Month: September 2026

This past July, the swimming pool at Kibbutz Nir Oz was open. For a little while, volunteers from Greater Washington swam, talked, and laughed.

Then they dried off and walked toward what remained of the homes destroyed on October 7.

The contrast was jarring. So was the message. Nir Oz is not simply a place where something terrible happened. It’s a community working, piece by piece, to thrive again.

For more than 25 members of Greater Washington’s Jewish community, that contrast became one of the defining moments of an eight-day volunteer mission to Israel this summer. They came to contribute where they could, meet Israelis, show solidarity, and deepen a connection to Nir Oz that already felt personal.

A Relationship Born After October 7

In the days after the October 7 attacks, Salo Zelermyer and Amit Natanzon found themselves thinking about Nir Oz for a deeply personal reason. Their close friend and Hebrew University classmate, Abbey Greenberg Onn, had two relatives murdered there on that horrible day. Three others were taken hostage and held captive in Gaza. Like so many American Jews in those first weeks, they felt an urgent need to do something.

But they began to realize that a donation, even a significant one, couldn’t fully address what Nir Oz was facing.

“We recognized the scale of devastation and trauma experienced by communities like Nir Oz would necessitate support and connection beyond just financial contributions,” Salo said.

So they began building something different. Members of Beth El, Ohr Kodesh, and B’nai Israel congregations came together with Nir Oz to create Kesher Nir Oz, a partnership designed to last beyond the immediate aftermath of October 7.

The idea was simple but ambitious: make Nir Oz’s recovery personal to the Greater Washington community for years to come. That meant more than sending support. It meant visiting, listening, building friendships, finding ways to be useful, and staying connected as the community rebuilds. The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington joined the effort, helping sustain and amplify the partnership.

This summer, together with Federation, American Friends of Nir Oz, Taglit-Birthright Israel, and Israel Outdoors, more than 25 members of the Greater Washington community traveled to Israel to deepen these connections even further.

More Than Tourists

“This mission was the first program we’ve implemented as part of our new Local Israel Engagement strategy,” said Udi Eitan, Federation’s Director of Integrated Israel Strategy. “A central focus of that strategy is building meaningful, personal connections between Israelis and members of our local Jewish community.”

The itinerary reflected that philosophy, with hands-on volunteer work, visits with Federation partners at Kibbutz Re’im and Nir Oz, and encounters designed to expose participants to the complexity and diversity of Israeli society.

For participant Yaffa Rubenstein, the experience held two emotions at once. “One eye is crying over the devastation and the horror of October 7, while the other is filled with joy at the heartwarming sight of people’s deep desire to keep living and supporting one another.”

That contradiction followed the group throughout the trip. They saw places where the wounds of October 7 were unmistakable, and places where people were living life, going to work, filling cafés, shopping in markets, raising children, and rebuilding communities.

At Nir Oz, they saw both: the life that was lost and the life being rebuilt.

The Life That Was Lost. And the Life Being Rebuilt

Todd Miller remembers the visit to Nir Oz as one of the most meaningful parts of the mission. “It was very moving to have the opportunity to talk to members and heartbreaking to tour remnants of homes destroyed on October 7,” he said. “Nir Oz is slowly rebuilding the life that was so vibrant on the kibbutz.”

“He was so inspiring and full of life,” Todd said. “Meeting Gadi and other members who are so dedicated inspired all of us to contribute to the effort.”

A Garden in Haifa

In an Arab-Israeli neighborhood in Haifa, participants spent more than two hours volunteering at a community center, cleaning up landscaping and planting. Then they spent time with local children, roughly ages 8 to 13, playing games, making art, and sharing snacks.

Most of the children didn’t speak English. Instead, they spoke primarily Arabic and Hebrew, but it didn’t matter. “The language barrier didn’t get in the way of our interaction,” Todd shared. For him, it was a small but meaningful glimpse into a part of Israeli life he might otherwise never have encountered.

The trip also widened the lens beyond Nir Oz. In the north, the group visited a Druze village. In Tel Aviv, they walked through Carmel Market. Across the country, they sat in cafés and watched restaurants filled with Israelis going about their lives.

Some of the trip was difficult to absorb. Visits to kibbutzim (communal villages) in the Gaza border region and the Nova site (where 378 Israelis were killed at a local music festival) brought participants face-to-face with the scale of what happened.

And then there were ordinary moments. Todd remembers seeing Israelis “embracing their lives despite the many difficulties of daily life.” That, too, was part of the education.

The Point Was Never Just the Trip

For Federation, the mission extended work that had already been taking root in Greater Washington. As Udi explained: “Having dozens of community members volunteer across Israel, spend meaningful time with members of Kibbutz Nir Oz as part of a growing relationship between our communities, and then bring those experiences back and share them with others in Greater Washington―that’s exactly what we had in mind when we started this journey.”

The mission simply gave those connections a place to grow. For Salo, that is the part that matters most.

“The relationships people in our community have formed with the Nir Oz community are by far our proudest achievement,” he said.

Recovery from what happened in Nir Oz will take years. The needs will change. The ways people can help will change. But the relationship can remain. “We cannot lose sight of the passion and the connection we all felt in the months that followed,” Salo said. “That is what Kesher Nir Oz is all about.”

Bringing Israel Back Home

There is an easy way to think about a volunteer trip. You go somewhere, help, and come home. This was something else. Participants came home with a deeper understanding of Israel, knowing people in Nir Oz, having worked alongside Israelis, and having seen parts of the country that do not fit neatly into a news story.

Yaffa put it simply. “You can never truly understand, appreciate, or judge Israelis unless you go there, spend some time there, and see it with your own eyes.”

That is the real power of partnership. It is not only what one community can do for another, but what happens when people begin to know one another well enough that the distance between them starts to shrink.

And they intend to keep showing up. “Our hope is that the connection between our community and Kibbutz Nir Oz will continue to grow in the years ahead,” Salo said, “through continued visits from members of our community to Israel, volunteer missions, and in the one-to-one relationships that this program has helped to form.”

Learn more about Federation’s work to build lasting connections between our community and Israel here.

Growing up, I never thought I’d work for a Jewish Federation. As a teen and young adult, I was heavily involved in Jewish life and in Zionist youth groups, but the Federation system hadn’t factored into my career plans. I surprised my younger self therefore when after some time in academia, I applied for a job at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland in 2002.

The person interviewing me asked why it was I had chosen to take this step. I replied that if you want to create change, you must go to an organization that has the capacity to create change.

A couple decades later, I believe this more than ever. A Jewish Federation’s capacity to spur impact for and on behalf of a Jewish community is unparalleled. This is because the Federation structure allows us to operate on three levels at once: engaging individuals, partnering with organizations, and sparking community-wide action.

It’s for this reason (among many others) that whenever someone suggests a century-old system couldn’t possibly serve the needs of the future, I always push back. Federation is a legacy institution precisely because of our ability to evolve to meet the shifting challenges and opportunities we face. As Shira Hutt and Mimi Kravetz of the Jewish Federations of North America wrote last week, the Federation model isn’t static and never has been.

Of course, having the capacity to effect change doesn’t mean anything unless we put it to work. At Federation, we get to inspire, engage, and mobilize people to generate the resources and ideas that will help sustain Jewish life. Many organizations can raise funds, but only Federation can bring significant resources, a network of partnerships, talented staff and lay leadership, and the broader community together to tackle shared goals. We get to ask hard questions. Try new things. And work on the frontier of what’s next.

That’s another thing I love about the role of Federation—we are relied upon to serve as both leader and supporter. We have a clear vision for the future of Jewish life and take seriously our work to use our bully pulpit and to represent the needs and interests of Jewish Greater Washington. But it means just as much to us to operate in the spaces where we don’t have all the answers. Elevating important issues and bringing people together to have important conversations and express and exchange ideas is also a critical part of our work.

I was an enthusiastic job candidate back in the day, and my enthusiasm for what our community can accomplish has only grown. Especially now, as historic challenges mount, we must leverage the full extent of our capacity to create change. We have so much going for us as a community. It’s our job to convert that potential into forward motion for the sake of today and tomorrow.

Across the Greater Washington area, Jewish children are going back to school with stories of new friends, color wars, camp musicals and the little moments that made their summers memorable. For many Jewish children, sleepaway camp is a beloved part of growing up, a place to build friendships, discover new interests, celebrate Jewish life, and come back with stories that get retold for years.

But for children with complex pediatric health diagnoses, summer camp isn’t always a given.

Going away to camp can mean leaving behind familiar routines and the people who know how to care for them. Parents may wonder whether a new environment can accommodate their child’s health needs, whether staff will know how to respond to challenges, and whether their child will be able to participate fully in the experience.

imadi works to answer those questions before a child ever arrives.

A proud partner of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, imadi (“with me” in Hebrew) creates a network of support for families facing complex pediatric health diagnoses. Through concierge case management, patient advocacy, and therapeutic programming, imadi helps families navigate the medical, emotional, and logistical challenges that come with a complex diagnosis. All services are provided at no cost to families, thanks to support from organizations like Federation.

For some families, that support can open the door to experiences that once felt out of reach.

For Roey, it opened the door to Eagle Point, imadi’s Jewish summer camp.

Personal Support for Every Child

At eight years old, Roey had never been to sleepaway camp. Then one afternoon, the director of Eagle Point came to Roey’s home.

Sitting together in the living room, the camp director told him about all the fun adventures waiting for him at camp.

For his parents, Carrie and Greg, there were practical questions to work through and very real concerns about how he would manage a new environment, unfamiliar routines and activities designed for a wide range of campers.

imadi was there to help answer those questions. Before Roey ever arrived at Eagle Point, the organization worked with his family and the camp team to understand what he would need and build the support around him.

As his parents put it, “imadi met him where he was, and brought him along to maximize all of the fun at his pace.”

In addition to meeting with the camp director, they also met with the head counselor and nurse, talked through the challenges Roey might face and heard how the team would respond. They connected with other parents who had sent their children to camp before. For a family sending their child away for the first time, those details mattered.

Roey was also excited about the idea of hanging out with his “big buddy” (his one-on-one counselor). He had met them before camp at a “meet and greet,” where, his parents recalled, the two “ran around playing like they’d been buddies for years.”

“imadi really thought of everything,” Carrie and Greg added, making it easier for them to send Roey “out into the world to experience something we wouldn’t really think possible for him.”

The Summer Roey Became a Camper

Then the day finally came. Roey went to camp.

And he had a lot of fun! He rode in a boat, crafted his own mezuzah cover at a blacksmithing workshop, went on a safari, and took golf cart rides. “Oh the giggles,” his parents exclaimed. He sang songs at bedtime, celebrated Shabbat, and cheered on other campers.

While Roey was making memories, his parents were kept fully in the loop. “During camp we received joyful photos and regular communication so we knew what was going on each day,” they shared. “We feel so lucky to have been a part of Eagle Point.”

Reflecting on the experience, Roey’s parents said: “imadi’s program is astonishing. The one-on-one care, the attention to detail, the incredible imagination that went into having an accessible and manageable jam packed day full of incredible, unique programming experiences. Roey was cared for with such a level of kindness and thoughtfulness that I hope every kid can experience.”

Roey is one of 30 campers who joined Eagle Point this summer. With 40 counselors and staff, imadi ensured every child had the support they needed to experience camp fully.

Jewish Values in Action

The experience left an impression on the counselors, too.

“As a counselor you learn to dedicate yourself completely to another person,” said Navah Gris, an Eagle Point counselor. “You see in real time the impact you as an individual can have which can serve as inspiration way beyond camp.”

For Navah, that sense of connection extended to the Jewish experience at Eagle Point. “A huge pillar of Judaism is chesed (loving kindness) and for me personally doing this work as a camp counselor is when I feel most connected to my Judaism.”

One Friday night, Navah and another counselor stood outside with several campers and sang Kabbalat Shabbat together as they looked out over the lake.

“It was such a holy, joyous, and spiritual moment that we got to share with our campers,” she said. “It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

By the time the ten days at camp were over, Roey had discovered that he could do something he had never done before. He came home more willing to try unfamiliar things and more independent in everyday activities. He also brought home his mezuzah cover, which he treasures.

And somewhere in those stories, he discovered a new sentence he could say about himself:

“I did this at camp.”

Federation is proud to support imadi and partners across our community creating opportunities for more people to experience Jewish life, connection and belonging. Your support helps make experiences like Roey’s possible.

Who are we responsible for and how do we best serve our community in this moment? These are key questions we are always asking ourselves at Federation but especially now as our world shifts.

However you describe this time we are living in, it’s clear to me that we are entering a new chapter of Jewish life. Whereas the last couple decades were about modernizing Jewish engagement, this new era must also focus on staying connected across lines of difference and working together toward a common future.

As I shared last week, I believe there are core values that have the power to bind us through any kind of tumult, namely the pursuit of justice and love for Jewish peoplehood. We may not always agree on the definition of each, but we can be in conversation about what they mean and what role they play in our lives.

In addition, I also believe there are first principles that must guide our work at Federation to strengthen Jewish life in Greater Washington.

The first is that we are here to serve all 400,000 people who live in Jewish households across the Greater Washington region. While we also have an important role to play beyond this, we do have a unique responsibility in this region for these people. We are committed to reaching people wherever they are in their Jewish journey, from the deeply engaged to those who have not yet found their connection. We are here for young adults, young families, seniors, and every other subset of our population. Our constituency spans the full breadth of the Jewish DMV.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t prioritize certain goals. Every organization must prioritize if they want to have an impact. We are proud of our work to ramp up engagement efforts in Northern Virginia and our partnerships with organizations serving young adults across the region, for example—but approaching our work with the knowledge that we are responsible for the entirety of our community is central to our theory of change.

The next principle is that we seek to create a community that expects and supports disagreement. There are boundaries to the Jewish people, but within those borders is a whole medley of individual and collective viewpoints that are constantly evolving. At Federation, we see how important it is to honor this. We want to see our community growing, learning, and building their ties to Jewish peoplehood and Israel. It follows then that we must make space for different views and experiences, so that we might stay in conversation and help each other forge and strengthen our Jewish connections over time.

The real work, however, is not in laying out these principles but abiding by their implications. How do we reach people who don’t know what’s on offer? How do we make decisions about where communal funds should go? How do we make room for people to grapple with questions about Israel or other elements of Jewish life even when it makes others uncomfortable?

None of these things have easy answers, but that’s what makes our work as a community so worthwhile. Our relationship with time is communal. We have always faced history together and have managed time and again to change it. As we stand together as a people on Yom Kippur, with all our great differences, asking for forgiveness, so must we stand together building our collective future.

Thirty years ago, my husband, David, and I hosted a party to celebrate our upcoming birthdays. The theme was the 70s, so we dressed up like hippies, brought in a live band, and filled the room with our closest friends (including several future Federation presidents like Robin Weinberg, Mark Levitt, Gary Berman, Liza Levy, and Stuart Kurlander). But as much as we loved celebrating, material gifts weren’t what mattered to us. In the middle of the music and dancing, we hit pause, took the microphone from the band, and talked to our friends about the importance of community and caring for something bigger than yourself. We told everyone: “We don’t want gifts. If you want to celebrate us, make a donation to our new fund.”

We called it the Hopes and Dreams Fund, designated to support informal Jewish education, summer camps, youth groups, and Israel experiences. It was our way of setting the pace for our lives early on, using a joyful milestone to lead with philanthropy and show our peers that you don’t have to wait to make a real impact. That mindset didn’t start with a large bank account or a fancy background. I didn’t grow up wealthy. But I distinctly remember going to synagogue as a child and seeing my parents’ names at the top of the campaign donor lists. They walked the walk. They taught me by doing.

So when my tax advisor sat us down in our 30s and suggested we open a Donor Advised Fund (DAF), I knew there was no place I’d rather establish it than within the Jewish community. I wanted my giving to count toward our collective Jewish reputation for generosity, and I wanted to be a role model for my peers.

I could never have imagined that that early decision would eventually lead to me co-chairing the Jewish Community Foundation of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s Open More Possibilities initiative today.

Open More Possibilities

Looking back, what made all the difference for us was simply having the door opened and being invited in. The Foundation intrinsically understands that same need today—to create space for the next generation of donors to step into their own philanthropic power.

That is why this initiative is so close to my heart. To welcome 100 new fundholders into our Foundation family, the Foundation is making an $1,800 gift to an eligible Jewish or Israeli nonprofit of the donor’s choosing. It’s a true partnership, making it easier than ever for young donors and families to begin their own journey of giving. And once you begin, the impact ripples outward in ways you can’t even predict.

Passing the Torch

Everything you do sets the tone for the next generation. As people who care deeply about our community, we can’t leave those lessons to chance. We have to be intentional about creating a culture of generosity in our families.

Philanthropy is one of the most powerful ways we put our Jewish values into action. Our values tell us to care for one another, to strengthen our communities, and to take responsibility for the world we hope to build. Giving transforms those values from ideas into action. It offers the next generation a tangible way to understand that their Jewish identity is not just something they inherit. It is something they actively must carry forward.

When my son, Evan, reached a milestone birthday, we told him we’d match him dollar-for-dollar if he opened his own DAF. He did. Helping him enter his own philanthropic journey was one of my proudest moments as a mother. Now, as a grandmother, I’m already thinking about my grandchildren. I plan to open Donor Advised Funds for them through Open More Possibilities because I want philanthropy to become part of their story, too. My wish for them is to grow up seeing generosity as a lifelong expression of their Jewish identity.

Bringing Light to the World

There is also a powerful statement made when you give through a Jewish foundation. Over the years, I’ve had non-Jewish charities call to thank me for a grant and mention, “We saw the check came from the Jewish Community Foundation.” Raising that visibility, showing the world how Jewish givers support the broader community, is more vital now than ever.

Since October 7, saying the world has felt heavy is an understatement. But we don’t have to dwell in the dark. The simple act of giving gives us the strength to say: We will persevere. We will not just survive; we will thrive. Giving fills you from the inside out. It offers energy, hope, and purpose. For me, philanthropy is a spiritual experience. It bubbles up in my throat. The more I give, the more I receive.

Becoming one of the 100 new DAF holders opened through this campaign means taking a step as a leader. Deciding to take your hard-earned resources and invest them in the future shows the world, and your family, exactly who you are.

I once read a quote that said you make a living by what you get, but you make a life by what you give. Looking back over my life, I know that to be true in my bones. I can’t imagine a world where I didn’t want to leave things better than I found them.

Building the Future by Investing in Philanthropy

I know opening a Donor Advised Fund is an important decision that requires a meaningful commitment. That’s why Open More Possibilities matters so much to me. By making an additional $1,800 gift, the Foundation is recognizing the importance of that investment and taking the first step alongside every person who decides to open their first DAF. It’s a way of showing that our community is with you from the very beginning.

I hope these first 100 fundholders won’t be the end of the story. I hope they’ll become mentors, role models, and teachers. I hope they’ll inspire their children and someday their grandchildren to carry these values forward. That’s how we strengthen Jewish life, not only for today, but for generations to come.

I invite you to join us. Make an investment in philanthropy, in our community, and in the future we will build together. Let’s Open More Possibilities—for ourselves, for the next generation, and for the Jewish people.

This reflection was originally posted by Jewish Community Foundation of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.

There’s nothing quite like hearing others wrestle with questions that have been rolling around in my head. It’s a welcome reminder that we have so much to learn from one another if we keep our eyes and ears open. So it was with Danny Gordis’s latest podcast interview with Rabbi David Stav, a widely respected Israeli Orthodox rabbi and religious thinker.

The particular topic of discussion: what are the core Jewish values that Jews of all stripes would want to make central to their lives?

Rabbi Stav says yes. He ventures that there are two principles that we can all agree upon: first, we cannot allow immoral behavior to take place; and second, we are loyal to our family, community, nation, and people. While we may not always agree on the definition of each nor on the balance and tradeoffs that may exist between the two, we are committed to these core ideas and the need to constantly struggle with what they mean in our individual and collective lives.

I love this framework. My former boss said that Genesis 18:19 is the mission statement for the Jewish people, “For I have singled him (Abraham) out, that he may instruct his children and his posterity to keep the way of God by doing what is just and right.” I cannot fathom Jewish identity without the drive to stand for what is right. But neither can I imagine Judaism without a commitment to kinship, that conviction that all of Israel are responsible for one another. Just as we care for our family and friends so do we as Jews for the greater Jewish people.

That’s where I see us playing an important role as a Federation. We want to be part of exploring and reconciling core Jewish values. We are committed to supporting our community in discussing, debating, and building the relationships it will take to grapple with our biggest questions and move forward together.

That’s why, if I were to add a third principle to Rabbi Stav’s list, it would be that we are humble enough to know our ideas might be wrong. Our views have and will continue to change over time, individually and collectively. What seems obvious to us today may appear more complex or even wrong to us in the future, and vice versa.

Pursuing both justice and peoplehood is therefore about staying in conversation. It is recognizing that through a commitment to these two core values, we can build a vibrant collective future locally and with Jews around the world. While different people will live out their Jewish values in different ways, I have faith in our communal venture, too. As we head into a new year, I am eager to see how we might articulate our beliefs for a new era of Jewish life.

P.S. I want to acknowledge that today marks the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. We are holding the memory of all those we lost, and their loved ones, in our hearts.

The room was full of 300 Jewish leaders from different cities. Different careers. Different Jewish experiences. Different ideas about what comes next. And yet, as Cabinet members from Greater Washington looked around the room in Minneapolis, one thing kept becoming clear.

They weren’t as “different” as they might have imagined.

“We all have the same concerns,” said The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington Cabinet member Dana Klein. “It doesn’t matter which community we come from, what we do for work, if we have kids or not. We are all invested and concerned about the same issues facing our community. And that is very powerful.”

For three days in August, hundreds of Jewish leaders from across North America gathered for the Jewish Federations of North America National Young Leadership Cabinet Retreat, including a cohort of 20 members from Greater Washington.

They came to talk about philanthropy, security, Israel, and global Jewry. They heard from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Rabbi Arianna Gordon of Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. They wrestled with how to talk across differences, how to serve their communities and how to become better leaders. But underneath all of it was a more personal question.

What does it mean to be a Jewish leader right now?

Turning Challenges into Leadership

Antisemitism is rising. Security has become something Jewish communities have to think about in their own neighborhoods. Families are making decisions about how visible they want to be. And more than one Cabinet member spoke about the feeling of watching everything unfold and wondering what, exactly, you are supposed to do about it.

Gabrielle Witkin put it plainly. “This is a hard moment to be Jewish,” she said. “And hard moments are exactly when leaders get made or lost.”

Gabrielle is a Jew by choice, and that choice comes with a responsibility she takes seriously. “I want a world where every Jew can live a safe, vibrant Jewish life. I want to leave this world better than I found it for my children.”

That desire to do something, rather than simply watch, is part of what brings people to Cabinet.

For Dana, Federation has made being an active part of the Jewish community a priority. “At a time when our community is constantly at risk, locally and abroad, giving back and making ourselves stronger has never been more important,” she said.

And there is a recognition that, as difficult as this moment is, Jewish communities have something powerful to draw on. Each other.

They attended the Retreat hoping to learn, enhance their leadership skills, and grow their network. That was one of the most meaningful parts of the Retreat for Britney Wambold, Cabinet Co-Chair, who sits on Federation’s Next Gen Board. She has met people through Cabinet from different cities, careers, Jewish backgrounds and phases of life. “Everyone is driven, cares deeply about making an impact, and shares a commitment to philanthropy and the Jewish community,” she said.

“I knew I would meet some nice people, but I was not expecting to make lifelong friends,” Dana added.

Britney knows that feeling well. “There is also something really special about knowing you have so many people in your corner,” she said. “Cabinet is full of people who genuinely want to see each other succeed and support one another throughout life.”

Alexa Brown, Cabinet Advisor, has watched that happen over four retreats. “What makes Cabinet different is how personal it is,” she said. “You walk away with some of your closest friends.”

At Cabinet Everyone Just Gets It

Three hundred people, and no one had to explain why they were there. That may have been the most powerful feeling in the room.

No one had to explain why security matters. Why Israel feels personal. Why the future of Jewish life is something worth worrying about. Why, even while building careers and raising families, they feel a responsibility to give their time, energy and resources to something bigger than themselves.

They didn’t have to explain why they were there because everyone else already understood. “It’s so easy to feel overwhelmed by everything happening in the world around us,” Alexa said. “Being with chevre (friends) reminds us we don’t ever need to face anything alone.”

For Gabrielle, that realization brought clarity. “I expected to feel small in that room. Instead I got clarity.” She came home with a better understanding of where she can make an impact, not everywhere, but somewhere meaningful. “I came home knowing where I can serve best rather than trying to serve everywhere.”

The Moment that Reframed Their Entire Perspective

One conversation in particular stayed with Gabrielle. Her caucus leader said something that reframed the way she was thinking about philanthropy:

“The only people giving to the Jewish community are the Jews.”

The idea, though simple, resonated deeply in a room full of people already asking themselves how much they should give, how much time they should devote, and how much responsibility they are willing to take on.

The conversation turned to giving beyond what feels comfortable. For Gabrielle, the discomfort was the point. Because leadership, she realized, isn’t necessarily about finding the comfortable thing you can do. Sometimes it is about deciding what you’re willing to sacrifice because you believe the community is worth it.

What Happens After the Cabinet Retreat?

The three days end, but the conversations, friendships, and questions don’t. If anything, they become more urgent, because eventually, every Jewish leader has to decide what kind of role they want to play in the future they’re helping create.

What kind of Jewish community do we want to leave for the people coming after us?

For Gabrielle, that question is at the heart of Cabinet.

“The next generation of leaders will not be produced by accident,” she emphasized. “We need to be gathered, trained, challenged, and connected to peers who are carrying the same weight. That is what builds the bench our community will need in ten and twenty years.”

And that work cannot wait.

“It matters that we are doing it now, in our thirties and forties, while we are raising the generation after us,” she said. “Our kids are watching how we respond to this moment.”

To join us in building that future or to learn more about Cabinet, please reach out to Jeremy Frisch, Federation’s Philanthropy Officer, Donor Engagement.

There are certain tastes that make it feel like Rosh Hashanah.

An apple dipped in honey. The jewel-like seeds of a pomegranate. A round challah, golden and sometimes studded with raisins. Glazed sweet potatoes. A melt-in-your mouth holiday roast or brisket. And the simanim, the symbolic foods placed on the table with hopes and blessings for a sweet, abundant year ahead.

A Rosh Hashanah table brings magic to Jewish families. Candles flickering. Familiar recipes making their annual appearance. Plates being passed around. Full bellies, full hearts, and the simple joy of being surrounded by loved ones.

This Friday night, community members across Greater Washington will gather around their tables to welcome the Jewish New Year.

For families who keep kosher, especially larger households, preparing that table can mean buying significant quantities of kosher meat, produce and holiday staples, and the costs can add up quickly. For families already feeling financial pressure, the High Holidays can bring an added burden at a time that is meant to be filled with joy.

That’s where Yad Yehuda, a partner of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, comes in.

How Yad Yehuda is Bringing Joy this High Holiday Season

Thousands of individuals across the Greater Washington Jewish community rely on Capital Kosher Pantry, the region’s only kosher food pantry, for support provided in an atmosphere of dignity and respect. A program of Yad Yehuda, the pantry provides fresh produce, proteins, shelf-stable groceries and personal care items, restocked weekly.

But Rosh Hashanah requires something more. “We want people to be able to celebrate the holidays without worrying about how they’re going to afford them,” says Stephanie Savir, Director of Operations at Yad Yehuda.

In the days leading up to the holiday, Yad Yehuda mobilizes its entire network to make that possible. Kosher food providers, dozens of volunteers, companies, synagogues, other food pantries and community partners come together to help fill the pantry’s shelves and freezers.

Packing for a Sweet New Year with the Capital Kosher Pantry

Community members have spent the week working side by side volunteering to unload deliveries, sort enormous quantities of food, pack Rosh Hashanah boxes and prepare them for distribution.

Thanks to support from Federation, pallets of fresh produce have arrived by the thousands of pounds. Cold storage has been filled with roasts and chicken. More deliveries continue to arrive as the holiday approaches.

It takes an entire community to prepare for a holiday at this scale. And this is exactly the kind of work that happens when Federation’s partnership with a local organization extends into active community engagement.

Yad Yehuda expects this year’s Rosh Hashanah distribution to reach approximately 1,600 to 1,800 individuals.

The Capital Kosher Pantry has grown considerably since its beginnings as a small food closet. Today, the organization operates a dedicated facility with multiple refrigeration units, a 20-foot freezer container, pantry, and other services designed to meet the needs of the community. During the year, it runs much like a small grocery store, where patrons can confidentially schedule appointments and select foods for their households.

A Community that Brings Light to Everyone

Supporting a thriving Jewish community in Greater Washington means making sure people can participate fully in Jewish life in ways that reflect who they are. For families who keep kosher, that means having access to kosher food.

For those celebrating Rosh Hashanah, it means having the ingredients to prepare the foods that carry generations of meaning.

And for all of us, it means making sure that financial circumstances do not determine who gets to experience the joy and traditions of the Jewish holidays.

That is why Federation is proud to support Yad Yehuda. By strengthening the organizations that understand the distinct needs of our community and are there to meet them, Federation ensures we are not only present in moments of crisis, but in the ordinary, deeply meaningful moments that make up Jewish life.

This is what it means to make room for everyone at the table. Together, we can make sure that, regardless of circumstance, anyone in our community can celebrate, participate, and create their own Rosh Hashanah memories.

Learn more about Yad Yehuda’s food pantry here.

Last week, I went to Bethany Beach with my family. For 30 years, we’ve held this tradition sacred, gathering the parents, kids, cousins, nieces, nephews, and significant others together for some memorable quality time. This year was especially meaningful as we had four generations together under one roof. What a gift it was lounging together with my dad and my grandson.

I like to think that familial ties are a central part of what animates our community as well. That Jewish peoplehood acts as a special source of gravity, drawing and holding people close by virtue of their Jewish identity. This is something that has held us together for thousands of years, through great struggles and great successes, and it’s something we want to continue nurturing across Jewish Greater Washington.

But I also know that a community is built on more than association. While family is enough to bond our crew at Bethany Beach, our community rests on several building blocks including faith, tradition, memory, language, experiences, aspirations, and mutual responsibility.

Importantly, the bonds of peoplehood free us from having to reach consensus. It enables and supports our diverse opinions and our individual evolving relationships to Judaism and Jewish life and adds to our collective vitality. At Federation, we work every day to proliferate Jewish learning and pride and build paths for people seeking to connect with others and with Jewish wisdom. We want to ensure that everyone can tap into the transformative sense of belonging that comes from being part of a diverse Jewish people.

But honoring our differences is only step one. Step two is working with and across our differences to shape the Jewish future. This is no easy feat at a time when convictions run deep. How do we articulate our values while leaving room for a broad range of Jewish expression? How do we stand for something in a topsy-turvy world while strengthening our ties?

Some days, I wake up ready to draw definitive lines in the sand and on other days, all I want to do is protect our ability to stay in conversation with one another. I’m convinced that finding the balance between conviction and peoplehood, fluidity and delineation, will be the work of our time.

I know many of you feel this tension too. We care about what is happening in our communities, our country, and the world, and sometimes that means we find each other on opposite sides of an issue. How we manage our response in these scenarios will have a profound impact on where we go from here.

So long as we remember our commitment to each other, our vast array of opinions and perspectives can only be a strength.