Dear Seattle Community,

As we start to turn to the beautiful summer, I know the end of the school year and summer activities are on the minds of many families in our community.

One of the most powerful Jewish identity-building experiences a kid can have is attending Jewish summer camp. I am a former overnight camp director, and I have seen firsthand the power of kids being able to be themselves in a safe, immersive, Jewish environment.

But, like many things in Jewish life, summer camp is expensive. I’m proud to share that once again, we have awarded over $300,000 in funding to help Jewish children in our community attend overnight camp. Most of those funds are through our needs-based camp scholarship program, helping over 200 kids each year experience camp, and a portion is through the One Happy Camper program, helping over 50 kids enjoy camp for the first time.

In addition to scholarships, I’m pleased to share that our board recently approved $50,000 in security grants for our three Washington overnight camps: URJ Camp Kalsman, Camp Solomon Schechter, and Sephardic Adventure Camp. Keeping our community safe – especially the youngest and most vulnerable among us – is our top priority, and these grants are in the spirit of that commitment. 

These security grants are thanks to the support of the Tepper Foundation, Jewish Federations of North America, and our annual campaign donors, and our camp scholarship program is thanks to our partnership with the Samis Foundation and the support of our Federation donors. 

Last month, our Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) hosted a series of trainings on Jewish identity and antisemitism, in partnership with Project Shema. In addition to public training for Jewish community members, we also engaged educators and administrators from Seattle Public Schools and top leaders in the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. The feedback from these sessions was overwhelmingly positive, with participants reporting significant improvement in their understanding of Jewish identity, antisemitism, and their commitment to protecting Jewish community members.

Last week, along with a group of Jewish communal leaders, I met with new Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner for a candid discussion about the challenges facing the district and the critical importance of countering antisemitism and keeping Jewish students safe. We discussed ensuring that Jewish identity should be explicitly included in SPS policies, how to identify and address problematic schools, the need for clear reporting procedures, and curriculum resources that celebrate Jewish identity.

I also met with leadership at the Seattle Police Department (SPD), along with our partners at the ADL, to share ADL’s newly released hate crimes data and findings from the Federation’s recently released Jewish Community Survey data. One of the data points I highlighted was that only 42% of our Seattle community agreed with the statement that “The local police provide safety and security to the Jews and Jewish community”. This is far below the national average of 59% on this question, and the SPD leadership took the point to heart that there is work to be done keeping our community safe, and communicating more effectively about that work.

Finally, last night I was at the Cardozo Society’s Annual L’Dor V’Dor Award Ceremony, recognizing Judge Bill Bowman for his contributions to the legal community and Miri Cypers for her leadership over the last decade at the ADL. It was a meaningful evening with over 100 members of the Jewish legal community.

If you have not yet registered for the Federation’s Annual Meeting, I hope you will join us on June 25!

Shabbat Shalom,