H eadlines
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community was very different.

I’m trying not to come into
this role with a preconceived
notion. Right now it is about
listening. I want to make sure
that as I’m making decisions
and retooling the organiza-
tion, it addresses Philadelphia’s
specific and unique needs.

JE: How would you charac-
terize the Philadelphia Jewish
community? MB: There’s a uniqueness
about Philadelphia. There are
some similarities to Broward
County, Florida, where I
came from. The Greater Fort
Lauderdale area was nestled
between Miami and Boca, two
deeply rooted Jewish commu-
nities that were seen as mega
producers. Here we’re situated
between New York and
Washington D.C., and it can
cause one at times to look to
our left or to our right, or up
the coast or down, as opposed
to taking a look inward at who
we are and what we can accom-
plish. We found in Florida
that once we stopped trying
to compare ourselves to the
others around us and started
diving into who we could be,
we grew and were able to really
create excitement, create a
lot of wins for ourselves and
ultimately had those other
two communities chasing us
instead of us chasing them.

There’s something about the
psyche here that is a little
similar to that.

JE: And how is the Jewish
Federation of Philadelphia
different than the Federation
in Broward County?
MB: There’s much more
deep-seated legacy here than
was there, because no one’s
from Broward County, Florida.

Everyone I dealt with, for
the most part, was a trans-
plant. But you’ve got diehard
Philadelphians here, and there
are things that are rooted
in the nature and culture of
this community that Florida
just didn’t have. And that’s a
good thing — that’s a great
thing — in many respects.

However, sometimes you have
to let go of ghosts of the past
in order to rebuild your future.

The pursuit of perfection can
impede improvement, and
sometimes the ghosts of the
past also impede. So we’ve got
to make sure we balance that
proper respect for what was,
but we have to be willing to
move forward. Part of my job
is pushing and pulling people
over that threshold.

JE: Why did you decide to
come back to Philly?
MB: We came back for
family, and the opportunity to
reset the future for the Jewish
community that my family
grew up in. It’s an honor, and
a responsibility that weighs
heavily. But I’m fortunate to
know that the weight of that is
carried by a tremendous group
of lay leaders and an amazing
staff of professionals here.

going to go anywhere fast.

COVID helped the Federation
to realize that it needs to play
a greater role in bringing the
spokes all closer together as
partners working together. It’s
important to point out that
the Federation never closed
during COVID. We may have
stopped working out of 2100
Arch, but we never closed.

Equally, it was the same for
our agency partners. They
are a team of unsung heroes
who are working in childcare
centers, synagogues, schools,
JCC, Federation housing,
Jewish Family and Children’s
Service, Jewish Vocational
Services, JLV, JChai, Hillel and
many, many more committed
agencies. It’s a group of people
who are incredibly committed
to their clients and to their
customers. The world doesn’t
stop turning, and COVID and
this delta variant is a reminder
that life speeds up around
you, so you better learn to run
faster. JE: What are some of the
effects COVID had on the
Jewish Federation?
MB: I look at the Jewish
community as a wheel with
spokes. And over the years,
the spokes between Federation
and its agency partners have
gotten further and further
apart. Not out of purpose
— just out of organizations
working to fend for themselves,
trying to find their own way.

JE: How is the extreme
So COVID helped, on some partisan polarization in our
levels, rebalance the fact that country and our community
the community needs a hub. affecting the Jewish Federation?
A wheel without a hub isn’t
MB: We’ve got to find a
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way to bring people to the
center. I don’t mean that in
the political perspective; I
mean that in the sense that
the world has moved to a place
where if I’m right, you must
be wrong. This happens on
a whole host of issues, be it
politics, be it masks, you name
the subject, someone’s going
to have an opinion. And those
opinions have started to create
silos in the community and
push people away. We need to
be able to come together and
learn how to listen to each
other. We need a community
focused on caring for the
needs of the Jewish people
and building a more vibrant
Jewish future.

JE: That’s a tall order.

MB: There’s so much oppor-
tunity in this community. I
have faith and the determina-
tion to ensure that we will be at
the top and become one of the
best nonprofits and commu-
nities out there for people to
envy. It’s going to take a little
bit of time, but we’re going to
get it done. l
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