Tag: impact

How do we build a healthier Jewish community rooted in respect, trust, and constructive dialogue, when it feels like we can barely agree on anything?

That’s the one million dollar question, and it’s exactly what brought 22 local leaders from throughout Greater Washington together over the last four months. From February through May, this group took part in the Courageous Leadership Fellowship, a partnership between Federation and the Shalom Hartman Institute, to sharpen their ability to lead with empathy, courage, and respect in a world that feels increasingly polarized.

Grounded in shared values of mutual understanding and encouraging belonging, participants explored what courageous leadership looks like in practice and left better equipped to lead meaningful change and foster constructive conversations across our community.

Instead of just talking about these ideas in theory, the sessions got down to the intricate reality of community work. Led by Hartman scholars Sara Labaton, Elana Stein Hain, and Masua Sagiv, the group explored various themes, including finding inner clarity, leadership in polarities, the challenges and importance of maintaining a big tent community, and finally the future through two lenses: repair and transformation. Through a “where do you stand” activity, they moved past case studies and tackled real communal dilemmas, followed by small group discussions.

By the time the fellowship wrapped up, these leaders walked away feeling far more confident in their ability to facilitate difficult dialogues and communal decision-making, and just as importantly, deeply connected to the leaders and institutions who are actively shaping the future of Jewish life across Greater Washington.

This work gets to the heart of one of Federation’s core commitments: creating a community where everyone feels like they belong, that they’re listened to, and that they can contribute to a vibrant Jewish future, not in spite of our differences, but with them.

A strong community doesn’t require us to always see eye-to-eye. It requires us to know how to talk to each other when we don’t. By investing in leaders and relationships across our communal landscape, Federation is helping cultivate the trust, respect, and connection our community needs to stick together and thrive.

Learn more about Federation’s work to build a strong, inclusive community here.

There’s a consensus brewing. Emerging across opinion pages, podcasts, and dinner tables is the idea that we’ve strayed too far from one another. The question driving many of our national and communal conversations is how do we renew our obligations to each other?

Just this week, I’ve listened to discussions about how generosity was meant to be one of liberalism’s founding principles. How our educational pursuits were meant to prepare us to be good citizens and servant leaders. How we were meant to talk to strangers. How we were never meant to bowl alone.

All these ideas are swirling within our Jewish community as well. For all our differences, the thing people want most is to connect—to feel like they belong and that the Jewish people would not be complete without them and what they have to offer. And, indeed, we are not. I believe wholeheartedly the Jewish community is incomplete without everyone at the table.

Which makes now a perfect moment to double down on the sacred, timeless work of community building. Next week is Giving Week and I am asking everyone who cares about the Jewish community and values the Jewish future to contribute. Your gift—of any amount—matters. Your participation matters. You matter.

Giving is a vote of confidence in our shared efforts to build a strong and joyful Jewish community, one that supports and brings together the full breath of Jewish life. It’s also what supports our work as a Federation to bolster a network of Jewish agencies and programs that care for people in need, engage people in every life stage in meaningful Jewish experiences, perpetuate and strengthen Jewish identity and peoplehood, and look after the safety of the Jewish people.

What’s more, the simple act of giving collectively, alongside so many others who care about Jewish life, makes its own powerful statement that we are here and that we believe in the promise of community and acting together to the benefit of others.

I lament the challenges and the tumult of our times. But I find incredible comfort and hope in the fact that our path to a brighter future involves so many beautiful things: connection, participation, curiosity, debate, and a love for Jewish wisdom and tradition.

It’s notable that in this era of hyper-individualism, people are hungry for mutual obligation. But that’s the punchline of responsibility and interdependence: it’s only in being tied to each other that we find the transcendence we seek. Obligations are on offer, I invite you to come claim them.

As Federation begins to look ahead to the priorities that will guide our work in the coming months and years, we are taking stock of what we’re hearing from our community. In fact, our Community Leadership Council recently concluded a monthslong listening tour to surface views and insights from across the community.

What they found was a widespread desire for Jewish life to be more accessible, affordable, and easily navigable. Just as we saw in our 2025 Community Impact Survey, people across almost all demographic, geographic, and socio-economic backgrounds want to be more engaged in Jewish life and community, but many aren’t sure where to turn or feel discouraged by barriers to entry. This is a sentiment we take seriously at Federation and one that will inform our continued efforts to ensure anyone who is interested in Jewish life can easily find what they’re looking for.

One project that is already underway is our work to make Jewish day school more affordable by taking advantage of a new Federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program. We expect this program to complement and amplify Jewish day school’s current tuition assistance and fundraising efforts and provide opportunities for more students to pursue a Jewish education, which we know also has positive ripple effects on families looking to dive deeper into Jewish life.

Starting in January 2027, eligible taxpayers may receive a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 per year by contributing to an approved Scholarship Granting Organization (SGO). Unlike a taxable donation, a tax credit provides a 1:1 reduction in taxes owed. These SGOs, which will operate as independent 501(c)(3)s, will then distribute need-based scholarships to participating schools and eligible families, who can then use those funds toward tuition or other education-related expenses.

Federation is working in close partnership with local day schools to set up SGOs in our region to ensure our community can benefit from this new program. We are also working with other Jewish organizations, public school leaders, and community non-profits to help them understand the changes and opportunities that come with the legislation.

Our work in this arena is only one part of a broader agenda to make sure that all members of the Jewish community seeking to engage in Jewish life are able to do so. As we consider the future, we can’t let a lack of information or inability to pay keep anyone from participating.

There is a lot of coordination going on behind the scenes, bringing together schools, partners, and community leaders to tackle crucial communal issues. Ultimately, this is where Federation thrives, aligning efforts, building and strengthening infrastructure, and helping turn opportunity into access. We don’t consider any of our work finished—far from it—but we are confident that as we move forward with a clearer sense of what’s getting in the way, and what it will take to address it, we can do so with an ear to the ground and eye toward progress.

A special thank you to the inaugural members of the Community Leadership Council. More to come on their findings from the listening tour!

For many families in our community, scholarship funding is what makes education at a Jewish day school possible. Across the region, our Jewish day schools are providing close to $25M in tuition assistance. Now, a new nationwide initiative has the potential to reshape how families access scholarship funds and afford that education.
 
The Federal Scholarship Tax Credit, set to take effect in 2027, creates a new opportunity to increase scholarship funding through a new donation mechanism. Through the program, eligible taxpayers can contribute to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGOs) and receive a federal tax credit, generating new funding for scholarships. In turn, this helps schools reach and sustain more students over time—strengthening their long-term stability.

Expanding Access for Families

At its core, this effort is about expanding access—for families, for students, and for the future of Jewish education in our region.
 
“This opportunity has the potential to expand access to Jewish education, helping more families afford the education they want for their children while supporting the long-term strength of our school,” said Rabbi Mitchel Malkus, Ed.D., Head of School at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.

Preparing as a Community

While the opportunity is still ahead, the work to prepare is already underway.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington is leading a coordinated regional effort to set up local SGOs for our community, ensuring they’re built thoughtfully with the right structure and oversight needed to serve our community well.

By bringing together Jewish day schools and key partners for this process, Federation is helping to build the infrastructure, systems, and shared approach needed to implement the program effectively and responsibly.

“Regional coordination makes this easier for our community to understand,” said Rabbi Dr. Hillel Broder, Head of School at Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy. “Not everyone in our community has children in day school, but many care deeply about Jewish education. A coordinated approach helps make this opportunity easier to navigate.”

Building Thoughtfully, Together

Leaders across the region strongly believe in the importance of approaching this work collaboratively and thoughtfully.

“As the only Jewish day school in Northern Virginia, having a shared approach matters,” said Jodi Hirsch Rein, Incoming Head of School at Gesher Jewish Day School. “Preparing together allows us to navigate this opportunity thoughtfully and in alignment with our values.”
 
“At Milton, we see this as part of a broader commitment to access and excellence,” said Deborah Skolnick Einhorn, Head of School at Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School. “This opportunity has the potential to open more doors for students, and both the public/private school partnership and regional collaboration help ensure we can do so in a way that is both responsible and sustainable.”

Federation is ensuring that this opportunity is not only accessible but clear, coordinated, and built to last.

“Our role is to build the shared infrastructure that allows schools to participate effectively and transparently,” said Joel Frankel, Federation’s Senior Director of Community Capacity. “By coordinating governance and compliance across institutions, we can help ensure clarity and accountability, creating more opportunities for students and families across Greater Washington to benefit from Jewish day school education.”

Looking Ahead

In the months ahead, Federation and partner schools will continue working together to thoughtfully build and implement the program, so that families can understand how it works and can access its benefits as soon as the tax credit becomes available.

Photo credit: Gesher Jewish Day School

Northern Virginia is one of the fastest-growing centers of Jewish life in our region. With more than 120,000 Jewish residents, a rich and vibrant fabric of Jewish life is already taking shape. But for this community to truly thrive, leaders need to be connected, supported, and equipped to work together to tackle shared challenges. That’s where Federation’s experience in developing leaders and strengthening community-wide connections plays a critical role.

Bringing Leaders Together Across NoVA

In April, Federation marked the completion of its second Northern Virginia Leadership Cohort, bringing together 16 leaders from across the region, representing synagogues, Jewish communal organizations, social service agencies, campus groups, and other institutions serving Jewish life across NoVA. While these leaders come from different institutions and backgrounds, they share a common goal: strengthening Jewish life in Northern Virginia together.

Over the course of the program, participants built their leadership skills, deepened relationships, and explored new ways to collaborate across their organizations. But the true impact goes beyond any single session or workshop. The cohort was facilitated by executive leadership consultant Rae Ringel, whose approach helped participants translate these conversations into practical leadership strategies.

From Parallel Work to Shared Vision

Federation’s NoVA leadership initiative brings leaders together to help them move from parallel work to shared vision. By creating space for connection and coordination, the cohort helps leaders better understand one another’s challenges, identify opportunities for partnership, and align around the broader needs of the community.

“[The program] was really great and helped me better understand what I need to work on,” shared one participant. “It’s diverse enough that you have people from all parts of NoVA Jewish life.” Another noted, “It helped introduce me to other community leaders who are experiencing the same challenges and are already thinking about ways to resolve them.”

Looking Ahead: Sustaining Momentum

This year’s program built on previous momentum by bringing together participants from both the 2025 and 2026 leadership cohorts for a shared evening of connection and future visioning. In that room, leaders weren’t just reflecting, they were imagining what the future of Jewish life in Northern Virginia could look like.

That continuity is intentional. As Federation prepares to launch a third cohort this fall, participants from past cohorts will remain connected as an alumni network, continuing to collaborate, support one another, and help shape what comes next.

Through initiatives like the Northern Virginia Leadership Cohort, Federation is helping to cultivate a more connected, collaborative, and forward-looking network of leaders—ensuring that as Northern Virginia grows, it does so with the vision and coordination needed to support a thriving Jewish future.

Over the past few months, the Community Leadership Council (CLC) set out to hear directly from the full diversity of our Greater Washington Jewish community. Nearly 200 people across 26 groups shared their experiences, bringing forward a wide range of backgrounds, life stages, levels of engagement, and perspectives to ensure our work reflects what matters most to people and informs how we prioritize and invest.

Separately, more than 1,300 people participated in a community-wide survey, offering a broader view of how people are experiencing Jewish life today.

When you look at it all together, a picture starts to emerge. Not perfect or unanimous, but consistent in ways that matter.

People are looking to connect, participate, and feel like they belong.

The Role of Federation

These patterns clarify where Federation fits.

We do not run every program or guide every individual. Our role is to make the system work better—bringing organizations together, investing in what works, and making it easier to navigate Jewish life.

Much of this work happens behind the scenes: aligning organizations so experiences feel connected, expanding access, convening leaders to address shared challenges, and strengthening the system so it works better for the people it serves.

This is the difference between a collection of organizations and a connected community.

The CLC extends this work beyond the room. Leaders take these insights back into their organizations, and the findings will be shared more broadly so others across the community can engage with and respond to what we are learning.

What We’re Seeing Across the Community

Finding your way in isn’t always simple. For many, it starts with basic questions:

• Where do I go?
• Who is this for?
• How do I begin?

With so many organizations and options, it can be hard to know where to start or how to move from one experience to the next.

Some of what we heard:

• Cost shapes participation. From camps and schools to programs and events, cost plays a real role in how people engage. Sometimes it limits choice. Sometimes it limits participation altogether.

“Day school affordability is a huge issue. Jewish life is expensive.”

• Belonging is not a given. Across identities, life stages, and levels of involvement, people are looking for spaces where they feel comfortable and seen. That’s true for those who are deeply connected, and for those still deciding if there is a place for them.

“We moved to the area and don’t have connections or a sense of belonging. I want to be invited to Shabbat dinners…”

• There is a desire for everyday Jewish life. Our community shows up in meaningful ways during moments of need, and that continues. At the same time, many people are looking for something more consistent: experiences that are part of daily life and feel worth showing up for.

“I want a community that comes together for joyful reasons. Not just crisis gatherings.”

No Single Experience Tells the Whole Story

By listening closely to what people hope to see and build in our community, we begin to see the themes we share in common and better align our work with how people want to engage.

The CLC designed and led this effort, engaging people across the community, gathering input through both listening and survey data, and bringing those insights together to clarify what we’re hearing.

Why This Work Matters

If you’ve ever tried to find your way into Jewish life—whether you’re new, coming back, or looking for something different—this likely feels familiar. And there is something reassuring in knowing there is a community that cares and is working to make that experience better.

This work starts by paying attention to what people are actually experiencing and being honest about where things aren’t working. The Community Leadership Council helps identify patterns across those experiences and clarify where the community is asking for something different.

What Comes Next

“What we heard gives us a clearer sense of what the community wants and where it is asking for something different,” said Marla Schulman, Chair of the Community Leadership Council. “What we learned is the importance of continuing to engage voices across the community in building it.”

Those insights are now informing the next stage of our work, as Federation’s Board considers how they should shape our priorities and direction moving forward. And some of this work is already underway: expanding access, strengthening coordination across organizations, and making it easier to find and engage in Jewish life. Our goal is to make it finding your way in clearer, closer, and more within reach.

We’ll keep sharing what we’re learning, and how it’s shaping the work ahead.

The Phyllis Margolius Family Foundation is excited to announce that Rabbi Aderet Drucker has been named as the recipient of the 2026 Phyllis G. Margolius Impossible Dream Award. Rabbi Drucker, the Executive Director and Community Rabbi of the Den Collective, was selected by the committee in recognition of her achievements in building intentional Jewish community for adults 20s-40s in Greater Washington.

Rabbi Drucker is the fourth recipient of the Phyllis G. Margolius Impossible Dream Award, given annually to a Jewish communal professional who echoes the character, inspiration, and determination of its namesake, Phyllis Ann Goldman Margolius. Phyllis cared deeply about strengthening the Jewish community in Washington, DC, Israel, and around the world. Where others saw problems, she saw opportunities and solutions, pushing the needle forward and motivating those around her to do the same.

As part of the award, Rabbi Drucker will receive an $18,000 cash prize for her dedication to fostering intentional spaces of belonging and growing meaningful Jewish connections.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Phyllis G. Margolius Impossible Dream Award,” said Rabbi Aderet Drucker. “Phyllis’s legacy of creativity, determination, and belief in what is possible, even in the face of challenge, continues to inspire me. In a time marked by profound loneliness and disconnection in our world, our work at the Den Collective is rooted in cultivating intimate spaces where deep transformation is possible, fostering a community of true belonging, rich Jewish learning and exploration, meaningful relationships with rabbis who walk alongside people with care and guidance, and opportunities for leadership empowerment and development.”

Rabbi Drucker has served as the Executive Director & Community Rabbi of the Den Collective for eight years, helping guide the organization into its milestone 10th year while expanding its reach, programs, and infrastructure into a nationally recognized model of intentional Jewish community for adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s throughout the Greater Washington area, blending community organizing, pastoral care, and mindfulness to create spaces grounded in Jewish study, leadership development, and meaningful connection.

Prior to joining the Den Collective, Rabbi Drucker was a campus rabbi at Maryland Hillel, where she co-founded the University of Maryland’s first Interfaith Student Fellowship in partnership with a minister and an imam, creating a space that brought Muslim, Christian, and Jewish students together for transformative relationship-building.

She is also a certified Jewish Mindfulness Meditation Teacher through Or HaLev and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, a Global Justice Fellow with American Jewish World Service, and was selected for the inaugural cohort of JCADA’s Ambassador Program, dedicated to creating safe spaces for survivors of intimate partner violence.

“What makes Aderet an impossible dreamer is her approach,” said Diane Schilit and Dani Schneider. “Aderet is a visionary leader whose work blends Jewish wisdom, relational organizing, pastoral care, and mindfulness to create transformative community for adults in their 20s–40s. She is shaping a transformative future for Jewish Washington, innovating from the ground up with a person-centered approach, embedding Jewish learning, empowering members to lead in their homes and communities, and extending the Den’s impact beyond its walls.

The Jewish Community Foundation and The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington have been invaluable partners in the fulfillment of this award. Phyllis devoted many hours in the work of Federation, and it is one of the many organizations in which she observed the depth of devotion and talent that Jewish professionals bring to our community.

Rabbi Drucker will receive her award at the Impossible Dream Award Celebration to honor Jewish communal professionals on Thursday, May 7, 2026 in Rockville, Maryland. The event is co-sponsored by the Phyllis Margolius Family Foundation, the Jewish Community Foundation of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and the Bender JCC.

Eddie served as President of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington from 1989–1991 and of what is now the Jewish Community Foundation from 1992–1995.

During his tenure, Eddie helped lead key changes at Federation, including the transition to its current name, reflecting a forward-looking approach to engaging the next generation.

Across more than thirty years on Federation’s Board and as a Foundation trustee, Eddie helped advance Federation’s role in strengthening the institutions that anchor Jewish life in our region today. He supported significant investments in the Greater Washington Jewish community and beyond, such as the Capital Camps and Retreat Center (CCRC).
 

A Commitment to Community

Eddie experienced firsthand the power of Federation and its partners to build Jewish life. Born and raised in the DC area, he grew up attending programs at the Bender JCC, then The Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington (JCCGW), and later served on its board. His family have been longtime members of the B’nai Israel Congregation in Maryland.
 

He gave his time, talent, and resources to organizations across our community, including the Bender JCC, Pozez JCC, JSSA, and Charles E. Smith Life Communities.
 

That leadership extended beyond Greater Washington, with national roles through Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), reflecting a deep commitment to Jewish communities locally and around the world.
 

His contributions were recognized across the Jewish community, reflecting the breadth of his impact.
 

A Lasting Legacy

Known for his sharp wit and generous spirit, Eddie formed a clear view of what needed to be done and pursued it with determination, grounded in a deep sense of purpose. He gave his all to the work he believed in, bringing both vision and heart to everything he did.

His legacy lives on in stronger institutions, deeper connections, and a community built to endure. We carry that legacy forward with gratitude and extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends. Those who wish may honor his impact on our community through a tribute gift.