Thanking the United States Senate

Many of us are familiar with the Talmudic debate between Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva on the question “Which is greater, study or action?” The Talmud concludes, supporting Rabbi Akiva, that study is greater because it leads to action. In other words, we have to know what we stand for before we can act on it.

But there should be no misunderstanding – action is required. As Rabbi Norman Lamm z”l, the late President of Yeshiva University wrote: “For the Jew, study without implementation is of slight value. Creed must give birth to deed; contemplation must result in behavior; thought must end in action.” A couple of years ago, our National Young Leadership Cabinet held an event in Washington DC they called an “activation” against antisemitism. We love that word – activation! – because despite all our committed efforts at Torah study, we Jews have a bias to action.

And so it must be today for our Jewish Federation system as we face the greatest challenges to our communities and the Jewish people in decades.

As soon as the horrors of October 7th became clear, we committed to two active campaigns. The first is our campaign to raise the necessary resources to support our brothers and sisters in Israel at this time of overwhelming need. The second is our campaign to provide Israel the political and civic support it needs in North America and to defend our own societies against the growing threats of antisemitism, harassment and violence being directed at Jews and at anyone who stands up for Israel and the Jewish people.

The progress of our fundraising campaign is a source of pride to us all. To date, the 146 Jewish Federations have raised collectively $783M and have carefully but urgently deployed close to $350M to address essential emergency needs. And we are not done yet. For example, we have together raised $52.5M towards a goal of $100M for our Emergency Loan Fund, a thoughtfully developed plan to aid in rebuilding the economy of the devastated communities through supporting small business loans. For more information about this fund, and how to help, please contact Becky Caspi. 

But it is our second campaign – our most aggressive community mobilization campaign in history – that causes us to write today. In the days after October 7th, Federations led over 120 local rallies and vigils featuring mayors, governors, civic, business, and religious leaders. Then came our historic March for Israel on November 14th. Two weeks ago, over 400 leaders from more than 60 communities spread out over the United States Capitol to advocate for aid to Israel, for an increase in security funding for our communities, and stronger legislation against antisemitism. And just today, leaders of our National Women’s Philanthropy board returned to Capitol Hill to help keep the spotlight on the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas on October 7th and not allow the atrocities to be forgotten in the political debate.

The fly-in unquestionably helped raise the level of urgency in Congress to address these issues. Early Tuesday morning, the United States Senate, on a bipartisan vote of 70-29, passed historic legislation containing aid to Israel and Ukraine, and an emergency increase of $400M to the non-profit security grant program. Today, we placed full-page ads in the two most influential publications on Capitol Hill thanking these 70 Senators and outlining the tremendous need for this legislation. Here is a link to the ad for your use, and here is the ad:
 

Your Jewish Federations of North America marketing team can customize this ad in any way you would like, and help you use it in social media and your local press. We can not urge you enough to take steps to thank the Senators who took this important step and to encourage members of the United States House of Representatives to take a similar action. In particular, the House of Representatives will be in recess next week so House members will be home in their districts. This is a perfect time to schedule an appointment or to go to a public appearance that the House member has scheduled and urge their support of this bill. For help arranging such a meeting or suggested talking points, feel free to reach out to Evan Bernstein.

Rabbi Lamm cites Abraham and Joshua as leaders who exemplified a leadership style of “walking and going, of constant activity and positive, helpful deeds.”

Like the times of Abraham and Joshua, this is a time of action. Your Jewish Federations of North America team will continue to act aggressively to move our two campaigns forward. Thank you for all you are doing to advance this vital work.

Julie Platt, Chair
Eric Fingerhut, President and CEO