JFED CONNECTS AN UPDATE OF WHAT’S HAPPENING AT JEWISH FEDERATION OF ST. LOUIS
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2015
INSIDE Millstone Coaching Seminar......................... 2 Jewish Community Study Save the Date ............... 2 YPD Roots..................... 2 Disability Awareness ..... 3 Art & Writing Contest ... 3 YPD Campaign Kickoff Save the Date ............... 3 The Day the Rabbis Marched ....................... 3 Anything Grants............ 4 10th Annual JPro Luncheon ...................... 4 YPD Date Night ............ 4
JFedSTL.org
From our Chair, Patricia Croughan As the new year begins, I would first like to thank you for your generous support of the 2014 Annual Campaign. Your gifts impact so many diverse areas of Jewish life here, in Israel, and in the former Soviet Union, and help to maintain and to grow healthy, engaging Jewish life. On behalf of the community, my thanks. Looking ahead, 2015 already promises to be a very busy year. To name just a few highlights, the results of the Community Study will be available next month and are sure to generate robust discussions about future planning. The integration of Central Agency for Jewish Education into Jewish Federation of St. Louis’ department of Community Development and Engagement will be
completed by June, and will allow for a more targeted approach to issues of Jewish engagement across generational lines. We will see the second Interfaith Couples Mission to Israel and a refreshed Interfaith Initiative. We will initiate a new program of giving circles for teens to help them learn about community needs and become partners in philanthropy, and we will continue our Innovation Grants program. And, the list goes on and on... These are exciting times for our Jewish community, times of change, times of challenge, times of possibilities. We welcome your feedback, your suggestions and, of course, your participation! With best wishes for a happy and healthy 2015, Patty Croughan Board Chair
From our CEO, Andrew Rehfeld In 1994, St. Louis had 60,000 individuals living in Jewish homes, 54,000 of whom, or about 90%, identified as Jewish. In 2015, what will the numbers be? With national trends of intermarriage continuing, we expect that proportion to change. But, what about the overall numbers? Are we still a community of 60,000 individuals living in Jewish homes, have we declined, have we grown … and by how much? And are we still heading west towards St. Charles, or are we wandering back in an easterly direction? On February 18, 2015, we will all find out; the results of our first Jewish Community Study in 20 years will be released at a public presentation. The study will tell us a lot about our community. It will tell us how many people are part of it, where we live and what our needs are. It will help us to understand what matters to us Jewishly,
where we are engaged and where we are not. It will provide some ideas of where our efforts might be most effective going forward and where they may be less so. In short, it will provide feedback for our synagogues, organizations and agencies to work more effectively to achieve their missions. And, that includes Jewish Federation of St. Louis’ mission of “preserving and enhancing” our Jewish community. The study was built to truly meet the needs of our community. To ensure that as many voices as possible were heard, in the Fall of 2013 we put together an advisory committee involved with many different parts of Jewish life, including some who were not as involved. In the winter of 2014, we conducted a wide range of focus groups from congregations, schools, agencies, and actively sought to hear from people who were less involved. The committee spent hours working with our research group (Jewish Policy & Action Research, or
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From our CEO, Andrew Rehfeld continued JPAR) developing a questionnaire out of the hundreds of possible questions proposed. By April 2014, the work of executing the study was turned over to JPAR who trained professionals to call over 1,000 individual members of our community. We had one of the largest response rates for surveys of this kind, thanks to the great work of our marketing staff whose “Count Me In” campaign raised awareness for our efforts. Over the last 3 months, our committee has now poured over the initial results to provide one last set of eyes to the data and make sure the results makes sense. On February 18, the international research team from JPAR will be with us to share the results. February 18 marks the first report, but we will be working with congregations, agencies and other community organizations to make sure that the data we have collected is used in a more focused way to address their needs.
The study is a good example of Jewish Federation of St. Louis’ role to build and develop our community through supporting our infrastructure. There is no other community-wide organization that could mount such a project aimed at meeting the needs of all. The study has been staffed by Susan Scribner, St. Louis Jewish Community Study Manager, and the committee has been chaired by Les Sterman. Other members include Patty Croughan (Ex-officio), Jeff Glogower, Gerald Greiman (Ex-Officio), Harvey Hieken, Paul Kravitz, Mark Levin, Emily Stein MacDonald, Neil Marglous, Michael Novack, Ruth Raskas (Ex-officio), Barry Seeskin, Karen Tabak and Greg Yawitz. I would like to thank all of those who made this possible, including a significant investment by the Hiekens and additional funding from the Lubin-Green Foundation, the Morton J. and Morton D. May Fund of the Greater St. Louis Community Foundation and an anonymous donor, along with contributions to our annual campaign from donors like you.
MILLSTONE COACHING SEMINAR Forty professionals and volunteer leaders representing 22 organizations participated in Deborah Grayson Riegel’s Jewish Coaching Academy sponsored by the Millstone Institute. Participants learned ways to integrate coaching into their own leadership, including heightened listening, asking powerful questions, exploring different perspectives, empowering others to make commitments and collaborating to solve challenges. In addition, the group will continue to meet in 2015 for peer coaching and additional training with Sylvia Nissenboim. Subsidies were made possible by a special allocation from the Lubin-Green Foundation, a supporting foundation of Jewish Federation of St. Louis, in honor of former Jewish Federation of St. Louis’ President & CEO, Barry Rosenberg. For more information, contact Marci Mayer Eisen at 314-442-3810.
DISCOVER WHAT’S BELOW THE SURFACE OF YPD JEWISH
COMMUNITY STUDY SAVE THE DATE
St. Louis Jewish Community Study Results
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 7-9 pm More details to follow.
YPD Roots provides a select group of Jewish young adults with an introduction to the work of the Young Professionals Division (YPD) and Jewish Federation of St. Louis. This five session series has been designed to explore Jewish identity, inspire Jewish community involvement, and prepare and empower you to improve our community. If you’re ready to explore your Jewish identity, contact Lee’at Bachar at 314-442-3817 or LBachar@JFedSTL.org. Learn more. Apply today. YPDSTL.org/Get-involved/Roots/
JEWISH DISABILITY AWARENESS MONTH February is Jewish Disability Awareness month, and Jewish Federation of St. Louis is joining other communities in planning events and creating awareness around disabilities and inclusion issues in the St. Louis Jewish community. We hope you will join us for one or all of the following events:
St. Louis Jewish Community
INCLUSION INITIATIVE
February 8, 2015, 4 pm-6 pm An afternoon of interactive fun (with a Jewish twist) at the St. Louis Myseum, for families with pre-school – 5th grade children. Siblings are welcome. This year, a respite room for children with special needs will also be available. $4/person; max $18/family. For more information, contact Rinat Kisin at 314-442-3801 or go to JFedSTL.org/Inclusion.
SAVE THE DATE FOR YPD’S 2015 CAMPAIGN KICKOFF February 28 from 8 pm-11 pm @ Moto Museum. Don’t miss our 80’s Winterfest Party! More details to follow.
February 5 and February 12, 2015, 6 pm-9 pm Join presenter Sally Brown for an Educator’s Workshop on “Defining Terms – What is Inclusion” and “Strategies for Inclusion in the Classroom.” For more information, contact Rinat Kisin, RKisin@JFedSTL.org or 314-442-3801. February 22, 2015, 2 pm-4 pm An educational event for parents of kids with disabilities at the JCC, Staenberg Family Complex. There will be a financial advisor to present to parents information on how to adequately plan for their and their child’s future, and there will also be Zumba classes for the kids during the adult program. This event is free of charge and open to the entire Jewish community. RSVP to Rinat Kisin, RKisin@JFedSTL.org or 314-442-3801. GET FUNDED: Inclusion Mini Grants Now Accepting Applications There are many barriers to active participation of Jewish individuals with disabilities in the local Jewish community. To help eliminate some of these barriers, Jewish Federation of St. Louis, in partnership with the St. Louis Jewish Community Inclusion Initiative, is proud to introduce a new program in which Jewish agencies, congregations and Jewish schools may apply for mini-grants of up to $5,000 for inclusive programs within the St. Louis Region. Applications are being accepted now through February 27. For eligibility information, visit JFedSTL.org/Inclusion/Inclusion-Mini-Grant All applicants must be a 501c3 status nonprofit organization. No individuals or for-profit businesses.
Calling all Educators! We encourage your participation in the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center’s (HMLC) annual Art and Writing Contest, one of the Museum’s most significant outreach programs. The hundreds of submissions received each year powerfully convey the impact that studying about the Holocaust and its lessons – whether taught through a Museum visit or in the classroom – have on so many young people. For more information, or suggestions concerning how to maximize student involvement in the contest by integrating art and writing in your curriculum, please contact Dan Reich at 314-442-3714, by email at DReich@JFedSTL.org or visit HMLC.org.
“The Day the Rabbis Marched in Washington: the 400 Rabbis Who Helped Change U.S. Policy Towards the Holocaust” is the focus of this year’s annual Rubin Feldman Memorial Lecture, which will be held at the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center theater in the Jewish Federation of St. Louis Kopolow Building, 12 Millstone Campus Drive, February 17 at 7:30 pm. Dr. Rafael Medoff, founding director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, will tell the story of the more than 400 rabbis who, in 1943, converged on Washington D.C. to plead with the United States government to take action to save the Jews during the Holocaust. This program, which will include rare original footage of the march, describes the background of the march and the divisions in the American Jewish community over publicly challenging the Roosevelt administration. This lecture is generously supported by Aish St. Louis and the Rubin (z”l) and Gloria Feldman Family Education Institute of the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center. Dr. Medoff’s presentation will be followed by a light reception (dietary laws observed). This lecture is free and open to the public, but registration is required. To register, or for further information, please contact Andrew Goldfeder at 314-442-3711 or AGoldfeder@JFedSTL.org or the AISH office at 314-862-2474 or CWolff@AISH.com.
BACK AGAIN
2015
AN OPPORTUNITY TO
Do Anything Fund your Jewish organization’s operations, project or program with a Staenberg Family Foundation Anything Grant. Anything Grants will help organizations of all sizes raise funds for a variety of needs, including infrastructure, capital improvements, new and ongoing programs, technology, etc. These one-time grants will range from $1,000 to $5,000, equal to 50% of the project budget. Organizations are responsible for raising the remaining 50% from other sources. Applications are being accepted now through February 27, 2015. The 2015 Anything Grants are in honor of Tom Green for his years of service and dedication to the Staenberg Family Foundation and St. Louis Jewish Community.
YPD is bringing back its popular Date Night Series to give couples an opportunity to gather, meet other Jewish couples and engage in some fun activities. The series will include four events, one each month from February through May. Couples of all types in their 20s and 30s—married, dating, LGBTQ, etc.—are welcome to attend any or all events in the series. The first event will be a sushi night held on Thursday, February 5, at a private home. Couples will participate in a hands-on sushi making demonstration and eat what they make. The cost is $30 per couple; space is limited. To register, go to YPDSTL.org/DateNight. Future events will include challah making, a chocolate tasting and a brewery tour. For more information on YPD or the Date Night Series, contact Lee’at Bachar at LBachar@JFedSTL.org or 314-442-3817.
JFedSTL.org
Apply and get more information at JFedSTL.org/AnythingGrants.
JProStl, our community’s professional association, is celebrating its tenth anniversary and excitement is building for the tenth annual JPro luncheon on Thursday, January 29. The luncheon is co-chaired by Beth Feldman (Jewish Light) and Rachel Lubchansky (Epstein Hebrew Academy), overseeing the luncheon is Julie Gibbs (Jewish Federation of St. Louis), JPro Special Events Chair. HONORING PROFESSIONALS “The Annual JPro luncheon represents our community celebrating together as a family,” C E L E B R AT I N G CO M M U N I T Y shared Rabbi Shaya Mintz of the St. Louis Kollel. The luncheon is open to the entire community and is free of charge for staff and $25 for guests. To RSVP, contact Karen Sher at KSher@JFedSTL.org or 314-442-3824. Visit MillstoneSTL.org/JPro15 to register and see a list of honorees.
Luncheon & REcognition Event