Fresh from the Lab

FedLab was an experiment that convened the leadership of the Jewish Federations and their partners in a new and different way. Participants took a deep dive into three complex issues facing our Jewish communities with the goal of laying the groundwork for local and collective action. The topics and the outcomes of those topics can be found below.

At FedLab, 850 Jewish leaders gathered together for two and a half days – learning, exploring and identifying new ways to shape our work. Our focus was on enabling community leaders and our partners to leave the conference with clear ideas on what they would do next in their communities around each of the three issue areas with the ultimate goal of spurring collective action across Federations.

Track Take-Aways

Action for Good in the 21st Century

Reflections from Lauren Danneman

Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Cabinet Member & Young Leadership Award Winner

#EngageJewish

Reflections from Jonathan Rubenstein

Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas & Cabinet Member

Jewish Security & Empowerment

Reflections from Marcie Orley

Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit

  • Action for Good

  • #EngageJewish

  • Security

We often hear that the social service elements of our Federation work aren’t what excites people, and that we can’t bring young people into it. If you’d been in the “Action for Good” room here at FedLab, you’d know, as I do, that young people, and not so young people, care deeply about our social services agenda. In fact, they believe it’s more essential than ever to who we are as Federations. But they also want to approach what we do differently.

It’s exciting that there are now so many more ways we can make a difference, and so many sources we can tap for funding, to keep our communities strong and vibrant. I have a stronger vision now of why our commitment to meeting basic human needs is so vital and why it will always be vital to who we are as Federations. I look forward to sharing my enthusiasm.

Often in meetings we discuss how to engage people meaningfully, yet we don’t experience meaningful engagement within those meetings. In the “Engage Jewish” track we spent almost our entire time in deep discussions in constantly shifting groups. It was an unbelievably energizing opportunity to experience the diversity of our communities and to learn about building networks from the bottom up – by doing it ourselves in real time.

It helped us break down preconceptions about what it means to “engage” people. We discovered we need to put aside “our curriculum” of what we think people need and let the pathways into community come from the people themselves. We learned, from experiencing it ourselves, that we need to convene, facilitate and support through capacity-building and thought partnership, to help develop new programs, and raise and invest funds strategically. I’m eager to engage my community in this discussion.

Throughout the Lab we explored the threats our community faces. From hate crimes and targeted violence, to political divisions that threaten to divide us, to the impact of BDS. We dove deep into what it means for us to be secure, and to act from strength and not fear. We thought about how we engage with allies and other religious groups to fight antisemitism – that came through loud and clear.

What also clearly came through, is that we can’t let antisemitism define us as a community. The more confident we are in our Jewish identities and the more we stand together – the stronger we will be. We are bringing home action plans focused on uniting and securing our communities and ensuring that people feel they can proudly and safely engage in Jewish life. It is my commitment to bring my lessons from FedLab back home with me to my community.

view resources

Track Take-Aways

Action for Good in the 21st Century

Reflections from Lauren Danneman

Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Cabinet Member & Young Leadership Award Winner

We often hear that the social service elements of our Federation work aren’t what excites people, and that we can’t bring young people into it. If you’d been in the “Action for Good” room here at FedLab, you’d know, as I do, that young people, and not so young people, care deeply about our social services agenda. In fact, they believe it’s more essential than ever to who we are as Federations. But they also want to approach what we do differently.

It’s exciting that there are now so many more ways we can make a difference, and so many sources we can tap for funding, to keep our communities strong and vibrant. I have a stronger vision now of why our commitment to meeting basic human needs is so vital and why it will always be vital to who we are as Federations. I look forward to sharing my enthusiasm.

#EngageJewish

Reflections from Jonathan Rubenstein

Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas & Cabinet Member

Often in meetings we discuss how to engage people meaningfully, yet we don’t experience meaningful engagement within those meetings. In the “Engage Jewish” track we spent almost our entire time in deep discussions in constantly shifting groups. It was an unbelievably energizing opportunity to experience the diversity of our communities and to learn about building networks from the bottom up – by doing it ourselves in real time.

It helped us break down preconceptions about what it means to “engage” people. We discovered we need to put aside “our curriculum” of what we think people need and let the pathways into community come from the people themselves. We learned, from experiencing it ourselves, that we need to convene, facilitate and support through capacity-building and thought partnership, to help develop new programs, and raise and invest funds strategically. I’m eager to engage my community in this discussion.

Jewish Security & Empowerment

Reflections from Marcie Orley

Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit

Throughout the Lab we explored the threats our community faces. From hate crimes and targeted violence, to political divisions that threaten to divide us, to the impact of BDS. We dove deep into what it means for us to be secure, and to act from strength and not fear. We thought about how we engage with allies and other religious groups to fight antisemitism – that came through loud and clear.

What also clearly came through, is that we can’t let antisemitism define us as a community. The more confident we are in our Jewish identities and the more we stand together – the stronger we will be. We are bringing home action plans focused on uniting and securing our communities and ensuring that people feel they can proudly and safely engage in Jewish life. It is my commitment to bring my lessons from FedLab back home with me to my community.

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next year?

We will gather together for the GA in Chicago.

October 25-27, 2020