Buffalo Jewish Federation Mid-Year Update June 5, 2023

SAVE THE DATE: KICKOFF EVENT IS SEPTEMBER 20!

The annual Campaign for Jewish Buffalo Kickoff Event will be held this year on Wednesday, September 20, 2023 at 6 pm. The event will be held at UB’s Center for the Arts, a hub of arts, entertainment and creativity, that reflects the vibrancy and diversity of Jewish Buffalo. The evening will be a celebration and includes honoring Gary Greenfield with the Nathan Benderson Community Service Award, and Randi Morkisz with the Kantor Professional Service Award. Stay Tuned for details as well as dates for the Major Donor Dinner at the end of August and the annual Lion & Pomegranate Event in the Fall.

NEW KOLOT FUND

This spring the Kramer and Shuman families along with Federation established the Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund. While serving as Federation President, Leslie was a strategic and wise force, advocating for the most pressing issues of the day. Of note, was her work to convene, nurture and lift up other female leaders.

The Leslie Shuman Kramer KOLOT Fund will support projects that focus on elevating women ’ s voices and growing future female Federation leaders. Projects will touch on at least one of Leslie’s three primary passions: family & legacy, immersive experiences, and deep Jewish learning

Contributions to the fund will work along with the $500,000 committed by the Kramer and Shuman families, to ensure that the Buffalo Jewish Federation can honor Leslie’s lifetime of leadership by continuing her work to elevate women ’ s voices and grow future female Federation leaders. To Contribute please visit: : bit.ly/KOLOTFUND

DIGNITY GROWS

Dignity Grows Buffalo continues to grow and reach more neighbors in need. Since December, there have been 7 events engaging 138 volunteers (80% of which are new volunteers), resulting in the packing of 2388 totes. In addition, Dignity Grows has been selected as a recipient of a product grant from our partner Aunt Flow. Buffalo will receive 87 cases totaling 43,500 individually wrapped menstrual pads, fulfilling 2150 totes. From law offices, Synagogue Social Action Committees, LiNK Teens and B'nai Mitzvah students, we continue to connect with people from all over the community.

IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCES

Jewish Buffalo Exploring Our Roots

In May we announced an exciting opportunity to travel to Poland and Austria as part of the Jewish Buffalo Exploring Our Roots trip. Chaired by Brian and Pam Snyder, we invite you to spend 9 amazing days discovering together. The search for family roots can stem from so many places; we will uncover our connection through education, remembrance and hope as we travel from Warsaw to Krakow to Vienna. We will immerse ourselves in regions history and culture and explore new ways of creating community and reimagining Jewish identity. For more information contact: Stacey Block.

IsraelNow Teen Trip

We are excited to join the IsraelNow project out of Chicago Federation (UJF) and bring up to twelve 8th graders to Israel in February 2024 in partnership with the Rochester Jewish Federation. IsraelNow is the only community-wide, pluralistic trip from the United States to Israel that is purposefully designed for Jewish eighth-grade students attending public and independent schools. The total cost of the trip is $6200 per person. Thanks to funding from IsraelNow, the Buffalo Jewish Federation and the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies, the cost to each participant is $2100 For more information about the trip contact Mike Steklof or visit https://buffalojewishfederation.org/israelnow-teen-trip

The first gathering of the newest Momentum group - 8 women with diverse careers, family structures and relationships to Judaism – met in May. The Israel trip component of the trip will take place October. One spot is still available. For more information or it you know someone who may be interested in participating, please contact Miriam Abramovich.

Strategic People Planning

We are in phase 2 of the Federation’s 3 year Strategic People Plan, a project that Miriam Abramovich, Rob Goldberg, and Margie Bryen have been partnering on for the past year with input from the executive committee. Key elements of the plan include: identifying top talent, strategic realignment and pairing of Federation functions & professionals, succession planning, and the creation of a new personal policy (being written as we speak in partnership with our new Professional Employer Organization, ESC) reflective of this moment and our current virtual first work environment. The plan goals include: a) get the right people - those who embrace our culture and work efficiently and effectively - in the right roles so that they can make the greatest impact. And, b) to ensure that the people policies/practices/programs of the BJF provide employees with a valuable reward in exchange for their contribution to the organization’s mission.

Updating the Federation's Bylaws

Like all non-profits, The Buffalo Jewish Federation is governed by a set of bylaws that dictate the rules, boundaries, and process that we follow to maintain an efficient and compliant organization. Simply put, they are the Board’s operating manual.

Historically our function, like all Federations, was primarily to raise and distribute funds to organizations that enhance the well-being of Jews locally and worldwide. But today many Federations like ours have evolved to include a secondary core function: building community & strengthening its functionality. One other significant shift is that the population size of Jewish Buffalo has declined over the last several decades. As a result, our organization and its structure need to reflect these changes With gratitude to Governor, Harvey Sanders, a bylaws task force has spent the last several months focused on updating the bylaws to better align with these changes. The plan is for the Federation’s Board of Governors to approve the updated bylaws later this year.

May/June Jewish Journal of Western New York

We hope you enjoyed the latest issue of the Jewish Journal! As a reminder, all issues can be read online by visiting buffalojewishfederation.org/jewish-journal

Click here to read the May/June 2023 issue. The July/August 2023 issue should arrive at the end of June

If you have questions about the paper, please contact Ellen Goldstein.

ADVANCEMENT

The Campaign for Jewish Buffalo for 2023 has raised $1,785,028 to date. We are currently running over $200,000 ahead of last year at the same time.

The Federation and Foundation made their annual visit to Florida in March. Over 4 days Rob Goldberg, Randi Morkisz and Miriam Abramovich visited with over 100 donors who reside permanently in Florida or are snowbirds During that time we were able to update our friends on the many exciting things happening in our community.

Our Life and Legacy efforts have been very strong in Year 2. The Federation has already received 26 new commitments. Our thanks to Howard Rosenhoch for leading this initiative for the Federation. Please contact Randi Morkisz to discuss your legacy plan.

This Sunday, June 10, the Campaign for Jewish Buffalo will hold their annual celebration. Gil Wolfe will be thanked for his two successful years as Campaign Chair and Amelida Weinmann for completing her first year as Women’s Philanthropy Chair We are so appreciative to the entire cabinet for all of their help on the 2023 Campaign. Marc Brown will be welcomed as the incoming Campaign Chair for the 2024 and 2025 Campaigns.

LiNK JEWISH BUFFALO

New Team Members

We are overjoyed to share with you some changes to the LiNK Team taking place this summer. On June 1, we will welcome three new part-time professionals to the team, and the larger Federation landscape:

Zahava Fried Manager of Young Family Engagement

Noah Block

Teen Engagement Intern

Eli Pincus

Middle School Engagement Intern

In addition, Robin Kurss will be taking on new Federation responsibilities leading events and will continue to manage large scale events for LiNK, as well as launching Middle Essence - a new initiative to engage adults. Zack Steinberg will take on a greater role as Jewish Educator, managing monthly Future Men's Group Home activities and working with Noah and Eli on Middle School & Teen engagement Susan Schwartz will continue overseeing Wise programs and assisting with Jewish content through LiNK Finally, on August 1, Rabbi Sara Rich will assume the role of Senior Jewish Educator managing Intro to Judaism, monthly Miriam's Well programming at the Jewish Women's Group Home, and other adult learning programs.

LiNK Jewish Buffalo

Let's Talk About antisemitism

In May, over 100 Jewish Buffalonians (including adults, educators, and teens) gathered to create a shared language and explore tangible tools for addressing antisemitism and combatting hate. This gathering was planned in partnership with the Holocaust Resource Center and Jewish Community Relations Council and was supported by the Harold Grinspoon Foundation

Young Adult Engagement

Under the leadership of Eric Niles and Macie Clawson, we have engaged in deep conversations about refreshing Nickel City Jews. Based on these conversations, this summer we will be sunsetting the Nickel City Jews name and introducing a new peer driven approach to Young Adult engagement.

Adult Engagement

Prior to Passover, LiNK experimented with hosting a gathering for adults of all ages at Big Ditch Brewery The event attracted 30 people including many whom we've not engaged before. We then hosted a similarly designed gathering on Lag B'omer at 12 Gates Brewery which attracted 36 people. In 2023-2024 we plan to hold more adult pop-up events to continue this momentum

Box of Freedom

This past March, the LiNK team distributed 115 Boxes of Freedom to families throughout Buffalo. Each box contained four activities and a discussion guide to enhance the celebration of Passover. This project was supported by the National Center to Encourage Judaism.

Middle School Engagement

Thanks to the leadership of Sharon Nisengard, Ashirah Lazarus-Klein, and Jessica Cunningham, we hosted a series of gatherings this year created and hosted by Middle Schoolers for Middle Schoolers including a game night at Buffalo Battleground and Ice Bumper Cars in Lockport.

For

contact Mike Steklof here.

JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL

Social and Racial Justice

First JEDI (Jewish, Equity Diversity Inclusion) Cohort: Several members of the Federation professional team participated in a five-month JFNA-curated curriculum about acknowledging bias and perspective whilelearninghowwecanbuildamoreraciallyinclusivecommunity ThankyoutoRachelBeerman,JCRC Managerforfacilitating!SecondcohortbeginningFall2023.

Engaging/ExperiencingourneighborsinBlackBuffalo:Organized by the Racial Justice Sub-committee, Jewish Buffalo visited Ujima Theatre to see the play “Callud Wattah” which is about the Flint water crisis, the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s exhibit Sharing Our View: 25th Anniversary which highlights Black artists, and hosted a Book Club discussion about Color of Water: A Black Man’sTributetoHisWhiteMother,byJamesMcBride.

PJ Library Interfaith Family Series: BJF received a PJ Library Engagement Grant with the intention of building multi-race and interfaith relationships. Rachel Beerman facilitates this series with families from Jewish Buffalo and Pilgrim St. Luke’s United Church of Christ.

Get Out the Vote (GOTV) activities: JCRC is an active partner in a large voter engagement coalition led by League of Women Voters, NAACP, Voice Buffalo, Buffalo Urban League and others. Some activities include phone banking, supporting accessibility (ASL interpreters) at events, and amplifying voter education and candidates’ information.

Addressing Hate and antisemitism

“The Producers” @ Clarence High School: JCRC was an active participant in the Federation multi-pronged response to Clarence High School’s musical performance choice. The response included engagement with students, educators, administration, in-service education to cast/crew and a case study presentation at the “Let’s Talk about antisemitism” gathering in May. JCRC with other Federation departments created the webpage: Addressing antisemitism in Greater Buffalo.

NYS Anti-bias Regional Council: Rob Goldberg and Mara Koven-Gelman were invited to join one of the State’s 10 Councils This initiative is to address the increase in hate and antisemitism, through community input. Rob attended the first meeting held in NYC and connected with two community leaders/friends, Rev. Mark Blue (NAACP Buffalo Branch) and Thomas Beauford Jr. (Buffalo Urban League).

JEWISH COMMUNITY RELATIONS COUNCIL

Intergroup and Legislative Relationships

Civic Leader Trip to Israel: 18 civic leaders from across Greater Buffalo were deeply immersed in learning the beauty and complexity of Israel Highlights included visiting faith sites, shared society initiatives (Jews and Palestinians coexistence initiatives) and Partnership Region home hospitality Deep relationships have been created, as evidenced by media interviews, numerous gatherings and shared projects.

Legislative Meetings: JCRC leadership met with the following legislative leaders: NYS Assembly member Jon Rivera (District 149), U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins.

Advocacy Corp: JCRC is building a legislative (all levels of government) Advocacy Corp through support from JFNA government affairs. Several Jewish Buffalo volunteer leaders have expressed interest and will learn more later this month.

5/14 Remembrance Events: Jewish Buffalo “showed love and showed up ” at a variety of events to honor the victims, families, survivors, and larger East Side community. Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein published this important and caring article.

For more information, contact Mara Koven-Gelman here

MEDICAL DELEGATION VISITS BUFFALO IN JULY

On July 16-18, we are excited to welcome the Medical Speakers Delegation from our P2G region in the Western Galilee. Working in partnership with Governor Gil Wolfe, we are set to host two extraordinary physicians:

Dr. Wafaa Bellan, a senior physician and specialist in both anesthesia and intensive care medicine at The Galilee Medical Center as well as a clinical instructor at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine Bar Ilan University

Aya Kagade, MHA, MEM, Director, Department of International Affairs at The Galilee Medical Center and the Israeli Co-Chair of the Partnerhsip2Gether Medical Committee

Noya Haimovich, Missions and Medical Committee Partnership Coordinator will also be joining the delegation as well. If you are interested in connecting with our guests, please reach out to Mandy Weiss.

REGIONAL SECURITY FRAMEWORK BEGINS

How can the Jewish community ensure that all Jews are safe and secure? The answer for Jewish Buffalo and smaller Jewish communities in Central and Western New York, is constant and careful coordination, collaboration, and cooperation among the Jewish leadership in the region. Beginning this summer, working under the framework of Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA)’s ambitious, far-ranging LiveSecure effort, we in Buffalo are joining with Jewish communities in Central and Western NY to now be under the same protective umbrella.

Our Community Security Coordinator, Susan DeMari is in the forefront of developing a comprehensive regional security plan, with guidance from the Secure Community Network (SCN), the organization that was founded by JFNA, in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, to cope with the mushrooming threat of domestic terrorism to the Jewish community.

Jewish communities in Buffalo, Rochester, Utica, Ithaca, Binghamton and Syracuse are all receiving grant funding from from LiveSecure that will be matched by local donors. Buffalo’s grant is $135,000 over 3 years. The new funding will enable Susan and her counterpart in Rochester, Mark Henderson, to assess the security needs of every Jewish organization in the region and to put measures in place—and in particular, regular, intensive, standardized trainings at summer camps, schools, synagogues, JCCs, and other places where Jews gather. “Preparation is paramount,” explains Susan. “The more people who are trained to react effectively in the case of an emergency, the more lives will be saved—whether through neutralizing the threat, escaping the danger, stopping the bleed, or otherwise acting--either individually or collaboratively-to protect themselves and each other.”

On Juneteenth (June 19), Susan and Mark are hosting a luncheon for federal, state, and local law enforcement officials throughout the region to develop strategies for how to combat terrorism in the most effective and most concerted way. “We want to make sure that when something bad happens, all the necessary networks and relationships are already in place,” reflects Susan.

The closer ties that exist among security experts in the different communities, Susan noted, the more they will be able to share information, resources, and best practices. While SCN has a 24-hour duty desk in Chicago with an FBI-like multiscreen monitoring system that tracks events of concern in real time across the country, there is “no substitute,” Susan said, “for the connections that we are making with national, state, and local law enforcement agencies that make it possible for every incident to get the immediate attention that it deserves.”

If you would like more information please contact Susan here or would like to discuss contributing to this regional effort, contact Miriam here.

HOLOCAUST RESOURCE CENTER

Speakers Bureau

To date, the Speakers Bureau has reached over 9,000 students and community members through speaking dates in schools and many businesses and organizations, including: Horizon Health, the FBI, The Amherst Arts and Culture in Public Places Board, and Starry Night Theaterl

International Holocaust Remembrance Day - January 26, 2023

Sharon Cameron, author of The Light in Hidden Places spoke to students from the Park School and Canisius High School and to an audience in person and online at Canisius College

Educator's Conference - March 21, 2023

Todd Hennessy of Yahud In Unum, spoke to over 60 teachers about Holocausts by Bullets, the undocumented victims of the Holocaust killed in the Ukraine and eastern Europe. The conference consisted of a keynote presentation, presentations by second and third generation descendants, student to student and workshops based on teaching subjects led by USHMM teacher fellows

Yom HaShoah - April 16, 2023

Over 200 community members gathered for this year ’ s commemoration held at Temple Beth Zion. The theme was “Passing the Torch to Future Generations.” Six families -the Kester Family, Sol Messinger’s family, Sophia Veffer’s family, Andre Toth’s family, Ada Kerizmada’s family and Viola Sterman’s family - were honored as well as Greg Shershnevsky and Nick Leibovic. 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation descendants spoke of their family Holocaust story.

Film Screening - June 4, 2023

The screening of a Hungarian documentary on the life of Righteous Gentile Tibor Baranski was held at Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Awards Ceremony - June 8, 2023

We hope you will join us for our awards ceremony to honor our Arts & Writing Contest winners, The Sophia Veffer Upstander Awardees, the Student Upstander Awardee, and the 2023 Toby Ticktin Back Educator.

Thursday, June 8 @ 7 pm

Congregation Shir Shalom

JEWISH BUFFALO HISTORY CENTER (JBHC)

TOP 10 LIST

Launched a substantive new online exhibition, supported by the Shuman and Kramer families on Sokolivka involving multiple families

Created new organizational profiles for:

Holy Order

Ustingrader Unterstitzung

Verein (UUV)

Interviewed by Buffalo Niagara for Feb 15 anniversary of Harold Arlen – and the traveling exhibition continues to travel! Currently at Temple Beth Tzedek.

Added a new section to Rosa Coplon and Weinberg Campus and new additions across the website overall.

Created a new JBHC Resource sheet

Supported history exploration with the Buffalo Passport office and their DEI department and they created their own notice board of fun Jewish Buffalo facts

Statistics for site usage are exponentially growing: 21.03 K users and 49.91 K page views since inception!

Ran weekly Jewish American Heritage Month social media postings during the month of May.

Launched new biographical profiles including:

Leslie Shuman Kramer

Sylvia Rosen

Rabbi Dr. Joseph L. Fink

Answered numerous enquires each week from authors, researchers, academics and community members seeking information about Jewish Buffalo from across America, within Greater Buffalo and worldwide. The JBHC also helps Jewish organizations and departments within the Buffalo Jewish Federation.