by Michael Horowitz, JFGA CEO/President

I wish you were all there. I returned late Tuesday night from the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, the annual gathering of Jewish professionals, lay leaders, and others interested or engaged in the needs and future of our community and the Jewish people.

Over 2500 participants from all parts of the United States, Canada, Israel, the Former Soviet Union, Europe and Latin America, including 20 from our Atlanta delegation, were inspired, educated, and engaged. We heard from Supreme Court Justices, the Vice President of the United States, Ambassadors, journalists, religious leaders, and many other well-known public figures. In addition, through the wonders of modern technology, the Prime Minister of Israel was also able to “talk to us”, live and interactively.

Numerous “break-out” sessions were held where smaller groups could explore a wide range of issues. Those issues included the needs of the disabled in our community, security and political issues in Israel, the challenges that Israel is confronting with its traditional supporters based on real or perceived policy issues and actions, anti-Semitism in Europe, interfaith families, aging, innovation, “nextgen”, campus life, social media, technology, relationship building, and more!

But those weren’t the highlights of my very long and full three days at the GA. The highlights for me took place over a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, or at a dinner with our Atlanta group. Being inspired by having purposeful conversations with people who all invested their time and resources to come together because they care about being Jewish, the plight of their fellow Jews and their concerns and dreams for a Jewish future provided the inspirational adrenaline and reminder of purpose that guides me in both my job and my life.

Seeing people of all ages participating in this discussion continued the inspiration. We hear so much about the challenges of engaging the young and how to be relevant. Yet my interactions with students from around the country, who took a few days away from their studies to be with us, young professional staff, members of the National Young Leadership Cabinet, Israeli Soldiers, West Point Jewish Cadets, and so many more convinced me that we are not only relevant, but leaders from the “Next Generation” are already in place and making a difference.

Being with many of our Atlanta professional leadership team and watching them explore, get motivated and inspired reminded me that working on behalf of our community is much more than a job for them; it is a passion and a calling. I stopped many times to ”qvell”, admire and appreciate how lucky I am, we all are, to have such a wonderful and caring team.

Being with an already committed lay leadership group from Atlanta and listening as they communicated their excitement and enthusiasm and the myriad of new ideas and possibilities they were contemplating, added even more excitement to an already bursting bag of exciting action ideas that were already brewing.

Ultimately, what was most meaningful to me was just being with so many wonderful people, as part of an organization that touches more Jewish lives on the planet than any other organization in the world. Join us next November in Washington, D.C and be a part of that special experience. I think you will find it meaningful and inspirational as well.

Shabbat Shalom,

Michael Horowitz

President/CEO