Impact Updates Archive - The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles

Impact Updates

Combating Hate & Antisemitism

Addressing Jewish Poverty & Need

Inspiring Jewish Joy

Building Bridges Across L.A.

Developing Leaders

Supporting Global Jewry

We Fight Antisemitism

  • Intelligence gathered by our Community Security Initiative (CSI) directly led to the FBI’s arrest of a Reseda man with white supremacist ties who posted online calling for the mass murder of Jews. The FBI found at his house bomb-making materials, “ghost” guns, ammunition, and 3D printers designed to manufacture firearms. CSI first identified this person last year and worked closely with law enforcement to provide detailed information on the threatening nature of the suspect’s alleged online activities. Based on CSI’s information, law enforcement arrested the suspect and took this threat off the streets before he had a chance to act. 
  • Our Federation recently took a big step towards improving efficiency and collaboration between Jewish organizations in the fight against antisemitism with the creation of the Southern California Jewish Security Alliance (SCJSA), a joint initiative of our Federation and ADL Los Angeles, alongside our partners at the Community Security Service. We are uniquely positioned to bring together Jewish organizations of all stripes on a litany of issues that impact our community. With the creation of SCJSA, we will focus even more of our unifying power on keeping the Jewish community safe.
  • One of the most impactful ways to protect Jewish Los Angeles is through training our partners, friends, and community members to spot and stop threats. This year alone, CSI has held 15 training events for employees of Jewish institutions. These include Community Resiliency Training, Personnel Resiliency Training, Digital Footprint Awareness, Project Safe Classroom, and Active Shooter/Active Threat. Through these programs, CSI has trained 330 people. Through CSI’s expertly-led training programs, our Federation is empowering people with the knowledge to protect themselves and they people they care for.

There are Jews in Need

  • To address the financial instability many in our community face, the Federation’s Max Factor Family Foundation Financial Assistance Network provides more than 700 people per year with emergency financial assistance for payment of utility bills, emergency medical expense assistance, and help with mortgage or rent payments that prevented members of our community from becoming unhoused.  
  • Caring for our Jewish seniors is a responsibility we hold dear. With our close partners at Jewish Family Service LA, we brought together Jewish seniors for a Seder at our beautiful BAR Center on the Venice boardwalk. We joyously celebrated Passover with a festive meal, told stories, sang holiday songs, and recited traditional prayers as the sun set over the Pacific.  
  • Our Ezra Network (a partnership of the Federation, Jewish Family Service LA, JVS SoCal, and Bet Tzedek) helps Jews in need access government benefits, connects them to mental health services, and offers crucial help in navigating social services. Through the strategic partnerships the Federation has developed, we are taking action to ensure the mental health needs of our community are met. 

THE NEXT GENERATION WANTS INSPIRATION 

  • Our Brawerman Fellowship is a highly-selective college scholarship program that provides deserving Jewish students with thousands of dollars of annual financial assistance, sends them on a Birthright Israel experience, and curates opportunities to go an overseas trip to learn about global Jewish communities.  
  • Our Federation is committed to instilling a love of Judaism in our next generations. That commitment starts early. In partnership with Shalom Institute, 29 families with children under eight connected for an immersive Shabbat experience, our PJ Library Family Camp Retreat at Camp Ramah in Ojai. The group of welcoming, positive, flexible, and grateful families enjoyed delicious meals and meaningful programming that sparked an appreciation of Jewish traditions that will last a lifetime.  
  • NuRoots is our young adult initiative. Our NuRoots’ L.A. Way Birthright Israel trips are iconic. The trips consist of a group of Angelenos who come together for a 10-day insider view of Israeli society. Participants also enjoy exciting excursions like visits to innovative Israeli nonprofits. Once the trip is over, NuRoots makes it easy to stay in touch with new friends through exclusive post-trip programs and events. 

Building More Community

  • To celebrate Passover inclusively, we hosted our annual Interfaith Passover Freedom Seder, in partnership with the Second District Racial Justice Learning Exchange (RJLE) initiative of the Office of Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, and the Wende Museum. The program honored the Jewish rituals of a Seder, while it also convened community members from different faiths and backgrounds for learning and dialogue. We celebrated the values found in our shared journeys from slavery and oppression to freedom, social justice, and love. 
  • For more than 25 years, the Rautenberg New Leaders Project (NLP), an immersive leadership training program, has cultivated the difference makers and bridge builders who ensure the Jewish community’s needs are met in the halls of power. NLP alumni have successfully run for office, been appointed to government commissions, and are influential in L.A. civic life. 
  • Our Holy Land Democracy Project (HLDP) sends civic leaders, administrators, and educators on illuminating trips to Israel to encourage a fair representation of our ancestral homeland is taught in local classrooms. With antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric seeping its way into the curriculum at an alarming number of area school districts, enlightening programs like HLDP take on a vital level of importance. 

developing leaders

  • Our Community Leadership Institute (CLI) is a highly-selective cohort of Jewish young adults committed to expanding and leveraging their capacity for positive impact. An immersive, 15-month program, CLI trains its participants to take on some of our community’s greatest challenges and pairs its members with strategically-curated mentors from similar industries.
  • For more than 25 years, the Rautenberg New Leaders Project (NLP) has developed leaders with a focus on shaping the political future of our city. NLP alumni have successfully run for office, been appointed to government commissions, and are influential in L.A. civic life. 
  • Jewish philanthropic leaders are an essential component to a healthy Jewish future. Our Federation’s Emerging Philanthropists is a group of leaders dedicated to building a community for young adults in Los Angeles, from all backgrounds, to come together with the same mission: to see Jewish life flourish, while also caring for Jews in need. 

supporting global jewry

  • Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, our Federation has maintained a steadfast commitment to helping Jews in danger. Whether it was providing vital resources to the elderly and vulnerable who could not leave or facilitating relocation for Jews who were forced from their homes, we sprung to action to provide pathways to safer lives.  
  • The increasing conflict in Ethiopia left many Ethiopian Jews in peril. This required our immediate response. Our Federation’s leadership mobilized a rescue mission to Ethiopia. Working seamlessly with our partners, we help relocate hundreds of Ethiopian Jews to Israel. Once there, we eased their assimilation by providing crucial job training resources. 
  • The ITworks Olim Project, launched through generous seed funding by Federation donors, is a program based in Israel that prepares immigrants with the skills they need to become productive members of the Israeli workforce. English lessons, interview coaching, job training, and job placement are just a few of the ways the Olim Project impacts lives. 

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