Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on May 25, 2021

This month marks Jewish American Heritage Month and the start of our year-long celebration to honor the 100th anniversary of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey in April 2022. This is the perfect opportunity to recognize the contributions and achievements of our own South Jersey community to the Jewish American experience.

In 1922, a group of 29 people with vision and compassion for others created an organization to serve the Jews living in Camden, NJ. From those humble beginnings of an organization focused on delivering food, clothing, and shelter, we have grown and evolved into the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey and our family of agencies. We now serve the needs of tens of thousands of Jews in South Jersey, and countless more in Israel and in 70 countries worldwide. Just as the population we serve has grown, so has our focus. Our five Areas of Impact are far-reaching, providing programs, services, and enhancing Jewish life for older adults, individuals with special needs, family and youth, as well as creating global connections and community engagement.

From 1989-1999, our community and our Jewish Family & Childrens Service agency helped to resettle 5,000 migrs from the Former Soviet Union to South Jersey. They were fleeing the persecution they faced as Jews in the FSU, coming to America for a new life. What they found here was the support of a whole community and the freedom to live Jewishly. Hundreds of families from our South Jersey community adopted the new families to our community, teaching them about life in America, celebrating Shabbat together, and becoming lifelong friends in the process.

In 2016, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of our Jewish Community Voice newspaper. Our Voice was the original Jewish Community Voice newspaper in the country. And while other community newspapers have adopted the name, ours remains the longest running Jewish Community Voice print newspaper in America. Today, you can read the Voice on the web, get news alerts and updates on the Voices social media channels, or sit back with a cup of coffee and read the news the old fashioned way with a printed paper in hand.

The Esther Raab Holocaust Museum & Goodwin Education Center, a program of our Jewish Community Relations Council agency, touches the hearts and minds of over 20,000 people each year, working with more than 250 schools, the juvenile justice system, and community organizations throughout South Jersey. The Center uses the lessons of the Holocaust to create critical and life-changing learning experiences that help shape our future generations so that we may never forget the atrocities of the Shoah.

In 2018, we celebrated the 20th anniversary of our Jewish Community Campus at 1301 Springdale Road. For our Katz Jewish Community Center agency, those 20 years included having the honor of hosting the Maccabi Games twice, seeing 1,000 students graduate from the early childhood program, continuing the learning opportunities with lifelong learning classes for thousands of older adults each year, and engaging with more than 30,000 campers.

We have built something truly amazing here in South Jersey through the hard work and contributions of so many people over the yearsthe visionaries, the philanthropists, the volunteers, the staffand the community.

For 2021, the National Museum of American Jewish History (NMAJH) in Philadelphia is leading the nationwide celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. NMAJH CEO Dr. Misha Galperin said, For more than 360 years, American Jews have always risen to contribute to society and culture, including science, medicine, sports, business, civil rights, government, and military service. NMAJH is working to raise awareness about those contributions and to stem the roots of antisemitism by bringing stories of American Jewish experience to life. To learn more about Jewish American Heritage Month, you can visit the NMAJH website at nmajh.org

And stay tuned as we begin planning for the 100th anniversary of our Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey. We will be sharing our favorite memories and important milestones from the last 100 years, culminating with a celebration event on Sunday, Apr. 10, 2022.

jweiss@jfedsnj.org

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Join us as we celebrate 100 amazing years of accomplishment - Jewish Community Voice

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