December 31, 2024

As 2024 comes to a close later today, I thought I would provide you a list of our Jewish Federation’s “highlights” to give you a picture and a sense of some of the incredible work we were able to do and provide our community. However, before I share the list below, I want to say thank you to everyone who supported our work this past year. None of this would have been even remotely possible without the financial contributions made by community members. Thank you and revel in knowing all that your support helped us work toward fulfilling our mission to build community by strengthening and enhancing Jewish life.

  • We kept the community informed about the ongoing conflict in Israel by sending out weekly Israel updates throughout the year with the latest information and resources
  • Laemmle Theatres President, Greg Laemmle, was the keynote speaker at our 29th Annual Meeting (January)
  • Our community came together to hold our 6th Annual Every Person Has a Name Holocaust commemoration and vigil (January)
  • Led the community fight against ceasefire resolutions at city council meetings throughout our area since they led to a rise of anti-Jewish hate for community members (January – April)
  • We held our inaugural Ladies of Laughter Comedy Fest: Celebrating Funny Jewish Women (March)
  • Continued our work with local grocery stores to ensure they had an ample supply and variety of Passover food for our community (March)
  • PJ Library sent a Purim Shake and Bake kit and held a Passover Matzah Bake-off with PJ Families (March and April)
  • Two incredible JFed Players productions received rave reviews – Fiddler on the Roof (over half of all performances were sell-outs) (April) and Wisdom of Eve (September)
  • We emailed our annual Holiday Resource Guides to our community – Passover (April), High Holy Days (September), and Hanukkah (December)
  • Our JFed Players held its annual Holocaust Staged-Reading in observance of Yom HaShoah (May)
  • In response to an antisemitic incident, our Executive Director worked with a local high school to hold an anti-hate workshop for all of its 10th graders (May)
  • Kol HaEmek held their 14th Annual Shir Delights concert (June)
  • Camp Gan Shalom held another successful summer and experienced its highest camper enrollment in over 12 years (June – August)
  • Celebrated our 30th Anniversary with a brunch that honored our past Presidents and looked back at all we have accomplished since the organization began in 2023 (June)
  • Contacted all of our local school districts to share 8-year Jewish holiday calendar and remind them of the dates of this year’s High Holy Days (August)
  • Co-sponsored a community commemoration of the 1st anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel (October)
  • Launched our Jewish Community Relations Council to assist our Jewish Federation in serving as the advocate on behalf of our local Jewish community (October)
  • We held our 26th Annual Jewish Book Festival, including our third One Book, One Community event (October – December)
  • Began working with a couple local school districts to help them develop a district-wide approach to combating hate in their schools (November)
  • Coordinated a nationwide Buycott (reverse boycott) in support of Trader Joe’s carrying Israeli products in their stores (November)
  • Partnered with Foundation for Jewish Camp to bring One Happy Camper, a need-blind grant assistance program for families sending their child to a Jewish overnight camper for their first time, to our community (November)
  • Brought our community’s Jewish Professionals (Rabbis, Cantors, Educators, Executive Directors/Administrators) together to discuss our community’s needs (November)
  • We held a Town Hall meeting with the Consul General of Israel where he provided an update and insight into current Israel-related issues (December)
  • PJ Library held its annual Hanukkah celebration at Vroman’s that included author Naomi Howland reading her book (Latkes, Latkes Good to Eat), Cantor Judy Sofer leading a Hanukkah sing-along and arts and crafts (December)
  • After a short hiatus, we held our 16th Festival of Jewish Music with local cantors and Kol HaEmek performing a variety of Hanukkah songs (December)

I hope that as you read through this impressive list of some of the things we accomplished this year, you got a real sense of how through our work, our Jewish Federation directly impacted the lives of our local Jewish community. And as we conclude 2024, please consider making one final gift to support our Jewish Federation as we head into 2025.

 

Happy New Year!

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