Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans launches two groundbreaking community outreach initiatives

2020 marks the kickoff of two groundbreaking flagship programs under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. With the goal of serving the Greater New Orleans Jewish community and broadening its mission as the umbrella Jewish organization to develop deeper community relationships, the Federation is proud to announce the creation of the Goldring Family Foundation Center for Jewish/Multi-Cultural Affairs and the Sherry and Alan Leventhal Family Foundation Center for Interfaith Families.

“I am very excited about the formation and launch of these two new Centers of excellence,” said Arnie D. Fielkow, CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans. “These two initiatives are critical to forming mutually-beneficial relationships between the Jewish community and the Greater New Orleans community at large, as well as tackling one of the most important topics today - interfaith - facing Judaism. We are grateful to the Goldring Family Foundation and the Sherry and Alan Leventhal Family Foundation for making this work possible, and are excited to continue evolving to serve the needs of Jewish New Orleans."

The Center for Jewish/Multi-Cultural Affairs will be placed within the Federation’s governance structure, but will be led by its own Advisory Committee as well as a full-time, dedicated Executive Director. The Center was made possible by a generous gift from the Goldring Family Foundation, which has funded the Center as a three-year pilot program.

“In an era of rising anti-Semitism, bigotry and fracture, it is incredibly important that we look to the now and to the future to broaden our sense of community,” said Bill Goldring of the Goldring Family Foundation. “This is a much needed initiative, and I am excited to see where the Center for Jewish/Multi-Cultural Affairs leads us over the next few years.”

The Center will initially focus on four primary outreach areas: [1] Jewish-African-American relations; [2] LGBTQ relations, through the existing Jewish Pride New Orleans (JP NOLA) program; [3] Jewish- Latin American relations; and [4] Multi-faith relations. Additional outreach areas may be added over time. Programs that are already underway will be brought under the Center’s auspices, and new program ideas will be developed. The Center formally launched on January 1, with a major community launch event slated for the spring. The Center will be lay chaired by community members, Bradley Bain and Ina Davis.

According to the Pew Research Center, 58% of Jews are part of an interfaith partnership or family. The Sherry and Alan Leventhal Family Foundation Center for Interfaith Families will provide a centralized resource and support system for interfaith partnerships and families in Greater New Orleans.  Working in collaboration with area synagogues and area Jewish organizations, the Center’s goal is to create a nurturing and inclusive opportunity for people to connect to Jewish values and traditions in a self-selected manner. The Sherry and Alan Leventhal Family Foundation Center for Interfaith Families will launch July 1, 2020.

“Our hope is that Jewish interfaith couples and families in New Orleans find a welcoming manner in which to explore their Jewish values and traditions,” said Sherry and Alan Leventhal.  

The new Interfaith Center will also fall under the auspices of Federation and is supported by a generous three-year gift from the Sherry and Alan Leventhal Family Foundation Center. The Center will be lay chaired by community members, Teri Hunter and Alex Gershanik, and a national search for an executive director will be launched shortly.

“We are very grateful to the Goldring Family Foundation and the Sherry and Alan Leventhal Family Foundation for their generous gifts to the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans to make the creation of these two exciting centers possible,” said Joshua S. Force, Chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans Board of Trustees. “The centers will both focus on areas critical to the New Orleans Jewish community and our efforts to develop and deepen our connections to both Jews and non-Jews in our wonderfully diverse city.”

Super Sunday 2020

On Sunday, February 9, volunteers from all over Jewish New Orleans will come together between 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. at the Goldring-Woldenberg Jewish Community Campus in Metairie to make the world a better place.

Can you lend a hand for at least 2 hours to help your community? There are two ways you can help, from making phone calls to clerical outreach.

Super Sunday, the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans’ annual phonathon, benefits the 2020 Annual Campaign. At this energetic event, we will reach out to more than 1,000 members of our Jewish community to raise the dollars necessary to support our community’s agencies and organizations.

To sign up to volunteer, please click here. 

Questions? Contact Cait Gladow at 504-780-5614 or at cait@jewishnola.com.