Connections!

It’s all about connections! Here we are in Greater Naples, Florida, and we are very lucky. We get to enjoy many wonderful experiences our community has to offer. Beyond the blue skies, white sand beaches, palm trees, the weather, etc., what makes our community wonderful? The first thing that pops into my mind are the people. Everyone I have met is as warm and engaging as the climate. It really is the people talking with each other, socializing, shopping…in other words, making connections. It’s all about the relationships – the connections.

While it did become harder this past year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, our Federation, our local agencies and our overseas partners all worked diligently to maintain the relationships and connections we have. We are all doing everything that we can to meet the growing needs of our local and global communities.

We, the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples, believe in building connections. We do this formally and informally. We do this singularly and collaboratively. You might ask, how does Federation do this? I’m glad you asked!

JEFFREY FELD President/CEO Jewish Federation of Greater Naples

We build connections through our Federation Executive Committee and Board of Directors, and through our Federation committees and activities, including:

• Jewish Community Relations Council

• Fund for Human Needs

• Stand Up for Justice Grant

• Catholic-Jewish Dialogue

• Israel Advocacy Committee

• Camp Scholarship Committee

• Jewish Russian Cultural Alliance

• People of the Book Cultural Event

• Women’s Cultural Alliance

• Men’s Cultural Alliance

• Jewish Book Festival

• Mix & Mingle

• Jewish Young Professionals

• Jewish Families with Children

• PJ Library In our Greater Naples community, we collaborate with agencies, congregations and organizations to provide:

• Youth Programs and Youth Education

• Local Humanitarian and Social Services

• Cultural Programs and Adult Education

We are fortunate in this community to be able to work closely with Beth Tikvah, BBYO Naples, Chabad of Naples, Chabad at FGCU, Temple Shalom, Hillel, Naples Senior Center at JFCS, the Holocaust Museum & Janet G. and Harvey D. Cohen Education Center, Naples Jewish Congregation, Jewish Congregation of Marco Island, Jewish War Veterans, Cardozo Society and others.

The Federation also works with these national Jewish advocacy organizations:

• Anti-Defamation League

• American Friends of Magen David Adom

• Jewish National Fund

• American Jewish World Service Included in our community are our Israel and overseas connections:

• The Jewish Federations of North America

• Jewish Agency for Israel

• American Jewish Joint DistributionCommittee

• Neve Michael Children’s Village

• Yad LaKashish – Lifeline for the Old

• Sapir Community Center – Kfar Saba

• World Union for Progressive Judaism – HaTikvah Preschool in Kiev, Ukraine

• Taglit-Birthright Israel

• ORT

• Ethiopian National Project

• Arava Institute

• Special in Uniform

• American Friends of ELI

• Yashar LaChayal

• Susan’s House

• Leket Israel

• American Friends of Eli

Being a member of the Jewish community is all about connecting to each other. Federation recognizes the importance of “Kol Yisrael Aravim Zeh L’zeh,” which means, “All Israel is Responsible, One for Each Other.”

Again, it is all about the connections that we know and even some we may not know. Being connected, being responsible in some way for each other, having all of these opportunities and experiences, is absolutely wonderful!

Let’s continue to grow our community through all of our Connections.

No Gift Touches More Lives