It’s hard to pick just one memorable moment from this frenetic week to highlight.  There was the opening of the new Holocaust Center space on Sunday with a huge crowd in attendance including, most importantly, our local Holocaust survivors.  The first session of this year’s Wechsler Young Leadership program began with an overview of the Federation and a lesson from the Federation’s Jewish Scholar on how to prepare a D’var Torah.  The volunteers who work hard on the campaign by calling upon community members to donate met at our “Draft” to choose who they would each have the honor of soliciting.

One constant presence through all of the above is the Jewish Community Foundation.  At each program, our Foundation was highlighted.  The Holocaust Center is funded in part by an endowment they have built over the years.  The Wechsler Young Leadership group heard about how important the Foundation is for our community and how they, even as young people, can participate in the work of the Foundation.  In addition, the Wechsler program is named as such because of the generosity of the Wechsler’s in establishing a fund in our Foundation so that the Federation can make this serious investment in our future leaders.  At our Draft, all our volunteer solicitors learned how they can not only present the needs through our annual campaign to our donors, but also how they can open conversations with them about how they can leave a legacy through our Foundation.

Our Jewish Community Foundation provides incredible impact and opportunity.  That opportunity comes from working with our talented staff to determine a tax advantageous way to leave a lasting legacy on our community.

I hope to see all of you on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the JCC to hear directly from the Israeli Consul General from Philadelphia about the ongoing terrorism in Israel – CLICK HERE FOR MORE.  Our Community Relations Council is proud to present this opportunity to not only learn, but to come together as a community in support of Israel.

Shabbat Shalom.