By Daniel Staffenberg, CEO, Jewish Community Federation of Richmond
It was so special to bring our community together for the Grand Event. During the evening, I shared the following:
“I want to be clear: the answer to that question (about American Jewish life reaching a tipping point), is not preordained or inevitable. We need not be casual bystanders to the whims of the world around us, but rather by being organized and strategic as a community, by working together, uplifting each other and working above the noise around us………we get to write the next chapter in the story of Jewish life. […]
We get to find the joy, create the soundtrack of our Jewish future.
Take a moment to ask yourself: What kind of community do you envision being a part of? What kind of community do you want your children and grandchildren to grow up in?
I want us to live in a world where our kids are proud to stand up and share about their Judaism, rather than one where they hide their identities in fear. A place where we embrace the diversity within the Jewish people and find more opportunities to stand together, united.
For 89 years. Federation has existed to meet the most urgent needs of the day and to ensure the long-term stability and vibrancy of our community, locally and globally.
We are here today, with 17,000 Jews in Greater Richmond, because our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents supported the Federation as our community evolved, grew and adapted.
Generations before us recognized that though we may not always agree on everything, our role is to invest in the future by committing to working together and by supporting each other.
The challenge we face today is to not allow external forces to tear us apart, to make us retreat, but rather to recognize that we have an opportunity to build, to create and to strengthen the future and the community that WE aspire to live in.
To build on the promises of our past and create a vibrant and strong Jewish future.
Am Yisrael Chai!
