I have recently returned from the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) annual General Assembly (GA) in Washington, D.C., where Tidewater had a strong delegation of both lay leaders and United Jewish Federation of Tidewater professional staff. We joined more than 2,000 Jewish leaders from across North America, and beyond, and returned home more inspired, engaged, and motivated!
The GA opened in a powerful fashion, as former hostages Noa Argamani, Avinatan Or, Evyatar David, and Guy Gilboa-Dalal shared their emotional stories of survival against the odds during their captivity by Hamas. They also expressed deep appreciation to the North American Jewish community for our unwavering support of them and their families, as well as our non-stop advocacy for their release. They spoke movingly about their hopes for the future and the need for unity.”
Throughout the GA, speakers emphasized the importance of unity and resilience in combating the most serious challenges we face, particularly the rise in antisemitism and the growing influence of social media in pushing dangerous antisemitic narratives. JFNA has made a commitment to help our communities on the front lines of fighting antisemitism and bolstering civic engagement to build strong alliances needed to fight this hatred.
Community security remains a top priority of the Federation system, as it does in Tidewater. We continue to raise funds to support our security initiatives through our Annual Campaign, directed gifts/grants, and through both state and federal funding to safeguard our Jewish institutions and community.
Jewish communities around North America are also focused on increased engagement in Jewish community programming, another trend we continue to experience in Tidewater.
Nationally, Jewish Federations have pivoted from the immediate crisis response/emergency campaigns to the launch of “Rebuild Israel” initiatives, focusing on mental health, physical rebuilding, and support for displaced families. The plan involves leveraging existing partnerships with communities and strengthening these collaborations. For our Tidewater Jewish community, this includes elevating our impact through the programs we support which directly assist humanitarian and social needs, via our overseas partners including the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI), and World ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation and Training), as well as in children’s villages in Israel such as Neve Michael and Kfar Silver, and other programs.
As Annie Sandler, JDC president, said from the main stage, “We know that it’s a long road to recovery that will be long and difficult in Israel, where loss, trauma, and displacement have touched every corner of society. JDC continues to rebuild lives. Since October 7, JDC has helped more than 1 million of the hardest hit Israelis.”
Finally, this year’s scholar-in-residence, Senior Rabbi Angela Buchdahl of Central Synagogue in New York City, provided framing from Jewish tradition throughout the GA. She concluded the gathering by sharing how inspired she was by the power of our Jewish family and conveying that it will take all of us –Federations, synagogues, agencies, and more, to move forward in our efforts to accomplish our collective goals. “But I know we will,” Rabbi Buchdahl said, “because we are strong, we are proud, we choose life. Am Yisrael Chai.”
Our Tidewater Jewish community is strong, engaged, and moving forward every day to build, support, and protect the Jewish people in Tidewater and in communities around the world.
As we celebrate Hanukkah, may we continue to shine bright as a community,
Betty Ann Levin
Executive vice president/CEO