I was speaking at Shabbat services in Columbus, Mississippi – a small Jewish community. I prefaced my remarks about JCLP by telling the congregation that “I, too, am from the South. [pregnant pause] I’m from South Jersey.” I’d like to think that I received more than polite laughter. And while, Cape May County, New Jersey, is indeed south of the Mason-Dixon Line, for me, growing up in Cherry Hill, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, my whole point of reference was the urban-suburban landscape. Though my maternal great uncle and his family lived in Birmingham, Alabama, I didn’t make it to the South until 1981 when David Sarnat, then the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, hired me to work at the Federation. We have lived in Marietta, Georgia ever since.
When David Sarnat retired from the Federation in 2000, he consulted with the national Federation movement. He was asked to go to Sumter, South Carolina, to help a small Jewish congregation (less than 30 members, no children, aging leadership) plan for its future. He then realized that there must be many more small Jewish communities throughout the country that needed planning assistance. And in 2010, David founded Jewish Community Legacy Project with major funding from The Marcus Foundation. When I retired from the Federation in 2011, I joined him.
Since then, we have brought together exceptional team members with extensive professional backgrounds in Jewish communal service. You will have an opportunity to read their blogs – as well as blogs from our impressive Board of Directors – in the coming months.
What is Jewish Community Legacy Project?
JCLP’s mission is to help small Jewish congregations stay active and viable as long as there are Jews in their communities. And we also help them create legacy plans to ensure that their congregations will never fade away.
JCLP has now worked with close to 280 small congregations, helping them sustain themselves by enhancing engagement opportunities for their congregants and ensuring a leadership succession pipeline; and helping them create lasting legacies. You can read all about JCLP’s planning services on our website: www.jclproject.org.
If you are reading this blog, you can appreciate the importance and impact that small Jewish communities have had in American history. For many of our readers, you and your families, and those who came before you are part of a glorious chapter in the history of American Jewish life. The contributions of your congregations were not just made in the Jewish world but also in the general communities where your forebears were merchants, professionals, elected officials, supporters of the arts, and more. I have worked as a Jewish communal professional for over 40 years, and I must say that some of the finest Jewish lay leaders I have ever met are from these small Jewish communities.
People are What Power Small Jewish Communities
And, of course, there are the personal connections that are so unexpected but absolutely wonderful. I’m in Mississippi again; this time Hattiesburg. I’m in the sanctuary meeting the congregants, and there is a woman there who looks so familiar. It turns out she grew up in Marietta, Georgia and her family belonged to our synagogue. I have known her parents for 40 years. She now is a member of the JCLP Greater Mississippi small congregations’ cohort committee that plans the meetings for the leadership of 13 congregations in order to address issues of common concern.
Another former member of my congregation and his wife are now members of a small shul on Amelia Island, Florida. (Our boys babysat their children.) He mentioned that the congregation was in need of a Torah. It just happened – bashert! – that I was working with a congregation in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania that had made the decision to close. They were donating their Sifrei Torah, and I put them in touch with Amelia Island. It was a perfect match. A friend transported the Torah, and this past fall a beautiful Torah dedication service took place. JCLP has helped small Jewish congregations “re-home” close to 80 Torahs to other congregations, Hillels and camps in the United States, as well as congregations in Israel and around the world. One of the other Sifrei Torah from Elkins Park is now in a synagogue in Indonesia.
These personal connections have not only resulted in JCLP assisting in meaningful ways around the country, but there is a reciprocal benefit to my work with JCLP. I am grateful for the friendships that I have formed with the people with whom I work. I have had the honor of reading Torah at their synagogues; of mourning when they experienced the loss of a loved one; of celebrating their simchas at their children’s B’nai Mitzvah; of sharing the bittersweet memories of closing their doors; of learning about their family and congregational histories; and of immersing myself in the welfare of small Jewish communities.
I express my gratitude to all of you: who support JCLP financially, who are JCLP partners, and who are valued leaders and members of your incredible small Jewish communities. Thank you.
-Noah Levine, President & CEO