March 11, 2024

This week marked 150 days since October 7 and the start of the fifth month of the war between Israel and Hamas. I was struck last night watching President Biden’s State of the Union that one of the few moments of bipartisan support was when the President talked about returning the over 100 hostages still held in Gaza. While it feels like much of the world has forgotten the hostages and is singularly focused on condemning Israel, it was meaningful to see that moment.

While our attention is certainly still focused on Israel, there is a lot going on in our local Jewish community as well.

The Washington State Legislature wrapped up their session this week and there were a number of pieces of legislation that passed or budget priorities that were funded that would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our community, spearheaded by the Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). These include, an increase in the state Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSPG) to help keep nonprofits and religious organizations safe, legislation to establish and fund a hate and bias incident hotline, and funding for our partners at the Washington State Jewish Historical Society’s oral history program, which documents the stories and histories of our Jewish community. Our Jewish community came together in mid-February in Olympia for Jewish Community Lobby Day, and the nearly 100 attendees spent the day meeting with members of the legislature and advocating for these important issues. 

We continue to stand up against antisemitism in many ways. The JCRC recently sent a letter to the leadership of 20 school districts across the state outlining their obligations to Jewish and Israeli students under civil rights protections. This is in addition to numerous meetings between the JCRC – alongside our communal partners – and many school district leaders.

The Federation’s communal security program, SAFE Washington, in collaboration with the JCRC, recently ran a training for a dozen Jewish organizations to support them in their applications for the federal Nonprofit Security Grant Program. The NSGP application is extensive and each year, SAFE Washington and our JCRC provide critical support to communal organizations to help them throughout the security assessment and application process. Last year, eight Jewish communal organizations secured federal grants, adding to the millions of federal dollars we helped Jewish organizations secure over the last decade.

While it remains a difficult time, there are also things to celebrate in our community. Last week, I was at the University of Washington Hillel’s Hillelfest where we marked 20 years since Hillel’s building was constructed as both a home for Jewish students on campus and our broader community. And, this past weekend, I joined the Seattle Hebrew Academy community to celebrate their 75th anniversary as one of the oldest Day Schools in the country outside of the New York area. At both of these events, it was powerful to see the impact our communal institutions have had across generations of families.

This week, we convened partners from across the Jewish community to meet with Jessica Korsunsky, the PJ Library® Engagement Officer for the West Coast at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. Through PJ Library, the Federation sends Jewish children’s books to approximately 3,500 Puget Sound homes each month at no cost to families. And, our PJ library program offers numerous opportunities for families to come together for Tot Shabbat, family holiday programming, and community building. We had a great conversation with our partners and Jessica dreaming about how we can all work together to continue to serve young families in our region.

Finally, applications for Federation’s National Young Leadership Cabinet are now open. Cabinet is a five-year program that trains and inspires promising young volunteers for Jewish communal leadership. This year the national Cabinet retreat is taking place in Seattle in September and we look forward to welcoming leaders from all over North America for an inspiring few days together.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Federation and our community.

Solly Kane, President & CEO
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle