Federation Impact | The Jewish Federations of North America

Aug 17, 2016

Philanthropic Giving Helps Make the World Better Place

Fourteen-year-old Rose was trapped in the Ludmir ghetto. A strong young woman, she was forced into hard labor by the Germans, cleaning their homes, digging frozen fields, and transporting human waste. The shining light in her life was Carl Goldberg—a man 12 years her senior who lost his wi…

Aug 11, 2016

We Need To Be a Judaism That Inspires

My name is Jeff, and though I'm the co-chair designate of Federations' National Young Leadership, I didn’t grow up in a Federation family. I didn’t go to synagogue much or attend Jewish summer camp, and I never joined a Jewish youth group. However, as the grandchild of Holocaust survivor…

Aug 1, 2016

The Words That Changed Rebekah's Life

Rebekah’s earliest Jewish memories aren’t the most positive. Her mother converted to marry her father, but was never accepted by his family or their community. After years of being excluded from Passover seders, Rebekah wanted to distance herself from Jewish identity entirely. When she a…

Jul 15, 2016

Reclaiming the Comforts of Home: How JDC Helps European Survivors in Need

Oszkár, 94, vividly remembers his Budapest childhood. Passover seders with family, singing in the synagogue choir, studying at vocational school--and the Nazis storming in and destroying all of it. Though he had dreamed of one day becoming a bank officer, the new anti-Jewish legislation tur…

May 26, 2016

Bringing the Torah Home: Yemen's Last Jews Come to Israel

Yechiya Ya’akov Dahari’s whole family diligently kept the Torah in Yemen even under the most trying of circumstances. As a metal worker who raised nine children through poverty and prejudice, he felt he was tough enough to handle life in Yemen. But as time went on, the situation became…