Here’s what I experienced over just the past week—an unforgettable reminder of the depth, reach and urgency of our work together.

I watched the news of the United States targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, a threat to the entire world. At the same time, I saw photos of Pittsburgh Federation leadership in Washington, D.C., joining 400 Federation leaders from across the country to lobby Congress to double the Nonprofit Security Grant Program. This urgent advocacy comes in the wake of horrific attacks: two people killed while attending a Jewish-sponsored program in D.C. and another brutal assault in Boulder, Colorado.

I saw the devastation caused by Iranian missiles targeting Israeli civilians—innocent lives lost. The Federation system responded swiftly, sending $10 million to support urgent civilian needs.

While on a Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh mission to Poland, I met the director of the Hillel in Warsaw and heard how she is helping to reJEWvenate Jewish life for young people. I visited the Kraków JCC, a vibrant and growing community center with a preschool, which serves as a lifeline for mostly non-Jewish Ukrainian refugees in need of food and support.

At a Jewish institution in Warsaw, I saw a plaque acknowledging the security hardening made possible by the Jewish Agency for Israel, funded by our Federation dollars.

From Pittsburgh, I received an email about the successful new program, Shabbat Social, launched last Friday by our Young Adult Division (YAD). It’s a powerful initiative that brings young adults together to talk about their support for Israel and their Jewish identity.

All of this happened in just one week.

At the closing dinner of our mission to Warsaw, Krakow and Vienna, I shared a truth I feel constantly: We—every single donor to the Federation—are making modern Jewish history.

Thirty or forty years from now, future generations of Jews will learn about what we did to strengthen Jewish life. They’ll read about us in history books, discover us in digital archives or in ways we can’t yet imagine.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.
Let’s go make more history next week.