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New Jewish Federation CEO, JAFI Chair Discuss Goals
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE FEATURE
BOTH ISAAC HERZOG
and Michael Balaban have
busy to-do lists that feature
the importance of building
community in the year ahead.

Balaban, the incoming CEO
of Jewish Federation of Greater
Philadelphia, and Herzog, the
chairman of the executive for
the Jewish Agency for Israel,
were featured during Jewish
Federation’s community
leadership call on May 7.

Balaban, who is the presi-
dent and CEO of the Jewish
Federation of Broward County,
Florida, and begins locally
on June 1, said that building
connections and community
would be the key to increased
funding of the local Jewish
Federation. One of his goals is to
ensure that Judaism is accessible
to more Jews in Philadelphia
and that the Jewish Federation
is prepared to meet the diverse
needs of Jews.

“We must come to under-
stand that Jews and Judaism
are not a monolith, that one
size simply doesn’t fit all,” he
said. “My vision is to create
a Jewish community that
connects people, ensures a
Jewish future, and cares for
people here at home, in Israel
and around the world.”
Balaban created a list of
“musts” for the Federation for
it to achieve his aim of commu-
nity building: instilling a sense
of pride in the Philadelphia
Jewish community and working
toward common goals, creating
connection points and accessible
ways for community members
to begin participating in Jewish
programming and building
synergy between the different
Jewish organizations in the area.

Above all, Balaban said,
Jewish experiences needs to be
vibrant and affordable.

In addition, Balaban hopes
to engage with more LGBTQ
Jews and Jews of color, believing
that the Jewish Federation
should be proactive in reaching
out and hosting events.

“Our job ... is to guarantee
that when a person wishes to
access the richness and diver-
sity of the Jewish experience,
the mechanisms and responses
are in place to both enchant
and to captivate,” he said.

Herzog, who has served
as chairman of JAFI — the
Michael Balaban
Courtesy of Michael Balaban
world’s largest Jewish nonprofit
— since June 2018, listed JAFI’s
priorities in the coming year:
increasing the numbers of Jews
making aliyah and continuing
to connect young Jewish people
to Israel through programs
such as Birthright, Masa and
Onward Israel.

Though the pandemic stifled
travel globally, aliyot have not
ceased entirely: Since March
2020, 22,000 people moved
to Israel from 45 different
countries, Herzog said.

And JAFI recently saw triple
the number of files open to
those looking to make aliyah.

Israel has become the first
nation in the world to approach
herd immunity, Herzog
said, and as it begin to ease
Isaac Herzog speaking in Philadelphia in 2018
Courtesy of Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia
restrictions, travel to Israel will
be able to increase. For now,
first-degree family members of
those living in Israel may visit
if vaccinated and tested before
and after arriving to Israel.

Through Birthright, those fully
vaccinated may travel to Israel
this summer, and Masa is now
allowing travel by having olim
quarantine upon arrival.

JAFI is also preparing 1,400
Israeli emissaries to work
at Jewish summer camps in
the United States this year,
including summer camps
funded by Jewish Federation.

If the measures put in place
to increase travel to Israel
prove successful, JAFI expects
about 250,000 olim over the
next three to five years.

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Aside from growing connec-
tions between North American
and Israeli Jewry, JAFI has
sought to increase Jewish
solidarity internationally by
providing monetary aid to
more than 75 Jewish communi-
ties around the world, including
COVID-related aid to the
Roman Jewish community.

JAFI wants to continue
to influence Israeli society
through the support of social
projects, such as JAFI’s creation
of a fund to assist struggling
Israeli non-governmental
organizations, Herzog said.

Herzog touted JAFI’s
commitment to prioritizing
pluralism in Israel — reaching
out to charedi communities, as
well as supporting the small,
but growing, Conservative and
Reform Jewish communities.

Both Balaban and Herzog
identified growing antisem-
itism and the distancing of
Israel from American Jewry
as challenges their respec-
tive organizations need to
overcome. “We work with the Jewish
world in a parallel track,
meaning, on the one hand, we
help and encourage aliyah,”
Herzog said. “On the other
hand, we help and encourage
Jewish communities and Jews
wherever they are to ... have a
strong Jewish identity and to
live a Jewish life without threat
or harassment.” l
Sasha Rogelberg is a freelance
writer. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM