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Jarrad Saffren | Staff Writer
G rowing up, Max Moline attended the Charles E. Smith
Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, and Camp
Ramah in Palmer, Massachusetts. He also participated
in United Synagogue Youth in high school and in Hillel at
Northwestern University.

But when he graduated, he didn’t realize that he could build a
career in the same Jewish institutions that he grew up enjoying.

So instead, he spent six years in the marketing, public relations
and journalism fields.

About five years ago, though, he was laid off from a PR
job that he didn’t love. Moline decided that “it was time for a
change.” He reached out to his collegiate Hillel director, Michael
Simon, who contacted Rabbi Mike Uram at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Hillel chapter, who connected Moline to Addie
10 JANUARY 26, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
Lewis Klein with the Jewish Federation
of Greater Philadelphia. (Moline lived
in Langhorne at the time, where his last
job was located.)
And it was Klein who set the young
man on his future course. She intro-
duced him to Melanie Gerchberg of
NextGen, the Jewish Federation’s
organization for Jews under 40.

Gerchberg hired Moline as assistant
director. It was April 2018, and the
Jewish community man had finally
discovered his Jewish community.

“Pretty soon after I started, I was
able to walk into a room and feel
instantly like I belonged,” Moline said.

As the now 32-year-old explained, he
loves walking into a room and making
connections. At NextGen, he was able
to do that by helping other young
Jews in the Philadelphia area connect
to Jewish life and learn about philan-
thropic opportunities. One year later,
he replaced his mentor, Gerchberg, as
director. Three years and three months
into leading NextGen, he was asked by
Jewish Federation to become its direc-
tor of community development.

Moline oversees a network of eight
kehillot in the Philadelphia area repre-
senting different regions in the five
counties. He works with synagogues
and other organizations to reach every
Jewish person in the area, regard-
less of synagogue affiliation, depth of
observance and financial situation.

His goal still is to connect Jewish
people to Jewish life, which is no easy
task in 5783, as Moline the millennial
well knows. So he uses Chanukah
candle lightings, Purim carni-
vals, Shabbat dinners, film festivals
highlighting Jewish filmmakers, volun-
teer events and even apple picking to
do the job.

“We try to create something for
everyone,” said Moline, a member of
Adath Israel on the Main Line. “We’re
creating connections not just with the
Jewish Federation and Jewish commu-
nity but among members of the Jewish
community.” Moline explained that the trend of
people “being less and less interested
in Jewish institutional life, and in
synagogue membership specifically”
started before COVID. He believes
part of the trend can be attributed
to his generation having kids later
than previous generations. But he
also thinks that the pandemic, with its
proliferation of opportunities for virtual
communities, did not help. As Moline
concluded, “it’s no longer a given that
people join synagogues.”
But synagogues and other Jewish
organizations still have a lot to add,
Moline said. They just need to meet
people where they are — like they did
in previous generations.

“If we don’t meet people where
they’re at, they’re just not going to
come,” he said. “If we continue to
respond to the needs of younger
generations, then it will happen later.

But if we don’t adapt to the needs of
the younger generation, then it’s going
to go away.”
It’s a question that is not just on
Moline’s mind professionally, but
personally as well. Moline and his wife
Jenny moved from Philadelphia to
suburban Bala Cynwyd last summer
and are expecting their first child, a
daughter, this July.

At the same time, the Jewish commu-
nity professional is about to take on
a Wexner Field Fellowship through
the international Wexner Foundation.

The fellowship includes “professional
development, education in leadership
and Jewish learning,” according to
a news release. It also connects its
fellows to a “vast network of more
than 3,000 professional and volunteer
leaders in North America and Israel.”
“I want to position myself to be a
leader in the Jewish community and
to take on a next role that allows me
to impact the present and future of
the Jewish community,” Moline said. “I
don’t know what that role is. I think this
will give me the opportunity to find out
exactly what I’m passionate about in
the community and how my skills align
with that.” ■
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com Photo by Jonathan Silbert
Max Moline