New Resource to Fuel Next Gen Renaissance in Jewish Life
In a move to accelerate the community’s investment in Jewish engagement in the next generation, the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago has launched the Fund for the Future.
Seeking to raise tens of millions of dollars, the Fund for the Future will quickly infuse needed capital into gateway experiences for young Jews over the next five years, with plans for sustainability of critical Next Generation programs in the years that follow. Initial gifts totaling over $11 million have already been raised.
“This is not an initiative born out of crisis, this is an initiative born of opportunity,” said Bill Silverstein, Fund for the Future Chair. “Over the last decade, we have invested heavily in new ways to connect young Jews to Israel, to Jewish life and to one another. Every year, we and our community partners engage more children, teens, more college students, more young adults and more young families in Jewish life.
“We have developed the experience and expertise to take Jewish engagement to a transformational level in Chicago and we are ready to create many, many more exciting opportunities for Jewish involvement across our community,” Silverstein said. “But we need additional support to do that.”
All gifts to the Fund for the Future will be recognized as gifts to the Jewish Federation Centennial Campaign—and also will be highlighted at a special May 29, 2019, community event honoring Steven B. Nasatir’s 40 years as President of the Jewish Federation of Chicago.
Commitment to Jewish continuity has been a hallmark of Nasatir’s tenure, and he has long held that Chicago’s Jewish community needs to send more children to Jewish pre-schools, Jewish camps and Jewish Day Schools; bring more teens and college students to Israel; and ensure that more young adults and young families are building Jewish homes and connecting to community.
To that end, the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Chicago has pioneered and supported wide-ranging programs to make Jewish life more accessible and affordable, from JUF Right Start preschool gift vouchers and free monthly PJ Library books for young families, to scholarships for Jewish summer camp and Jewish Day Schools, to the Ta’am Yisrael 8th grade Israel Trip and Springboard alternative spring breaks for teens, to Hillels of Illinois, JUF Birthright Israel trips and longer duration Israel Experiences like MASA and Onward Israel for young adults.
When he assumes the new role of Executive Vice-Chair in July 2019, Nasatir will devote significant focus on the Fund for the Future, helping to make the vision of greatly increased community participation a reality.
“Thanks to the Fund for the Future, we will be able to ramp up to meet the next generation where they are, figuratively and literally,” Nasatir said. “Together with our community partners, we can make Jewish life in Chicago so vibrant and exciting that it would be inconceivable for young Jews not to participate.
“The future of tomorrow’s Jewish community depends on how well we engage today’s young Jews,” Nasatir said. “The Fund for the Future will enable us to make Jewish life in Chicago irresistible.”
