H eadlines
AJC Philly/SNJ Celebrates 75 Years of Building Bridges
L O CAL
SELAH MAYA ZIGHELBOIM | JE STAFF
FOR THE FIRST time in a
long time, the American Jewish
Committee (AJC) Philadelphia/
Southern New Jersey’s gala will
be a black-tie event.

That’s to pay homage to the
galas the organization held in
its early years, which were also
black-tie. The gala this year,
which will take place at The
Rittenhouse on March 23 at 7
p.m., is not merely a fundraiser
for AJC Philadelphia/SNJ; it is
also a celebration of the orga-
nization’s 75-year history.

That is apparent in the eve-
ning’s itinerary.

Filmmaker Sam Katz will
premiere a video on the his-
tory of the organization, called
AJC: Philadelphia/SNJ: A 75
Year Perspective, and AJC CEO
David Harris will be the keynote
speaker. The gala will honor
past presidents and the signato-
ries of AJC Philadelphia/SNJ’s
1944 charter, many of whose
descendants are still involved in
the Jewish community.

“We’re just celebrating the
vision that people had,” said
Marcia Bronstein, regional
director of AJC Philadelphia/
SNJ. “It was 1944. It was right
before D-Day. Everything that
was happening to the Jews in
Europe was coming out, and
the people who signed the
charter — the 150 people —
had vision to know that they
could make a difference.”
Philadelphia’s chapter was
the first outside New York, and
community leaders felt that
their mission of combating
anti-Semitism would be more
effective with local chapters,
rather than a national office.

Over the next 75 years, AJC
and its Philadelphia chapter
proved to be a leader in build-
ing coalitions with different
religious and ethnic groups,
both domestically and around
the world, and earned its nick-
name, “the state department of
the Jewish people.”
“If we partner with like-
minded individuals and we can
then advocate for each oth-
er’s issues, our voices will be
amplified,” Bronstein said.

In Philadelphia, in its early
years, the organization opened
up industries that were closed
to Jewish people by creating
a dialogue with heads of law
firms and banks.

The organization also played
a role in advancing women’s
roles in the workplace. In the
’70s and ’80s, it recognized that
while women worked, their
work was often undervalued
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4 MARCH 21, 2019
JEWISH EXPONENT
From left: Former AJC presidents Len Grossman, Steve Dubin and
Jack Farber
Photo courtesy of AJC Philadelphia/SNJ
and underpaid. The organiza-
tion did a study on that issue
called “Bringing Women In.”
Twenty-four years ago, AJC
Philadelphia/SNJ began coali-
tion-building with the Bucks
County Christian Coalition.

The organization also has
a strong relationship with the
local archdiocese, through pro-
grams like Friends in Faith,
for which students from Jack
M. Barrack Hebrew Academy
and Pope John Paul II High
School visit each other in
their schools.

The organization has done
work to build relationships with
the African American commu-
nity, including one program
that sent black and Jewish youth
to visit Africa and Israel.

In recent years, the organi-
zation began building partner-
ships with Latino and Muslim
communities. About six years
ago, Bronstein said, the organi-
zation started a coalition with
the Latino community. Early
programming in this relation-
ship sought to create a connec-
tion over shared immigration
experiences. That relationship has since
grown. AJC, with its Latino part-
ners, advocates for comprehensive
immigration reform.

“My grandmother left
Russia, and she joined a car-
avan, and she ended up in
another country without doc-
umentation, until she was able
to get the paperwork to come
to the United States,” Bronstein
said. “That was the story that a
lot of Jewish families had, and
so, Latinos saw, for the first
time, that there was a connec-
tion with some of the issues
that they’re dealing with today
on immigration.”
A few years ago, the organi-
zation began reaching out to the
Muslim community with Circle
of Friends, AJC’s local Muslim
and Jewish leaders group. In
partnership with the Muslim
community, AJC is working on
hate crime and sacred spaces
legislation. Recently, Circle of Friends
held a Muslim-Jewish Holocaust
remembrance ceremony at City
Hall with the national Muslim-
Jewish Advisory Council.

“We looked at what we had
in common,” Bronstein said.

Over the years, AJC commit-
tees and projects have spun off
and become their own organiza-
tions, as the agency evolved.

“It went from a human
rights organization, to a global
advocacy organization, and we
still do global and domestic
work,” Bronstein said. “We
have the relationships, the
infrastructure, the media rela-
tions to be able to work around
the globe. We have the boots
on the ground, and we can do
this work where no other orga-
nization can.” l
szighelboim@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0729
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM