Category: Jewish Identity & Inclusion

As we prepare for our family’s upcoming seder, I am thinking about not only the relatives and friends who will grace our table, but also those four allegorical children who are perennial guests: the chacham (wise) one, the rasha (wicked) one, the tam (simple) one, and the one who does know how to ask. It’s the rasha who I am most intrigued by this year. But I’d recast the moniker “wicked” child as the “skeptic” or “critic” or even “rebel.” As part of the Passover seder, we are instructed to entertain the questions of a child who doesn’t feel they are part of what’s taking place, and who may even choose to stand apart from it. “What does this service mean to you?” the critical child asks, and we answer the best we can. This always seemed like a sour note in the Passover program, but lately I’ve come to see the beauty in the exchange. How striking that one of our most sacred traditions insists we acknowledge skepticism.

Making Space for the Question

What if our role when it comes to the so-called rasha isn’t to scold them but to acknowledge and honor their questions? What if we came to see our cherished rituals—and indeed our people—as incomplete without those who criticize and doubt? We are not whole without those who push boundaries and challenge our assumptions and ingrained ways. How remarkable that our tradition does not cast aside this child, but rather provides them an invitation to our table year after year … and how remarkable that this child accepts the invitation and joins.

Federation’s flagship Jewish Community Leaders Program (JCLP) includes a visit to a megachurch in Maryland to learn about how they build communities of belonging. Our group was inspired to learn they didn’t define themselves by rigid red lines, while still holding a clear sense of their core values. Instead, they defined themselves by an ongoing relationship with a spiritual center. They considered anyone oriented toward a common set of principles as relevant and part of their flock. It’s got me wondering: in this post-October 7 landscape, how do we help shape our future by evolving our community’s relationship with boundaries? These are not easy questions, particularly in a moment when the need for clarity and certainty feels so real.

At Federation, we will continue engaging this question and find new ways to create space for the challenging voice, the uncomfortable question, the perspective that stretches our assumptions. After all, many of the shifts that now feel foundational—expanded roles for women, inclusion of LGBTQ Jews, the recognition of multiracial Jewish identity—were once at the edges of communal acceptance. They moved inward because passionate people pushed to widen the frame.

Our Community Leadership Council (CLC) has been using this year to listen to the broad voices of our community—nearly 200 people from 26 diverse groups—including those engaged in our traditional institutions, as well as people who have not affiliated, who have felt marginalized, or who have created their own communities to meet their unique needs. It’s critical to gather insights from all to help understand and shape our community priorities.

At the Same Table

In describing the four children at the seder, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks noted, “there is a message of hope in this family portrait. Though they disagree, they sit around the same table, telling the same story. Though they differ, they stay together. They are part of a single family… The Jewish people is an extended family. We argue, we differ, there are times when we are deeply divided. Yet we are part of the same story. We share the same memories. At difficult times we can count on one another. We feel one another’s pain. Out of this multiplicity of voices comes something none of us could achieve alone.”

Bringing the entirety of our community together across differences is a bold move. It’s clear that has been our work all along. The goal has never been to embrace uniform views. On the contrary, the thing we’re meant to embrace is each other, in all our messy, diverse, and divine glory.

With wishes for a happy and meaningful Passover,

Elisa

Credit: Chicago Haggadah, 1879, a historic American Jewish Passover Haggadah published in Chicago. It is a notable example of early American Jewish print culture, reflecting the growing Jewish community in Chicago in the post-Civil War era. Who do you see as the rasha?

My siblings and I held our Passover menu planning Zoom call earlier this week. I’m in charge of the brisket, among other things, and I’ll be making my mom’s recipe. No secret ingredients, no innovative twists. Just a tried-and true and beloved rendition. That, I suppose, is the unofficial theme of our Seder this year (though I may experiment with a new vegetarian soup).

Indeed, given all the volatility in the world, the thing I’m craving most from Passover is its sense of routine. For those of us who grew up with the holiday, the Passover Seder is, above all, familiar. How the Seder unfolds may vary from year to year, but the story, the food, the songs, and the traditions always combine to create a uniquely consistent touchpoint with family, Jewish identity, and peoplehood.

Passover also has a way of using the past to evoke new feelings of possibility. While the Haggadah stays consistent, the moment in which we live is continuously changing. In recounting our story, we may focus on new sections or have different reactions to readings or songs. We may uncover fresh sources of energy, clarity, and ingenuity, which we will need on the road ahead.

We have important work in front of us: to engage and connect with members of the Jewish community who are struggling right now, to be a steady partner for Israeli communities, to build strong, substantive, and joyful Jewish life, and to care for the people around us. And the first step to making it all happen starts by remembering who we are and the role we’re meant to play in the world.

I encourage you to gather some friends, invite someone new to the table, and connect once again to our story. In true Jewish fashion, it’s in connecting to our tradition and to each other that we’ll prepare ourselves to move forward.

Our thoughts are with West Bloomfield’s Temple Israel community after yesterday’s attack. We are breathing a sigh of relief that everyone remained safe, including students and staff at the temple’s preschool. We are immensely grateful to the security guards, police officers, and firefighters who put themselves in harm’s way and responded to the situation swiftly and effectively.  

The incident is a sad reminder of how important robust security measures are today. Through JShield, The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington’s community security initiative, we are continuing to work closely with law enforcement and Jewish institutions across our region to keep our community safe.

I noticed recently that AI was incorporated into a software I use to log my expenses…and it was pretty great. The program automatically filled in blanks, predicted categories, and made the whole upload process easier. I also used it to analyze quantitative and qualitative data, and it brought out ideas and themes that I had not noticed before. I can see why these tools are catching on. And yet, the rise of AI is not affecting our strategy here at Federation.

Even at the dawn of this radical new leap, we believe the future is human. In fact, at a time when AI is transforming everything from our emails to our state policies, I can’t help but notice it’s our humanness that’s gaining cachet.

Perhaps that’s why some banks are now advertising “human help” to attract new customers. Why Hermès commissioned hand-drawn graphics for their website. Or why Apple hired artists to create their new logo out of glass and colored lights. There’s something beautiful and inherently valuable about knowing a real person was involved in the work.

Of course, as Jews, we have always been wonderfully human. For sure, we know how to gather and find purpose and meaning with and among each other. We also learn by relishing in each other’s individual and sometimes unpredictable perspectives. Our texts are contradictory, our debates unique and far reaching. Though the bots may soon be able to mimic our thought patterns, it will be our organic curiosity, creativity, and empathy that will keep us whole.

As Robert Putnam writes in Bowling Alone (not the first time I’ve mentioned this work and not the last), “The single most common finding from a half century’s research on the correlates of life satisfaction, not only in the United States but around the world, is that happiness is best predicted by the breadth and depth of one’s social connections.”

We must continue coming together, in-person, to learn, celebrate, discuss, mourn, serve, or simply be. Doing so will have the dual effect of benefiting us individually and strengthening our entire community. It’s also how we grow. Community manages to both support and sustain us while also putting us in contact with the people who can challenge our assumptions and push us beyond our would-be bubbles. Shabbat dinners, text studies, trips, lectures and so on, will be that much more important in an age of online silos.

To that end, I want to hear from you: where and how do you seek human connection? What are the elements in your life keeping you grounded and engaged with others?

I’m all for innovation. The Jewish community must embrace and leverage cutting edge tools to our advantage. But it’s not lost on me that the more advanced our world becomes, the more we hunger for ancient wisdom. What a phenomenal opportunity we have to subvert the forces that automate and isolate and instead foster the connection humanity craves.

It takes a village to raise a child. For Jewish families, that village often takes shape through a vibrant Jewish community with places to celebrate holidays, meet other parents, and help children grow up surrounded by Jewish life.

For many parents, a sense of community begins to take shape in the early years—through the families they meet, the events they schlep their kids to, and the people who share those early milestones.

As part of its commitment to strengthening Jewish life across the region, The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington works with partners throughout the DMV to help make these connections possible.

Where Jewish Community Takes Shape

“Some of the first ways families connect to Jewish community happen during the early years,” said Dinah Zeltser, Associate Director of Community Impact, who leads the Families with Young Children work at Federation. “Sometimes it starts with something as simple as a PJ Library book arriving in the mail, a parent bringing their little one to Tot Shabbat for the first time, or a holiday gathering where parents suddenly realize they’re not the only ones trying to figure it all out.”

One way Federation supports these connections is by investing in programs and partnerships that help families engage with Jewish life from the earliest years.

Expanding Opportunities for Young Families

Through a new funding opportunity, Federation is inviting local organizations to create more programs for children ages 0–8 and their parents, strengthening early connections to Jewish life and community.

Programs may include family-centered holiday celebrations, parent gatherings, community programs that bring families together, or other experiences that help parents connect with one another and feel part of a Jewish community.

Federation welcomes both proven programs ready to grow, and new ideas that explore creative ways to engage families during these formative years.

“Early connections matter,” Zeltser said. “When families feel welcomed and supported early on, it can shape how they experience Jewish life for years to come.”

By investing in programs that reach families early, The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington aims to expand opportunities for parents and children across Greater Washington to connect with Jewish community and with one another.

Organizations interested in applying can review the full Request for Proposals below. Applications are due April 15, 2026, with funded programs beginning in August 2026. 

Surveys released last week by the Jewish Federations of North America and Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston are among the first to report Jewish views about Israel since early in the Gaza war. They are also among the first in a very long time that ask Jewish respondents whether they identify as Zionists, and what they mean by the term. The findings have important implications for how Jewish communal institutions relate to Israel and the rapidly expanding spectrum of opinion inside the American Jewish community.

Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Across our community, leaders are navigating real tensions: belonging and boundaries, safety and responsibility, clarity and pluralism. These aren’t abstract debates. They shape what Jewish life feels like in our synagogues, agencies, schools, and communal spaces every single day.

How leaders hold that complexity determines whether our community feels safe or splintered, principled or reactive, connected or alone.

That’s why The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington continues to partner with the Shalom Hartman Institute as part of a sustained investment in Jewish leadership. Together, we equip leaders across our region with the shared language and frameworks needed to navigate complex communal challenges. Earlier this month, that partnership convened senior and emerging leaders for a candid conversation about what this moment requires of a vibrant Jewish community.

More than 60 leaders participated across the full spectrum of Jewish Greater Washington: congregational rabbis, synagogue presidents, agency executives, foundation trustees, long-time board members, and rising lay leaders. They represented institutions across denominations, missions, and generations—many of whom do not typically sit at the same tables.

Bringing this breadth of leadership into one room reflects Federation’s unique role and its investment in the relationships and common language leaders need to respond to difference with intention instead of reaction.

Shared Language in a Strained Moment

Our community includes many organizations, identities, ideologies, and expressions of Jewish belonging. Honoring that breadth and creating space where it can exist in conversation rather than collision is central to our mission as a community builder.

The goal was not uniformity, but shared understanding.

To anchor the conversation, we drew on the “Our Fragile Tents” framework developed and presented by Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute. The framework offered language to help leaders name the fractures, fears, and ideological divides shaping Jewish life today, allowing the conversation to go deeper, faster.

Leaders began at tables, speaking openly about the tensions inside their own institutions. Several distinctions proved especially clarifying: the difference between communities of kinship and communities of consent; the ways participation, interest, and national identity shape expectations; and the recognition that not every community can or should operate by the same norms.

Leaders spoke candidly about what they are holding:

“Understanding the boundaries necessary in my community that may not be necessary in the larger Jewish community was eye-opening.”

“The varying definitions of community and the norms that guide them will directly shape how I lead.”

As leaders explored one another’s reflections, it became clear that no single institution is holding this moment alone.

No one left with every tension resolved. Agreement was never the objective. The goal was building the relationships and shared understanding that allow our community to move through strain without fracturing.

Strengthening the Ecosystem

The conversation underscored how much this moment requires coordination and clarity across our community. No single synagogue, agency, or leadership body can bring this breadth of voices together across ideologies and generations.

By convening leaders in serious dialogue, Federation strengthens the relationships that help our community stay steady under pressure. Without shared language and cross-institutional relationships, leaders are left to navigate strain in isolation. Bringing institutions together ensures those tensions are held collectively rather than alone.

When leaders share common language and trust one another, institutions are better positioned to respond with clarity rather than escalation, with steadiness rather than isolation. The experience of Jewish life across our region—how safe it feels, how welcoming it feels, how principled it feels—is shaped by those choices.

A vibrant Jewish community depends on leaders who can hold complexity with clarity, speak honestly across difference, and remain committed to the whole, especially when it’s hard.

Strengthening that leadership capacity is central to Federation’s mission and essential to the long-term resilience of Jewish life in Greater Washington.

This convening was one step. Federation is now reviewing and synthesizing the reflections shared that evening to guide our next steps, so leaders across our community are better equipped for what this moment demands.

About the Partnership

For eight years, Federation’s partnership with the Shalom Hartman Institute has been rooted in a shared commitment to strengthening Jewish leadership and deepening relationships across our diverse community. Together, we have built a space for learning, reflection, and growth—a place where leaders wrestle with big questions, develop the clarity and courage needed to navigate complex times, and explore how to hold our community’s multitude of perspectives when the stakes feel high while communicating across differences in service of a stronger, more connected Greater Washington Jewish community.

Federation’s leadership programs help emerging and seasoned leaders alike grow their skills, deepen Jewish learning, and lead with purpose.

Inclusion is a journey shaped by curiosity, reflection, and a commitment to creating spaces where everyone belongs. On September 12, 2025, the Federation’s Disability Inclusion Advisory Group visited the Capital Jewish Museum as part of our ongoing work to strengthen access and belonging across Jewish institutions in Greater Washington. We left inspired by the museum’s openness, intentionality, and genuine desire to learn and grow.

The Capital Jewish Museum explores the Jewish experience in Washington from 1790 through today, tracing stories of community, civic engagement, and cultural life across generations. As a museum dedicated to preserving and interpreting Jewish history in the nation’s capital, its commitment to accessibility ensures that these stories are available to all who wish to engage with them.

The advisory group includes professional and lay leaders with expertise in disability advocacy, education, and policy, alongside individuals with lived experience as people with disabilities or as family members of individuals with disabilities. This diversity of perspective strengthens our work and informed a meaningful conversation with the museum’s leadership.

A Shared Commitment to Inclusion

From the start, it was clear that inclusion is a priority for the museum. The invitation to engage in a thoughtful, respectful dialogue was a powerful signal. It showed that the museum is not only thinking about accessibility but is also eager to listen, ask questions, and plan for the future in partnership with the community.

We were encouraged by the many ways the museum is already working to make its space more welcoming. From physical access features to warm and responsive staff, the museum has already built a strong foundation for accessibility. What stood out most, though, was the museum’s willingness to explore what more could be done, not out of obligation, but out of a sincere commitment to inclusion as a core value.

Practical Steps Toward Greater Accessibility

Our group shared observations and ideas not as critiques, but as contributions to a shared vision. For example, we discussed how staff training can be a powerful tool in fostering inclusion. When staff are equipped to ask thoughtful questions and offer support—whether helping someone navigate the space, understand an exhibit, or find a place to rest—the visitor experience shifts from good to exceptional.

We also talked about communication and how small adjustments can make a big impact. Adding a clearly labeled accessibility section to the museum’s website, for instance, would make it easier for visitors to plan ahead and request accommodations. We are grateful that the museum has already taken this recommendation to heart by launching an accessibility page and is committed to continuing to build it out over time. Clear, consistent signage throughout the building can also help visitors navigate the space with confidence.

For Deaf and hard of hearing visitors, the museum is already thinking creatively about how to improve access. We explored ideas like increasing caption visibility on videos, offering digital check-in options, and even partnering with services that provide on-demand ASL interpretation. These are exciting possibilities that reflect the museum’s forward-thinking approach.

Mobility access was another area where thoughtful enhancements could build on existing strengths. From seating options to restroom access, the museum is clearly considering the needs of a wide range of visitors. We appreciated the attention to detail and shared ideas for how to continue building on that strong foundation.

For visitors who are blind or have low vision, the museum’s highly visual nature presents both a challenge and an opportunity. We discussed the potential for docent-led tours with verbal descriptions, audio guides, and tactile elements that could expand access and bring exhibits to life in new ways.

Inclusion Is Ongoing Work

Disability inclusion is not something that happens overnight. It’s a process of learning, evolving, and building relationships. The Capital Jewish Museum is walking that path with intention and heart, and Federation is proud to partner in strengthening inclusion across our community.

We look forward to continuing this partnership and supporting the museum as it explores new ways to ensure that every visitor feels seen, heard, and valued. And we invite other organizations who are on their own inclusion journeys to connect with the Federation’s Disability Inclusion Advisory Group. We welcome opportunities to collaborate and strengthen inclusion across our community.

Discover how Federation is strengthening access and belonging across Jewish life in Greater Washington.

Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM) invites us each year to ask a hard but necessary question: who feels fully welcomed into Jewish communal life and who still encounters barriers, even when our intentions are good?

When values outpace systems

In recent years, our community has begun to confront an uncomfortable truth., While many Jewish organizations deeply value inclusion, good intentions alone are not enough to create access, especially for young adults with disabilities. Inclusion requires skills, systems, and sustained commitment.

Learning what inclusion requires

That realization came into focus in 2023, when we partnered with Matan, a national leader in disability inclusion in Jewish life, to conduct a communitywide assessment. Matan works with Jewish organizations across North America to build the tools and confidence needed to create truly inclusive communities. One finding stood out clearly: Jewish professionals wanted to be inclusive of people with disabilities, particularly young adults, but many did not know how to translate that desire into practice.

That insight became a turning point.

Turning learning into action

In response, we launched the Lieberman Fellowship for Jewish Organizations Serving Young Adults, a yearlong cohort learning experience (2024–2025) led by Matan. The fellowship focused on moving organizations from intention to implementation, helping teams rethink policies, practices, and culture through an inclusion lens. At the conclusion of the learning year, participating organizations, along with one additional congregation, received grants to turn learning into action through concrete inclusion projects.

This JDAIM, we pause to take stock of progress at the projects’ midpoint. What we found was encouraging—not because the work was finished, but because it is becoming more thoughtful, more systematic, and more honest.

What’s changing across our community

Across the region, organizations are shifting away from ad hoc accommodations toward intentional, systems-based approaches to access. Some are redesigning how people request accommodations or improving digital and physical accessibility. Others are investing in staff training, inclusive employment pathways, peer support, or relationship-centered spaces like Shabbat tables and social programming. Again and again, we are seeing that small but deliberate changes—clear communication, accessible tools, sensory supports—can dramatically expand participation and belonging.

That progress has not come without challenges. Many teams underestimated how long it would take to coordinate across departments and partners. Staff transitions and technology limitations slowed timelines. In some cases, organizations intentionally slowed decision-making to ensure solutions would be sustainable and meaningful rather than rushed. These challenges are real, but they also reflect a growing sophistication in how our community understands inclusion: not as a quick fix, but as long-term work that must be built to last.

Inclusion, in action

Each organization is approaching inclusion differently, shaped by its mission, audience, and capacity. Together, these efforts reflect a shared shift toward more intentional and sustainable access.

Inclusive employment and workforce pathways

• Adas Israel is piloting a supported employment program for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, envisioning a multi-year pathway to meaningful, paid work and vocational growth.

Accessible spaces, programs, and experiences

• Bender JCC is investing in accessible fitness equipment and assistive listening devices, alongside hosting sensory-friendly cultural programming.
• Edlavitch DCJCC repaired hazardous entryways and launched a visibility campaign highlighting accessibility across programs.

Digital communications access

• GatherDC transformed its community calendar to include accessibility information, mobile usability, and screen-reader tools, changing how thousands of young adults find Jewish experiences.

Peer support, community design, and belonging

• B’nai Israel Congregation is pairing a young adult inclusion peer program with accessible communication training for staff and lay leaders.
• OneTable supported hosts creating intentionally inclusive Shabbat tables, including spaces centered for autistic and Deaf/ASL communities.

Data-informed systems and long-term engagement

• Pozez JCC is building data-informed systems to track and strengthen engagement of neurodiverse young adults over time.

Training, capacity-building, and organizational practice

• Mem Global distributed social inclusion kits, launched accessibility microgrants, and is preparing to hire a Camper Care Director to support emotional and behavioral needs at immersive experiences.
• Sixth & I is preparing comprehensive social inclusion trainings for staff and volunteers serving young adults in less-structured Jewish spaces.
• Temple Rodef Shalom standardized its accommodation request process, shifting from informal responses to clear, transparent, and equitable access systems.

The lesson we’re carrying forward

Perhaps the most important lesson emerging from this work: inclusion is grounded in relationships, strengthened through training, and sustained by systems, not by individuals alone. When access is embedded into how organizations operate, it becomes part of communal life.

Beyond JDAIM

This JDAIM, we are not just raising awareness. We are witnessing growth—imperfect, iterative, and deeply committed. Our community is learning what it truly means to create Jewish spaces where young adults with disabilities are not merely accommodated, but genuinely welcomed, supported, and able to belong.

I was in Israel last month on a unique trip. Throughout the time, I heard from Israelis and Palestinians across the political spectrum describe the same feeling: they want a better world for their families and yet feel a profound lack of agency in making it happen. They want progress but don’t feel like there is anything they can do to push back against the overwhelming forces shaping their reality. It struck me that many of us are feeling this way too.

Things feel challenging and worse yet, we feel powerless to change them. We open our news apps and read horror stories. But what are we to do about it? This is a question Jews have grappled with in every age. And the answer remains the same. It’s precisely when things feel the most uncertain and out of our control that we must focus on reclaiming and making use of our own agency.

The role of Federation in this moment is deeply connected to this idea. Part of our mission is to help create the conditions in which individuals and organizations can act with confidence and intention and amplify personal agency to even greater outcomes. How do we keep pushing forward as a community in difficult times? How can we bring people together to amplify impact? These questions are shaping our work today.

Of course, agency is tricky in that it’s layered. First, we must feel we have it. Then we must be motivated to use it. And finally, we must find ways to combine our efforts to create something even more powerful. What’s more, every step is as delicate as it is important. It doesn’t take much to sap our energy. Certainly, the entrenched challenges in the Middle East, the morphing global order, and scenes of violence in our country are enough to render anyone frozen.

I don’t fault anyone for choosing to focus on their immediate zone of responsibility. There is tremendous purpose to be found in looking after our loved ones and doing what we can to make it day to day. But if we are to shape history and build a society that reflects our values, a “beloved community” as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. put it, then we must find it within ourselves to look beyond ourselves.

We must chip away at the overwhelm. For those who wielded a snow shovel last week will tell you, it’s amazing what you can accomplish with steady determination and the will to break through that which seems immovable. We may not be able to make sweeping policy changes, but we can, at any given moment, make a difference on an individual and even communal scale. We can connect with our neighbors, serve those in need, and work together to strengthen our community.

Ori is 23, and she carries something most adults twice her age still struggle to hold: the responsibility of representing Israel with honesty, heart, and humility—especially to kids. She’s one of 11 community shlichim (Israeli emissaries) bringing Israel to life across Greater Washington through Federation’s Shlichim Program.

Growing up in Moshavat Kinneret, a small community in northern Israel, Ori was surrounded by family, a strong sense of responsibility, and a beloved boxer dog she still misses. Before coming to Greater Washington, Ori spent two summers at a Jewish camp in upstate New York.

Teaching Israel in a Complicated Moment

Now living in Greater Washington, Ori spends her days with children, parents, and educators—teaching Hebrew, leading workshops, and helping our community deepen its connection to Israeli life and culture. But talking about Israel isn’t as simple as it used to be. She says it’s gotten harder in the last few years. Kids are asking deeper questions. There’s no single story to tell.

“I’m not saying Israel is perfect,” she says. “Like anything else, there are things that are good and things that are bad. I want to show them both sides.” Ori doesn’t pretend otherwise. She listens, brings her own questions, and creates space for kids to talk about Israel with curiosity, honesty, and care.

Pride Without Pretending

Ori loves teaching about Israel’s creativity—from everyday inventions to world-changing breakthroughs, like cherry tomatoes. “The best invention,” she says, laughing.

Through Made in Israel, an interactive Hands-on Israel workshop she leads, participants explore the Israeli innovations they’ve heard of and many they haven’t. They learn about the brilliant minds behind these inventions through games and challenges that spark curiosity and pride. Ori’s goal is more than just facts. She shows people that Israel is a place of ideas, impact, and imagination.

Teaching Joy, Too

For Ori, representing Israel isn’t only about navigating complexity—it’s also about sharing joy. She brings Israeli traditions into American Jewish life in ways that feel lasting and personal. “We’re not sitting sad and miserable in Israel—we’re happy,” she says. “We’re living.” That’s what she wants kids to see: that Israel is a home, full of celebration, tradition, and joy.

Ori’s work is part of a larger effort to build people-to-people connection through immersive, everyday experiences. Through Federation’s Shlichim Program, Israeli emissaries like Ori help bring Israel to life in schools, synagogues, JCCs, and more—creating personal, lasting moments of understanding and connection across Greater Washington.

Bringing Community with Her

Ori often talks about the community she grew up in—a kibbutz where kids moved freely, everyone knew each other, and life felt safe and shared. “It’s a very community-like place,” she says. “It’s a safe space… I really, really love it.” That sense of belonging is something she carries with her. And through her teaching, she hopes to help create more of that feeling for the children and families she meets here.

Leaving Something Behind

One of the biggest surprises for Ori has been seeing what Jewish life looks like outside of Israel. She didn’t know what to expect. But she’s found deep relationships, strong communities, and new ways of expressing Jewish identity that continue to shape her own perspective. Ori wants to bring more of Israel into Jewish spaces here, and she hopes the connections she’s made will last long after she leaves.

“I don’t want to just be a shlicha who came and left,” she says. “I want to leave something behind.”

Looking Ahead

When she thinks about the future of Jewish life in the U.S., Ori doesn’t hesitate. She hopes people feel safe being openly Jewish. She hopes for greater unity, more listening, and a community that remains a source of strength, even in uncertain times. Until then, she’s teaching, learning, and building relationships—one day, one conversation at a time.

Continue the Conversation at RE:Israel

Ori’s story reflects the honest, values-driven work of Israel education today—work that feels more urgent than ever. In the wake of October 7, educators, parents, and communal leaders are grappling with big, essential questions:

• How do we teach and talk about Israel with clarity and care?
• How do we support young people in holding complexity without letting go of connection?
• And how do we reframe Israel education for this new era, with tools that are honest, nuanced, and real?

These conversations will take center stage on Tuesday, February 24, at RE:Israel: Reflect. Reframe. Reconnect., a half-day learning experience for educators, communal professionals, lay leaders, and parents seeking thoughtful, practical engagement with Israel education in this moment.