The First Federation
A multiplicity of Jewish relief and welfare groups struggled at first in these cities to "take care of their own," feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, securing jobs, and treating the sick and elderly. In 1895, the Jews of Boston created a centralized, communal organization - later to become the Combined Jewish Philanthropies - which brought together under one umbrella all the different local fundraising groups. It offered the first one-stop philanthropy ever formed on this continent. Each welfare agency maintained its full independence and gained proportionate representation on the CJP board of trustees. It was the perfect marriage of heritage and innovation: the Jews adapted to their new situation by revising the old European fundraising model.
Jews in other cities quickly recognized the genius of the Boston federation, for it allowed the community to raise more funds at less expense and distribute them more wisely to meet greater needs. Today there are nearly 200 federations across North America - one in every city with a Jewish population of more than 1,000.
In the early years, federations devoted themselves almost exclusively to local concerns - health care, child welfare, assistance for the handicapped, and homes and housing for the aged. In addition to looking after the immigrants' physical health, federations opened Jewish community centers to offer cultural and recreation activities, and education programs for adults and children. Cultural assimilation, another priority, prompted federations to offer vocational training, day camps, and community development programs. It's no wonder that the new Americans broke through anti-Semitic glass ceilings to become successful in all areas of the professions, arts and business. The Jewish immigrant had become, in a word, Americanized.
External forces in Europe, meanwhile, put Jewish lives on the line. By joining forces in the 1920s and 1930s with overseas agencies - the United Palestine Appeal and the Joint Distribution Committee - federations embarked on a massive campaign to rescue and rehabilitate Jews living in conditions of discrimination and distress. In response to the 1939 Kristallnacht pogrom in Nazi Germany, the United Jewish Appeal was formed, combining the national fundraising efforts of the UPA and JDC. Working together with the UJA, federations provided the bulk of the funds to settle the survivors of Hitler's concentration camps and helped refugees create new lives in Israel. Federations also assisted the dislocated Jewish communities of Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon and other countries.
Rescues have continued unabated in recent times, with the dramatic airlift of the Ethiopian Jews, the return of the Lost Tribe to their homeland after thousands of years, and the release and resettlement of Soviet Jews, resulting in... More>>
