After three amazing days full of new ideas, unique experiences, and powerful connections, JCCs of North America’s JSummit 2024 has come to a successful conclusion. Whether you were among the delegates from the 85 JCCs in 34 states and provinces across the U.S. and Canada; traveled from abroad as part of a JCC Global delegation from Mexico, Ukraine, Poland, Serbia, or Israel; have experienced many a JCC Movement gathering; or were among the 60% of attendees who were first-time delegates, this was an event not to be missed!
As I enter into Shabbat this week, I am profoundly grateful. What a whirlwind JSummit was! For those of you who attended, thank you! We so appreciated your effort to be there and hope that you left feeling connected to some new friends and to the movement. I left inspired by our amazing panels of speakers and workshop leaders, feeling like we could all return to our JCCs recharged and swimming with new ideas to execute!
Having Rabbi Cosgrove set the stage on Monday with a call of “Hineini” and how we can all show up to participate in the movement was so inspiring. Then, our JTalks partnership-focused series led by Mark Shapiro, president and CEO of the Harry and Rose Samson Family JCC, Milwaukee, Wis.; Dr. Lily Rabinoff-Goodman, Ed.D., president and CEO, JCC Greater Boston, Newton, Mass.; and Scott Ehrlich, chief executive officer, David Posnack JCC, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., showed us the nuts and bolts of what a successful partnership looks like and the powerful effect it can create for communities.
Our conference-wide, Shabbat-style dinner in partnership with OneTable, led by Aliza Kline, its president and CEO, was unlike any Shabbat most of us have ever experienced as delegates broke bread together while forming new bonds across the movement. We were moved by the extraordinary performances of the outstanding Mina Zikri and Maria Paula Bernal Niño, who played on Violins of Hope in tribute to the events of October 7. Our evening ended with Havdalah songs and prayers led by Mike Goldstein, executive director of JCC of Central New Jersey, Scotch Plains, N.J.
The Tuesday trip to the Lake County JCC most inspiringly highlighted all three themes of JSummit: partnership, leadership, and peoplehood. On behalf of our delegates, we thank JCC Chicago, its leadership, and its professionals for inviting us in and opening their programs to share with us. It was an exceptional day and a unique JSummit experience.
Upon our return, delegates to the plenary were honored to elect a new slate of leaders to JCC Association’s board of directors, including David S. Wax, who will continue to lead the board as its chair. This group will take us ably and confidently into the future. Then, hearing Rabbi Dr. Ron Wolfson discuss the importance of leadership and the effect it can have on all of our communities with Amy Schiffman, president and CEO of Evolve Giving Group; Sam Cohen, a senior vice president of JCC Association and director of JCC Maccabi®; and Lee Trepeck, CEO of Tamarack Camps, led us nicely into workshops that reflected the needs of the field.
And on Wednesday morning, with deepest thanks to Zack Bodner and Amitai Fraiman, president and CEO and director of the Z3 Project respectively at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto, Calif., we experienced Z3, an initiative dedicated to the connection between Diaspora Jewry and Israel. We heard from Mijal Bitton, Ph.D., in conversation with Haviv Rettig Gur of the Times of Israel about peoplehood. They not only discussed the meaning of peoplehood but the issues most JCCs are facing around it today. And closing with Ariella Saperstein, associate publisher of SAPIR and director of viewpoint diversity initiatives at Maimonides Fund, interviewing former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was a treat for all of us. He left us feeling inspired by Israel and hopeful for its future—and ours!
We, of course, offer tremendous thanks to our generous sponsors and partners who not only invested in this movement-wide, leadership gathering but also experienced JSummit firsthand by joining us at JTown Square, as workshop presenters, and participants in every aspect of our conference. We hope this experience deepened your understanding and appreciation of JCCs and their potential.
It has been my honor and pleasure to lead JSummit 2024, and I want to offer special thanks to Jennifer Mamlet, acting president and CEO of JCC Association, and David S. Wax, chair of JCC Association’s board of directors. They are leaders extraordinaire, and this movement is fortunate to have them at the helm. I hope that all of you who were there felt as I did—energized, committed, and excited about the future of the JCC Movement!
Signing off as your JSummit chair and passing the torch,
JSummit 2024 Chair
JCC Association Board Member
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