Building Our Future
5784 was both a year of significant achievement and a year of significant sorrow. We saw a rise in antisemitism, locally, nationally and globally. We saw divisions within our community, politically, generationally, nationally, globally. We saw anxiety, depression, stress, anger, hostility, fear and grief. We saw our college campuses overtaken by encampments. We saw friendship and families rent by opposing points of view. And it is not over. The war continues. The hostages, those who are still alive, are still captive. There is no plan for what will happen if or when Hamas is destroyed. Israel has lost the PR battle in this conflict and it will take decades for the country to recover physically, emotionally and economically. This was not a year of business as usual, but we still had to do business as usual. Our community, the Jewish community in general and Israel in particular counts on us, on our community, on our donors, for support.
And we provided that support. We sent over one and a half million dollars to Israel, to Magen David Adom, to the Friends of the IDF and to the Jewish Federations of North America. We also raised over one and a half million dollars to support
our local community’s agencies. We supported both formal and informal Jewish education for our children and teens. We held events that brought hundreds of members of our community together in solidarity to celebrate being Jewish: 800 people for our Community Chanukah Dinner, 300 people for the Yom haShoah commemoration, 600 people for Yom HaAtzmaut.
We sponsored programs for young families: Winter Havdallahs, Summer Shabbats, Camp Zeke. We sponsored programs
for adults: Reverse Tashlich, a Reading & Discussion Group about Rescue During the Holocaust; the Sunday Cinema Series, The Butterfly Project, Cinco de Mayo, the Purim Project and Food Pantry and the Hebrew Interest Free Loan Program. We provided over $100,000 for collaborative community projects through the Philip L. Holstein Community Program Fund: 3GNY, Hillel Greek Unity Shabbat, Veterans Day at the Jewish Home, the Butterfly Project, a Jewish Pride Program at the Epstein School, scholar- and author-in-residence programs at the Day School, Temple Concord and Congregation Beth Sholom-Chevra Shas, Gardening for Tikun Olam, Bring the Fair to the Park and many others.
Our security budget has tripled over the past several years. We now spend $90,000 annually, not only for security for events we sponsor but block grants and High Holiday stipends to our community’s synagogues to help them offset these expenses. Our partnerships with local law enforcement and our advocacy work to secure security funding offer another layer of protection against antisemitic threats. We have worked diligently to combat antisemitism through activism allyship and information.
Federation could not do what it does without the Foundation. In 5784, the Foundation provided the Federation with $361,000 to supplement its annual campaign.
Caring for our community is the most important thing Federation does and it is your support of the Federation that powers our vital work. Your support enables us to protect our community, so we can live freely as Jews. Your support enables us to instill Jewish pride in our children and our teens and cultivate Jewish leadership for the next generation through Federation programs like the Teen Taste of Israel, Teen Funders, NexGen and Hillel. We could not do all of this without the Foundation and its devoted supporters.
Caring for our community is the most important thing Federation does and it is your support of the Federation that powers our vital work. The Foundation’s support enables us to protect our community, so we can live freely as Jews. It enables us to instill Jewish pride in our children and our teens and cultivate Jewish leadership for the next generation through Federation programs like the Teen Taste of Israel, Teen Funders, NexGen and Hillel. We could not do all of this without the Foundation and its devoted supporters. We are deeply indebted to the generous people who help us secure the future.
Michael Balanoff
Executive Director