By Gary E. Jacobs
SAN DIEGO — As 2018 draws to a close, and I reflect on my first six months as board chair of JCC Association of North America, let me share some of the highlights of my year. Together, these are the things that provide meaning and measure as to why the JCC Movement—and JCC Association—matters.
It was inspiring to have started my term at such a powerful gathering of our movement’s leadership—the JCCs of North America Biennial in Memphis. More than 600 participated, and the exhilaration we all felt was palpable. We celebrated the end of our first 100 years of the JCC Movement and looked ahead to the next 100 with new leadership from Doron Krakow, our president and CEO. He began the conversation about where our movement is heading, presenting a vision for the movement focused on research and development using JCCs as idea incubators, and one in which more resources flow to JCCs through JCC Association as we support those efforts.
We focused on Israel as an inspiration for Jewish engagement and the next big programs we would be rolling out to the field: Partners in Jewish Community and JResponse. We were able to hold a first-JResponse training with our partner IsraAid—the Israeli nonprofit that provides disaster relief around the world—and we all came away with a sense of momentum for the movement.
That momentum carried through the summer, into JCC Maccabi®, where two nearby communities—the Merage JCC in Irvine and the Alpert JCC in Long Beach, both in California, hosted between them a phenomenal program, with the Merage taking on the JCC Maccabi Games® and the Alpert JCC hosting JCC Maccabi ArtsFest®. As someone who once chaired the JCC Maccabi Games when my own JCC hosted, I know the hard work those communities put in to create such an outstanding week. This is a premier event, the largest gathering of Jewish teens of its kind. Through participating in the athletics and the arts that they love those teens connect to their Jewish identity in a powerful and meaningful way.
Watching all 3,047 of them enter Santa Ana stadium in August was an exhilarating high point of the summer, knowing that community engagement continues long after we handed out the final gold medal at the Games and the curtain came down at that ArtsFest Final Showcase. We are so fortunate to have the visionary leadership of Samantha Cohen, who has joined us at JCC Association as vice president of JCC Maccabi. I cannot wait to see what summer 2019 will bring for this powerful program of community engagement when the Marcus JCC in Atlanta and the JCC of Greater Detroit host.
In October, Doron and I attended the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Israel. Every five years, this event is held in Jerusalem, and it was an outstanding opportunity to meet with top Jewish leaders from around the world. There, we were able to forge relationships and bonds across Jewish organizational life, and in the coming months, we hope to announce the results of those efforts with you.
After the horrific shooting later that month at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh—one of the worst acts of anti-Semitism in United States history—I was able to be part of a delegation to Pittsburgh, along with more than 100 Jewish leaders from across North America, to attend a solidarity visit JCC Association spearheaded together with the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh (JCCPGH), Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, and Jewish Family and Community Services Pittsburgh (JFCS). The theme, “Stronger Than Hate” continues to resonate throughout the North American Jewish community.
On the ground in Pittsburgh, I saw how the JCC had served as the literal hub of that community in the wake of the shooting. I also witnessed how a community comes together. And I saw how all of our national and continental organizations stepped out of their silos and demonstrated a unified front in the face of such hate.
I saw, too, how those outside the Jewish community stepped up, not just the professionals such as the local law enforcement and the FBI, but also those of other faith communities who would not let hate define the community. It was a powerful message and necessary antidote to the senseless killing that had taken place.
Since the visit, JCC Association has deployed JResponders every Friday and Monday to Pittsburgh through Dec. 24—more than 60 in all from 45 JCCs in the United States and Canada—keeping that commitment we made at the Biennial to help out a JCC in need. JResponders filled in at the front desk, subbed for lifeguards, helped out with data entry, served lunch, and more. They were able to give the staff at the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh a much-needed break, bearing a message we can borrow from the recently celebrated holiday of Hanukkah—that in times of darkness, we do well to help spread the light.
JCCs and the JCC Movement have done just that. We have told the JCC of Greater Pittsburgh and its community that they are not alone, that we care deeply about them, and that in lending a hand, we got much more back in return.
On the heels of Pittsburgh came the California wildfires, which devastated the Shalom Institute/Camp JCA Shalom in Malibu. This independent camp works throughout the year as a JCC without walls, in addition to running the excellent camp program it offers during the summer. The fire utterly destroyed the campgrounds, but the camp spirit is resilient. JCA Shalom has found spaces for its regular programming, is running winter camp, and continues to look for an appropriate campsite for the summer. JCC Association will continue to provide resources as requested.
I anticipate the year ahead to be even more exciting for us. We have outstanding new professional leadership, having been joined in November by our new CDO, Jennifer Mamlet. Brian Schreiber, Pittsburgh JCC’s president and CEO, will join us in 2019 as a special advisor to the CEO. In late January, we look forward to our board retreat, at which Rabbi Jeffrey Myers, spiritual leader of the Tree of Life Synagogue, will serve as a scholar in residence. Days later we will kick off Mifgash: Executive Leadership Forum, revamped with a new spotlight on innovation within our JCCs; and the 2019 JCCs of North America Professional Conference at the end of February promises to be an exhilarating program focused on professional excellence.
We expect our 70 Faces of Israel: Israel as an Inspiration leadership journey, March 31-April 10 to Israel and Lesbos with IsraAid to be a unique opportunity to see IsraAid’s humanitarian work among the refugees in Greece, and one in which we will get an insider’s look at the Jewish state’s 70-year history, its development and the impact of current events. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to take part in leadership conversations that will direct our movement long after the trip has ended.
This is a thrilling moment in the JCC Movement’s history. I am energized by our potential as the largest platform of Jewish engagement outside of Israel as our vision for the movement evolves and advances. It is through our collective power that we will continue to make a tremendous difference for Jewish life in North America in the coming year ahead.
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Jacobs, a San Diego County resident, is chairman of the JCC Association of North America. He is a former president of the Lawrence Family JCC in La Jolla.