Tag: global jewish community

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter gave a speech that described America as in a bit of a funk. Decades later, as we prepare to celebrate our country’s 250th birthday, the vibes (as the youths say) are different but once again off. There’s so much playing out on the national stage that feels discordant, absurd, and divorced from our ideals. For many, it feels like an odd time for a big celebration.

But as anyone who has ever been in a funk will tell you, you get out not by hunkering down but by building and creating. So, this semiquincentennial, rather than gloss over any conflicted feelings, I’m suggesting we go ahead and harness them. Ask not about the state of your country’s paint, but what you can do with your brush, if you will.

Jokes about the reflecting pool aside, there’s something to be said for our potential as a community to contribute to our country’s future. In a conversation with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Yehuda Kurtzer of the Shalom Hartman Institute pointed out that Jews are uniquely positioned to have an outsized impact on America’s moral trajectory. And it’s important that we honor this.

America and American Judaism have imprinted on each other. As a minority community, we have been shaped by the broader society and have invested significant energy into shaping that same society. Now is the time to lean into this legacy. Just as we must focus on building Jewish identity within our current context, we must also commit to reinforcing our national values. Strengthening America for the better must continue to be a core American Jewish undertaking—to the benefit of all.

Our desire to be part of a well-functioning, pluralistic, and democratic society also informs our work at Federation. We believe in the importance of a broad range of views across the Jewish community and across American society. We also seek to support and galvanize our community to make an impact according to Jewish tradition and values. By supporting an ecosystem that facilitates meaningful connection, discussion, and action, we are working to trigger positive changes both within our community and at scale.

There are people today who describe America as a country in decline, with the infighting and all our challenges serving as evidence that our country’s best years are behind us. But I don’t buy this. Nothing about the American story or the story of the Jewish people was ever guaranteed and yet, somehow, in every era, we have found a way to strive closer to our ideals.

Things can seem rough out there and still, it is within our power to meet our country at this crossroads and nudge it towards the core principles from the Declaration of Independence (with an important revision):

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Prepared by Jewish Federations of North America’s Israel Office
Shared by The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

On Wednesday evening, two powerful earthquakes measuring magnitudes 7.2 and 7.5 struck northern Venezuela less than a minute apart, causing widespread destruction. Search-and-rescue operations continue as emergency crews race to locate survivors trapped beneath collapsed buildings. Tragically, at least 235 deaths and more than 4,300 injuries have been confirmed, though both figures are expected to rise. Hundreds of people are verified as missing, and communications outages and extensive damage in Caracas and the coastal state of La Guaira have left tens of thousands temporarily unaccounted for with families frantically searching for loved ones. Tens of thousands have also been displaced, with many sheltering in public buildings and open spaces as aftershocks continue.

International assistance is mobilizing rapidly, although damage to Maiquetía International Airport has complicated the arrival of international rescue and humanitarian teams. The United Nations is coordinating urban search-and-rescue efforts, while the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Spain, France, Italy, and El Salvador have deployed rescue personnel, medical teams, equipment, and humanitarian supplies. Relief organizations are also providing emergency food, shelter, and medical assistance.

Impact on the Jewish Community

Nearly all of Venezuela’s approximately 3,000 Jews live in Caracas, where many buildings in Jewish neighborhoods sustained damage. Three community members have been confirmed dead, and one remains missing after the building they were in collapsed. Sadly, those numbers are expected to rise. Several community members have been left homeless, and the community is working to secure temporary housing. Despite the tragedy, community leaders report a strong sense of calm and coordination, having quickly accounted for members, assessed the needs of older adults and those experiencing anxiety, and provided appropriate support.

Our hearts are with the Jewish community of Venezuela and all those affected by these devastating earthquakes. We mourn those who lost their lives and pray for the swift recovery of everyone who has been injured.

JDC Response

JDC has maintained a longstanding presence in Venezuela through its partnership with the Jewish community, supporting a welfare and humanitarian aid network for its most vulnerable members. JDC was in contact with community leadership within minutes of the earthquake and remains in close communication to assess urgent needs, including conditions at key community institutions now serving as shelters. Immediate priorities include shelter management, essential supplies, water, sanitation, electricity, safety, psychosocial support, and operational coordination.

JDC has also launched a non-sectarian response through JDC GRID (Global Response and Innovative Development), its humanitarian and disaster response arm. In partnership with the local community, it is prioritizing the delivery of food, safe drinking water, and other essential supplies to the hardest-hit and most difficult-to-reach areas, including La Guaira. As access improves, JDC plans to provide medical organizations with critical supplies and support temporary shelter for displaced families.

The Jewish Agency Response

The Jewish Agency for Israel activated its Overseas Emergency Desk immediately following the earthquake and has remained in continuous contact with community leadership. It is providing immediate assistance to affected community members, including temporary housing and other essential support, and has established a dedicated hotline through its Global Center for Venezuelan immigrants in Israel and those seeking information about immigrating to Israel.

In recent years, through its JReady program, the Jewish Agency has helped strengthen the community’s emergency preparedness through resilience and trauma training and emergency planning. As a result, the community has responded to the crisis in an organized and effective manner, while JReady continues to provide guidance and ongoing support.

This crisis highlights the value of the global emergency response network that Federations have built and sustained. Thanks to our ongoing core support, the North American Jewish community was able to respond immediately and will continue to stand with the Jewish community of Venezuela for as long as needed.

Additional Humanitarian Response

The Israeli government has said it is preparing for the possibility of sending an aid delegation. “The Foreign Ministry is holding a situational assessment with the relevant figures in Israel and is determining ways to help,” it said in a statement on Thursday morning. However, the absence of diplomatic relations between Israel and Venezuela would complicate any deployment.

Other Jewish and Israeli humanitarian organizations have also mobilized, although Israeli organizations face challenges obtaining visas for Israeli passport holders. IsraAID has deployed its global Emergency Response Team, working with specialists from neighboring Colombia to assess needs and support affected communities. Cadena International, HIAS, and World Jewish Relief are coordinating with local partners to assess needs and prepare emergency assistance. NATAN is dispatching medical and mental health professionals, while SmartAID is deploying search-and-rescue personnel along with water purification systems, telecommunications equipment, and clean energy units, particularly for remote areas.

The Venezuela Earthquake Relief Fund has been established by JFNA, our national Federation partner, to provide immediate humanitarian assistance and support long-term recovery efforts.

My lemon tree started blooming, which is exciting. I planted it a year ago and now it is officially on its way to producing fruit. I have learned, however, that it takes eight months after flowering for a lemon tree to produce a lemon. I have newfound respect for such a citrus.

I’m also waiting on an avocado tree to arrive. Though, I know that will likewise take some time to warm up and it could be months if not years before I see any avocados (for those keeping track, my pomegranate tree took six years to produce any pomegranates).

There’s an obvious metaphor here about the importance of planting for the future and looking forward to the fruits of one’s labor. But the small white lemon flowers currently gracing my backyard have me thinking less about legacy and more about faith. Perhaps it’s because I was recently introduced to a Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, z”l, quote, “Faith is the belief in the power of possibility over the power of probability.”

Gardening is an enjoyable way to live in the realm of the probable. If I take care of my plants appropriately and combine the key ingredients of soil, water, sun, and nutrients, there is a good chance that they will grow and thrive and produce something beautiful (though never a given). My olive trees have yet to produce olives. But I’m pretty sure they will, and this is comforting.

It’s much harder, though, to have that same peace of mind when it comes to the possible—that which has a chance of occurring but only if dedicated people make it so.

There are a lot of things headed in the wrong direction. And as we ramp up to America’s semi-quincentennial and another election cycle, it all seems to be reaching a fever pitch. Finding our way forward as we build Jewish life in the context of uncertainty and political extremism will be hard and messy work, and success is certainly not guaranteed.

But for all the very real challenges facing the Jewish people, we have everything we need in Jewish Greater Washington to make the possible real. Our collective creativity, leadership, resources, and commitment have never been greater. Jewish history, in fact, is a compendium of the less likely thing happening, so it wouldn’t be out of character for us to believe in new possibilities and bring them to fruition.

In the next few years, we will wrestle with questions that cut to the core of who we are and what we aspire to be as individuals, citizens, a community, and the Jewish people. And while we need to be clear-eyed about what’s going on around us, it’s also part of our mandate to see things as they could be.

That’s a driving force for us at Federation, to support our community in grappling with and responding to what is unfolding while also working to realize our shared vision of the future. We must take the probable seriously, but it is equally important to feed and water the possible and, together, help it take root.

Shabbat Shalom, with a twist.

The air inside Bialik 26 was thick with excitement. It was May 2018, seven years before the world as we knew it would fracture on October 7, and the popular Be’er Sheva neighborhood spot was packed to the brim. That night, the student cafe was the beating heart of the city’s queer community. Everyone was crammed shoulder-to-shoulder, eyes glued to the glowing screens broadcasting the world’s largest music competition, the Eurovision Song Contest.

Netta Barzilai was onstage singing “Toy,” an unapologetic, feminist anthem wrapped in quirky pop brilliance and thousands of shining lucky cats (see them in all their magnificence here). When the final votes came in and Israel was declared the winner, the whole place burst into tears and cheers.

We couldn’t believe it had actually happened. Israel had won the contest exactly 20 years after its last win in 1998!

It was one of the most powerful, unforgettable moments of my life. That night, the entire country felt unified in an overwhelming wave of pure, unadulterated joy.

The Reality of Being a Shlicha Today

Fast forward to nearly a year ago, when I packed up my life in Israel and moved to the U.S. to begin as a shlicha (Israeli emissary) at The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. At a time when so many are navigating their relationship with Israel, Federation’s shlichim program brings Israelis into local classrooms, synagogues, and living rooms, creating a space for real conversation and connection.

Shortly after I arrived, I quickly realized that being an Israeli emissary today looks radically different than it did in the past. In our post-October 7 reality, discussions about Israel and Jewish life are heavier, more emotional, and infinitely more complex. At the same time, they are deeply rooted in something essential: Jewish peoplehood, shared identity, and joy.

From the beginning, I felt a strong responsibility to show up for difficult conversations about Israel wherever they happened. But, over time, I’ve come to understand that my role is also to offer something broader, to reflect the full story of Israel and the Jewish people. Not only complexity and challenge, but also resilience, pride, and (even) fun.

That understanding came together this month in a very natural way with one of the most unifying cultural moments in Jewish and Israeli life-Eurovision season!

For anyone here in America, you might not have even heard of Eurovision, or maybe you’re just noticing it pop up on your feeds now that it’s finally having a breakout moment on TikTok. But in Israel? It’s like the Super Bowl, but for musicians. It’s a massive song contest combining fierce cultural pride, voting drama, and representation on the global stage.

With Israel proudly taking home second-place just last week, it was the perfect moment for me to help our Greater Washington community look at Israel through a different soundtrack.

A Nation’s Story, Written in Song

Ever since October 7, it is incredibly easy for our relationship with Israel to be entirely defined by trauma, crisis, and anxiety. But relationships can’t survive on the negative. If we only look at Israel through the lens of heartbreak, we lose sight of the very thing we are trying to protect.

Through Federation’s Hands On Israel workshops, I get to move past headlines and bring the real, lived reality of my home directly into local spaces. Over the past few weeks, I traveled across multiple communities in Greater Washington, using the lens of Eurovision to open a portal into Israeli society.

I shared how Israel celebrated its first historic win in 1978 with Izhar Cohen’s “A Ba Ni Bi” just five years after we entered the contest in 1973. Then, just a year later in 1979, “Hallelujah” captured the magic of hosting the contest in Jerusalem for the first time, launching us to a back-to-back victory. By 1983, the tone shifted to one of profound historical weight, when Ofra Haza sang “Chai” (alive) defiantly in Munich, Germany. The song became a breathtaking symbol of Jewish resilience in the shadow of a horrifying past.

As the decades marched on, the music mirrored a rapidly modernizing society. In 1998, Dana International’s historic win with “Diva” reflected a 1990s Israel that was embracing groundbreaking LGBTQ+ inclusion, female empowerment, and cultural openness.

Twenty years later, that legacy of radical representation culminated in Netta’s “Toy,” bringing a bold, global feminist voice back to the stage that I felt reverberate firsthand that night at Bialik 26.

The most recent chapters of our Eurovision journey allowed us to share the raw, immediate grief of our current era on the global stage. Eden Golan’s “Hurricane” in 2024 is deeply tied to the post-October 7 reality, capturing a nation’s immediate trauma and its stubborn insistence on standing tall despite the storm. The music looks forward with “A New Day Will Rise” in 2025, speaking directly to our collective yearning for renewal and rebuilding.

And just a week ago, we were able to experience the thrill in real time, as we listened to Noam Bettan capture hearts across the world (and a second-place win) with his powerful song, “Michelle.”

Shared Identity Over Debate

One of the most moving parts of this journey was watching the transformation inside the rooms here in Greater Washington. Across different synagogues, community centers, and living rooms, local American Jews and Israeli expats sat together in the same space. This kind of programming creates an exciting entry point into Jewish peoplehood. It moves the conversation into the heart, allowing people to connect emotionally. I am so grateful to be part of this work and to Federation for making this, and so many other meaningful Israel programs, available right here in our region.

Looking back at that euphoric night in Be’er Sheva in 2018, I am reminded that joy is a form of resilience. And as I continue my work here, I carry that music with me, always hoping, of course, to one day bring the trophy home again.

Interested in bringing similar experiential Israel education to your local community? Check out Federation’s Hands On Israel workshops to get started.

Learn more about Federation’s work strengthening Jewish peoplehood and sharing Israeli culture here.

A couple weeks ago, my wife and I set off on a drive up to Boston to see our daughter graduate from college and then a few days later over to Pittsburgh to see our son graduate with a Master’s degree. It won’t surprise you to hear that witnessing these two milestones got me thinking about life’s transitions and the swirl of excitement, loss, and uncertainty that frequently come with them.

As Bruce Feiler points out in his book, Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age, we spend more of our lives in flux than we realize. Life events can be good or bad. They can be determined by a decision that we make on our own or something that happens to us. Major life events also typically last about five years, and much of our adult lives are spent in unsettled states. This isn’t necessarily a negative thing—change can indicate growth and evolution—but it is the reality of most of our lives.

This sense of unsettledness is pervasive for many of us today. The world is changing faster than any of us could have imagined. Deep assumptions about our security, identity, friends, work, etc. are being challenged. And that is beyond changes that may be happening in our personal lives. All of this can get to be overwhelming. But that sense of instability is lessened and, in some ways, even reversed when we find community.

Feiler argues that a well-constructed life is one guided by the ABC’s—agency, belonging, and cause. To thrive, we need to feel like we can impact the world around us; that we have people to lean on; and have a way to serve something greater than ourselves. These three factors keep us grounded through life’s twists and turns, and they are all on offer in our community.

That’s what I hope people who engage with Federation and our partners come to feel, that Jewish Greater Washington is a place where they can commune with the ABC’s, across every life stage and within the ongoing story of Jewish peoplehood.

Our work as a Federation, therefore, is to ensure our community remains host to a grand Jewish playground, where people can come learn about themselves and find people with whom to climb through good times and bad no matter what’s going on in their lives.

That’s what I see as the beauty of community building. In choosing to join forces on our quest for meaning, we vastly improve each other’s odds of success. By engaging in Jewish discovery and expression together, we multiply each other’s agency, deepen each other’s sense of belonging, and further each other’s ability to pursue what matters to us most.

P.S. happy to recommend Bruce Feiler’s thoughtful guest essay in today’s New York Times.

Responding in Real Time

Israel continues to face evolving challenges, from the lasting impact of October 7 to the realities of the latest war with Iran. In moments like these, the strength of our global Jewish community is measured by how quickly and effectively we show up for one another.

Through our longstanding partnership with The Jewish Agency for Israel, Federation is helping ensure that individuals, families, and communities receive both immediate support and long-term care when they need it most.

Meeting Urgent Needs, Strengthening Communities

Throughout the year, The Jewish Agency focused on supporting those most affected by helping communities rebuild, assisting vulnerable populations, and strengthening Israeli society in the face of ongoing uncertainty. From aiding displaced families to supporting long-term recovery, this work helped restore stability and a sense of possibility.

At the same time, thousands of Jews around the world made the life-changing decision to build their future in Israel. In 2025 alone, more than 20,000 new immigrants arrived amid war and rising global antisemitism, demonstrating a powerful commitment to Israel’s future.

Showing Up in Moments That Matter

The impact of this work is perhaps most visible in moments of crisis.

In December 2025, following a terror attack at a Chanukah gathering in Bondi Beach, Australia, The Jewish Agency deployed trauma experts within 48 hours, providing immediate support to the local Jewish community while activating global resources for recovery and resilience.

This kind of rapid, coordinated response reflects a deeper truth about the Jewish people:

“When Jews are attacked anywhere, it affects us everywhere… Our answer is solidarity, responsibility, and the determination to build a stronger future together.”

That sense of shared responsibility—across borders and communities—is what makes this work possible.

A Global Network of Connection and Care

Beyond crisis response, The Jewish Agency continues to strengthen the bonds that connect Jews worldwide.

Through programs that build identity, deepen relationships, and foster a sense of belonging, Jews across generations and geographies are connected not only to Israel, but to one another. In 2025, this global network proved essential, ensuring that communities everywhere felt supported, prepared, and part of something larger than themselves.

Federation’s Role: Turning Responsibility into Action

Federation’s support makes this work possible.

By investing in The Jewish Agency, we are not only responding to immediate needs—we are strengthening the global infrastructure that ensures the Jewish people can respond, recover, and rebuild together.

This partnership reflects a core belief: that our community is strongest when we act as one. When Israel faces hardship, we show up. When communities need support, we mobilize. And when connection matters most, we help build it.

Looking Ahead

The challenges facing Israel did not end in 2025—and neither did our commitment.

Together with The Jewish Agency and partners around the world, Federation continues to support recovery, strengthen communities, and deepen the bonds that connect us as one people.

Because ensuring a strong, resilient Israel and a connected global Jewish community is not just about responding in moments of crisis. It’s about building a future grounded in shared responsibility, belonging, and hope.

Photo Credit: The Jewish Agency for Israel