News From the Greater Miami Jewish Federation

With the High Holidays approaching, now is the best time to join a synagogue. The Jewish New Year offers the opportunity to come together in solidarity and hope with your community. To help you find a place where you can enjoy a spiritual connection among your friends and neighbors, Federation and the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami have created a directory of synagogues, including affiliations, addresses, websites and more, available here

Are you looking for a fulfilling way to help seniors in our Jewish community? Join Federation and Jewish Community Services of South Florida for Milk & Honey. This annual event, taking place this year on Sunday, September 22 from 9 a.m. to noon, brings together more than 500 volunteers of all ages at two locations — Scheck Hillel Community School and Temple Beth Am — to assemble High Holiday baskets of food and personal hygiene products.

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation recently helped provide a day of fun for more than 1,200 Israeli children and families experiencing terror and trauma from the ongoing war.

A true collaboration within Jewish Miami, the Young Lion of Judah program creates intergenerational relationships and encourages the storytelling of Holocaust Survivors’ lived experiences.

In the wake of the recent rocket attack that killed 12 children in Majdal Shams, Israel, Federation-funded programs are helping the youngest generation. Through Ashalim, a program that has worked for years with at-risk children and youth in Israel, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation’s overseas partner the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has launched a tailor-made training initiative for the local early childhood center.

Federation leadership, our Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and our community partners are continuing to address the alarming rise in Jew hatred, particularly since 10/7.

Federation is working with the Israeli banking system to provide grants for small businesses owned and operated by IDF reservists that have been struggling since the start of the war.

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation, in partnership with the national Federated system, has introduced a new emergency response training program in northern Israel to ensure residents will be properly cared for should Hezbollah launch an attack.

As Jews around the world pray for peace in Israel and the safety of the Jewish people worldwide, be a part of Jewish community by joining a synagogue. The Jewish New Year offers the opportunity to come together in solidarity and hope — and this year especially.

In these challenging times for the Jewish people, come together with your friends and neighbors for a day of Jewish unity and Miami Marlins baseball fun on Sunday, August 25 at loanDepot park.

The Greater Miami Jewish Federation is helping prepare communities in northern Israel for an uncertain future as tension rises along the border. Neighborhoods in the northern periphery are bombarded by Hezbollah almost daily and the threat of a significant escalation remains constant.

Do you or someone you know need help paying for college? JELF (Jewish Educational Loan Fund), a Federation partner agency, provides zero-percent-interest loans for Jewish undergrad, graduate and vocational students who demonstrate need.

Federation is addressing the national mental health crisis in Israel through a first-of-its-kind program to protect Israel Defense Force soldiers against PTSD. Through Shields of Resilience, a major mental health initiative created by the organization Thank Israeli Soldiers, IDF members are learning grounding tools and coping mechanisms to help them transition on and off the battlefield.

Jewish Miami is one of the first communities to launch ElevatEd, a groundbreaking program addressing the urgent teacher shortage in early childhood Jewish education. Through Federation funding and our partnership with the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education (CAJE), ElevatEd recruits, trains, mentors and credentials early childhood educators, creating bold solutions to increase the recruitment and retention of educators within the Jewish community.

August is National Make-a-Will Month and a great time to make plans to create a Jewish legacy through The Foundation of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. “As Jews, we reflect on our past deeds and plan to live a better life every year between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,” said estate planning attorney Eric S. Kane, who serves on the Board of Trustees of The Foundation and its Professional Advisory Committee.

With the dramatic rise in worldwide antisemitism and anti-Israel rhetoric, it is more important than ever that students understand the complexities of our Jewish homeland — both its miracles and its challenges — before they arrive on college campuses.

As conflict continues to escalate in the north of Israel, Federation partners Magen David Adom and the Israel Midwives Organization have created a new initiative to prepare healthcare professionals to deliver babies, in case pregnant women are unable to reach a hospital in time due to rocket fire.

Horrified by last weekend’s brutal Hezbollah rocket attack that killed 12 beautiful, innocent Druze teens and children in Israel while they were simply playing soccer, the Greater Miami Jewish Federation and its Israel & Overseas Department and Jewish Community Relations Council leadership sent a heartfelt letter of support to the mayor of Majdal Shams.