From Our CEO

Jerry Silverman, president and CEO of JFNA, is an experienced Jewish community leader and longtime corporate executive with over 25 years of experience at Stride Rite Corp., Levi Strauss & Co. and the Foundation for Jewish Camp, as well as on the boards of a range of Jewish organizations.

 

We All Deserve Life, Integrity and Security

On Shavuot earlier this week, we joyously celebrated our receipt of the Torah at Mount Sinai, with its commandments that give our Jewish values and our sense of community. We read from the Book of Ruth, which teaches us to be kind, loving and open.

As is tradition, many of us studied as a c…

We need to put the Yizkor back into Memorial Day

In Israel, when the two-minute siren sounds at 11 am on Yom Hazikaron, the Jewish State's Memorial Day, the nation comes to a halt. As we saw just two weeks ago, cars on streets and highways pull over, and drivers and passengers get out of their vehicles to stand and observe a moment of sile…

Standing in Unity With Israel, Flaws and All

Israel’s Yom Ha’atzmaut — Independence Day — is particularly meaningful for my family. My uncle brought his family to the country from Poland in 1936, and he and my aunt fought on the streets of Tel Aviv in the War of Independence in 1948. My grandmother’s sister and her husband es…

Dayenu — Would It Really Have Been Enough?

It is one of the most recognized tunes at the Passover seder. Dayenu — it would have been enough.

Every year, the lyrics take us through the Israelites’ escape from Egyptian slavery and their journey through the desert, as we sing about each gift — each miracle — that G-d bestowed a…

In Praise of Professionals

Gadol hama'aseh yoter min ha'oseh.

Rabbi Elazar taught us that one who causes others to do is greater than one who does. For it is said, the work of righteousness shall be peace and the effect of righteousness shall be calm and confidence forever (Bava Batra, 9a).

His idea is fairly straig…