and suitable bone marrow donors.

Along with this year's Hero, four finalists were also named, and their work highlights the diversity of the work that the Jewish Community Heroes Awards attracts. For example, their contributions to the community ranged from Hart Levine's organization, which aims to connect Jews and enable them to build their own communities across the Shabbat table, to Shana Erenberg's efforts to bring Jewish Special Education to the forefront in Chicago. The work of the other finalists, Jenine Shwekey and Tessa Gerall, are also examples of the selfless deeds Jews perform every day.

During Chanukah, as we celebrate timeless bravery and miracles, let us take a moment to recognize heroism and miracles in our time by thanking every one of this year's Jewish Community Heroes. As they each share the spirit of tikkun olam -- repair of the world -- they are all heroes, bringing light to darkness and leading the way for others to follow.]]> tag:www.huffingtonpost.com,2011:/theblog//3.868181 2011-05-29T08:25:05-04:00 2011-07-29T05:12:01-04:00

Jerry Silverman http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-silverman/
All four chaplains died together after giving their lifejackets to save others on board. Survivors of the attack witnessed the four praying together as the ship went down in the icy waters. Yet the names of only three of these fallen heroes are presently memorialized on Chaplain's Hill at Arlington National Cemetery. In fact, none of the 13 Jewish chaplains who have died in service to our country are listed on the three chaplains' monuments in our nation's most sacred resting place.

For 150 years now, Jewish chaplains have been serving alongside chaplains of other faiths to provide pastoral support to America's servicemen, servicewomen, and their families. Catholic chaplains guide Jewish soldiers and Jewish chaplains guide Protestant sailors. They all work together to support the spiritual needs of our military. Yet they are not all together on Chaplain's Hill.

The Jewish Federations have been working with the JWB Jewish Chaplains Council and many dedicated community partners to correct this omission, erect a Jewish chaplains monument alongside the Protestant and Catholic monuments at Chaplains Hill, and reunite the memory Rabbi Alexander Goode with his fellow chaplains who died on board the Dorchester in 1943.

Individuals and veterans' organizations quickly raised the funds to erect a proper memorial on Chaplain's Hill. But we could not lay one stone until Congress passed a measure to authorize the placement of the memorial.

As we continue to celebrate Jewish American Heritage Month and look forward to Memorial Day weekend, I'm thrilled to announce that both the House of Representatives and Senate have voted unanimously approve the new monument. Congressman Anthony Weiner and Senator Chuck Schumer deserve our gratitude for introducing the resolutions, and Chairman Jeff Miller and Chairman Patty Murray have displayed great leadership in advancing the memorial through the legislative process.

After the many hurdles we have cleared together, there is only one more to go before visitors to Arlington will be able to pay their respects to our fallen Jewish chaplains alongside chaplains of other faiths. And we are confident the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts will give the monument a green light when they meet in June.

Our men and women serving bravely overseas are supported by military chaplains of all faiths who risk their lives to provide spiritual guidance and support to our soldiers.

As such, we must honor all of them, regardless of which faith they practice, and I look forward to personally doing so when the Jewish Chaplains Memorial is unveiled on a sacred hill in Arlington later this fall.

The 13 fallen Jewish chaplains to be honored are:

1. Nachman S. Arnoff, 47, Chicago -- died May 9, 1946
2. Meir Engel, 50, Philadelphia -- died Dec. 16, 1964
3. Frank Goldenberg, 27, Utica, N.Y. -- died May 22, 1946
4. Alexander D. Goode, 31, York, Pa. -- died Feb. 3, 1943
5. Henry Goody, 27, Greensburg, Pa. - died Oct. 19, 1943
6. Samuel Dodkin Hurwitz, 42, Phoenix, Ariz. - died Dec. 9, 1943
7. Herman L. Rosen, 42, Brooklyn, N.Y. - died June 18, 1943
8. Samuel Rosen, 48, San Antonio, Texas - died May 13, 1955
9. Solomon Rosen, 24, Brooklyn, N.Y. - died Nov. 2, 1948
10. Morton Harold Singer, 32, Great Neck, N.Y. - died Dec. 17, 1968
11. David M. Sobel, 28, Simsbury, Conn. - died March 7, 1974
12. Irving Tepper, 42, Elgin, Ill. - died Aug. 13, 1944
13. Louis Werfel, 27, Birmingham, Ala. - died Dec. 24, 1944
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Jerry Silverman http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-silverman/
As we prepare to conclude Passover, we are eager to continue involving the next generation in shaping our future. Engaging younger Jews remains a top priority at The Jewish Federations of North America, and we are looking ahead with great hope and possibility.

For more than a century, The Jewish Federations have served as a mainstay in communities across the continent, galvanizing Jews by helping our neighbors in need and preserving our collective heritage. For many Jews of my generation and my parents' generation, becoming active in the local Jewish Federation was a given. It was simply part of our proud Jewish experience.

Today, however, young Jews are faced with more ways to get involved and to shape their identity than ever and engaging directly in Jewish causes is no longer an automatic part of the Jewish journey. Young and philanthropic Jews today care about the environment, curing diseases and ending poverty in every corner of the world. These passions are admirable and continue the strong Jewish traditions of charity and concern for the world around us.

It is not The Jewish Federations' goal to be the replacement for these wonderful causes that Jewish youth are passionate about and identify with strongly. Instead, we are working to incorporate Jewish identity and heritage into the new fields that young Jews today are exploring. We are constantly on the lookout for ways to create new pathways for youth to come into the Jewish community and merge their interests with activities happening with the Federations and our hundreds of partners.

In one key step forward, last month more than 1,300 young Jews came together in a much different desert than the one our ancestors encountered during the Exodus from Egypt. This time, these young Jews united in Las Vegas in a new kind of gathering The Jewish Federations hosted called TribeFest.

To ensure TribeFest succeeded in offering an array of Jewish experiences, The Jewish Federations worked with dozens of global Jewish organizations and other partners -- Birthright Israel, Punk Jews, Chabad, Keshet, JDate, Jewlicious and even the NFL and MTV. Mayim Bialik of TV's Blossom fame was even there to describe her own incredible Jewish journey.

Jewish Federations are also exploring more ways to engage young Jews through an area in which we have a deep history -- Jewish service. We jump-started this effort at our General Assembly, which took place last year in New Orleans, as hundreds of young Jews joined dozens of hands-on service projects in the still-recovering city.

From the turnout and buzz, it's clear that young Jews want to join the Jewish community to keep giving back. We will continue to explore new opportunities to help these and more Jewish youth connect directly to the spirit of tikkun olam -- and join them in their and our missions to repair the world.
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Jerry Silverman http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-silverman/
The population in Israel is, very sadly, used to tragedy. Unfortunately, difficult and trying events seem to occur with depressing frequency. Whether it is war, acts of terror or even natural disasters, the entire country feels pain collectively.

And despite the regularity of terrible events, occasionally an event takes place that manages to shock society anew. The details of the Fogel family murders in Israel are by now well known, but have shaken the country to its very core.

On March 11, between 10:20 and 10:30PM unknown assailants, presumed to be Palestinians from a nearby village, entered the Fogel family's home in the settlement of Itamar through the living room window. They did not notice 8-year-old Ro'i sleeping on the couch and continued on to the master bedroom where they murdered the family's father, 37-year old Udi and his four month old baby Hadas, who was sleeping in her parents' bed. The mother, 35-year old Ruthy, came out of the bathroom and was also killed. The assailants then murdered the family's 11-year old-son Yoav who was reading in his bed in an adjacent room. The terrorists also missed 2-year old Yishai asleep in his bed, but brutally killed the family's 3-year old son Elad. After that, they locked the front door, exited through the window and escaped.

The family's daughter, Tamar aged 12, found her murdered family after she returned home from a local Bnei Akiva youth group activity an hour later. According to a neighbor, Tamar went into one of the rooms, and saw the horror. She then saw that her two-year-old brother who had survived, was lying next to his now deceased parents, shaking them with his hands and trying to get them to wake them up, while crying.

The shock and dismay currently being felt nation-wide is a result of the particularly brutal nature of the attacks, the tragic age of the victims and the fact that this event occurred following a recent relative lull in such incidents.

All television stations broadcast live the heart-breaking funeral-for-five, while crossing live to Japan for updates on a different disaster, on the other side of the globe.

While Israel itself is a global Jewish mosaic with many internal differences -- the country bonds deeply, and mourns collectively, when tragedy strikes. Of course this phenomenon is often reflected far wider, among the entire Jewish world. We at Jewish Federations know very well the concept of "kol Yisrael areivim" -- that the entire Jewish people share a responsibility for one another. And we have shown, repeatedly, that when there is pain in Israel, we rise to the challenge and assist our fellow Jews in whatever way we can.

The Jewish Federations-supported Fund for the Victims of Terror will be offering assistance. We have worked through the Fund, which is administered by the Jewish Agency for Israel, for over a decade providing solace to those who have suffered the worst of tragedies.

Similarly, Jewish Federations are working through our global partners to offer relief and assistance to the victims of the terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Jewish Federations responded rapidly to help, just as our movement answered the call after other disasters, such as the southeast Asia tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

Aross North America, we mourn together and share the pain of the entire Jewish people, thinking and caring about the people of Japan while sending our prayers, our love and our embrace of the three remaining children and the extended Fogel family.

Here's hoping for happier news and brighter days.
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