Shine A Light

We keep the community safe. The bedrock of our Federation’s fight is keeping our Jewish community safe and secure through our COMMUNITY SECURITY INITIATIVE (CSI). When people know the Federation is keeping them safe, they can do the job of making sure that Judaism flourishes without worry. Nothing can be accomplished without security.  

Launched in 2012 to combat the rising threat of terrorism, CSI serves a unique role in its protection of every Jewish school, synagogue, summer camp, and organization in Jewish Los Angeles — over 500 Jewish institutions in total. 

We uniquely build the powerful relationships and resources that convene decision makers, industry heads, law enforcement, Jewish organizations, and the most influential people in our city. When Jewish lives are at stake, we have the responsibility to use these relationships to protect the Jewish community.  

We CONVENE through community briefings to educate our community. We host electoral forums to hold our elected officials accountable. We bring together interethnic partners to build the civic fabric of society.  

We COORDINATE by creating the Antisemitism Roundtable of Jewish organizations in Los Angeles that work to fight antisemitism with the goals to map strategies, eliminate duplication, and amplify each other’s work where appropriate.

We create allies and support systems and advocate together in our fight against antisemitism.  

1) State Budget Advocacy — We secured, along with our partners, more than $132 million in 2022’s state budget to fund issues affecting California’s Jewish community, including security. This vital financial backing strengthens our position in the ongoing fight against antisemitism.  

2) Fighting Antisemitism in Schools — Our public schools are not immune to the spread of antisemitic ideas. When a group of educators from the Los Angeles Teacher’s Union attempted to pass a resolution supporting the BDS movement, the Federation-assembled watchdog coalition, LA Parents Against Antisemitism, sprung to action to snuff out the virulent resolution. We worked with our partners as well to ensure that the Ethnic Studies Curriculum did not contain antisemitic material.  

3) Government Resolutions — We also rallied the Los Angeles City Council to take the important step to officially adopt a resolution codifying the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a resolution we are proud to say passed unanimously. The resolution will help spread awareness and education about antisemitism. 

We create the next generation of strong Jewish leaders through our training, scholarship, and mentorship programs.  

1) New Leaders Project (NLP) — For over 25 years, The Rautenberg New Leaders Project has trained Jewish civic leaders in Los Angeles and statewide. We have dozens of NLP graduates in City Hall, Sacramento, and Washington DC, ensuring that Jewish voices are heard in the halls of power. 

2) Community Leadership Institute (CLI) — CLI improves the Jewish leadership landscape through highly effective training and mentorship that develops the next generations of Jewish business leaders, board members, and change agents.  

3) Campus Impact Network — This group gives college students the hard skills of leadership to stand up to antisemitism on their campuses.  

We speak out when inaccurate or dangerous information is spread in various forms of media. We make sure our community’s voice is heard. 

Through our comprehensive and robust Public Relations and Social Media strategies, we make sure that our voice is both strong and amplified, including appearances on global television, radio, and podcasts as well as opinion pieces in newspapers. 

We fight FOR the joy of being Jewish.  The fight against antisemitism does not define us. We create partnerships and deliver programs. This is our apex and North Star. It is the core mission and product of our Federation. This is what makes us different.  

We are proud of the litany of programs and partnerships that create pathways to Jewish life for everybody from new Jewish parents to single young adults to housebound seniors. This programming helps thousands of Jewish children attend preschool, day school, and summer camp, sends thousands more to Israel for immersive experiences, and works with older adults to ensure they age with dignity. We invest millions per year in our core mission to support a flourishing Jewish life for everyone.  

We are an organization not just of speech, but of action. In this moment, we must respond to the antisemitism that surrounds us. By committing to this comprehensive strategy, The Jewish Federation will achieve the dual mission of effectively fighting against all forms of hate and, more importantly, fighting for a joyful life for all.