Jewish Federations of North America

JFNA was formed from the merger of the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Council of Jewish Federations, and the United Israel Appeal. The organization hosts an annual General Assembly event for the broad North American Jewish community.

History

Council of Jewish Federations

The National Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds was formed in 1932 as the umbrella organization for Jewish federations in the United States. "National" was dropped from the name in 1935 and "Welfare Funds" was removed in 1979.

United Jewish Appeal

The United Jewish Appeal for Refugees and Overseas Needs (UJA) was founded in January 1939 to combine the efforts of three major organizations: the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), led by Rabbi Jonah Wise; the United Israel Appeal led by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver; and the National Coordinating Committee Fund led by William Rosenwald. Its founders emphasized that the worsening crisis facing Jews in Europe and Israel would require three to four times the funds raised in the previous year. the amount raised in the previous year. Under the unified campaign, each organization retained its distinct responsibilities: the JDC focused on aid to Jews in Europe; the United Israel Appeal supported the Jewish community in Israel, including incoming refugees; and the National Coordinating Committee Fund assisted refugees arriving in the United States.

United Jewish Communities

In 1999, the UJA merged with the Council of Jewish Federations and United Israel Appeal, Inc. to form a combined entity that would be called the United Jewish Communities. While the organizations had been raising more than $1 billion annually, they had faced concerns that the individual organizations were not as relevant as during the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel, with many major donors seeking to direct their philanthropy through their own foundations rather than through the umbrella organizations. The balance of power would shift to the federations, which would select about two-thirds of the 120 members on the board of trustees of the new organization. Businessman and philanthropist Charles Bronfman was chosen as the volunteer chairman of the combined entity, responsible for planning the group's strategic direction.

Jewish Federations of North America

In October 2009, the UJC was renamed the Jewish Federations of North America.

After the 2009 launch of the new logo for The Jewish Federations of North America, increasing numbers of local Federations are switching to some variant of that logo. An example is the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.

After a couple of years of lower staff layoffs in February 2010, new CEO Jerry Silverman laid off three senior vice presidents that made an estimated $750,000 to $1 million combined. JFNA declined to run the decennial National Jewish Population Survey in 2010 due to re-prioritizing.

In 2021, it announced the $54 million LiveSecure campaign, which it described as the largest campaign to secure North America's Jewish communities in history.

The aftermath of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting in 2018 included arguably the most ambitious and comprehensive effort, led by JFNA, ever taken to protect Jewish life in the United States, according to the New York Times. In addition to bringing in $100 million in federal grants through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NGSP), JFNA raised $62 million to secure every Jewish community in North America, overseen by the JFNA's Secure Community Network. By 2023, 93 Jewish federations had full-time security directors, a more than four-fold increase over the previous 5 years.

In 2022, the JFNA pressured the Jewish Council for Public Affairs to fold their organization into a larger organization and mute its progressive politics or to break away and lose funding from dozens of Jewish federations across the United States. The organization refused to mute or repudiate their progressive politics, choosing independence and losing their ability to speak for 16 Jewish national organizations and 125 Jewish "community relations councils", almost all of which are part of local federations.

After the October 7 attacks, JFNA launched the largest emergency campaign in its history, raising $908 million for Israel, with JFNA allocating $235 million. The largest share of donations went to the Jewish Agency, the Joint Distribution Committee, and non-profits in the Gaza Envelope.

At JFNA's 2025 annual conference, CEO Eric Fingerhut said the organization's top two priorities were facilitating the sale of Tiktok from Chinese ownership to Larry Ellison and countering the influence of the National Education Association. According to The Forward, a common refrain at the conference was a greater emphasis on "Jewish education, Zionist identity, and Torah learning", according to Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt. Clips from the conference went viral, including a clip where The Free Press journalist Olivia Reingold argued that portrayals of Palestinian children starving due to the Gaza Strip famine were misleading due to them having pre-existing conditions and remarks by Sarah Hurwitz where she argued that Holocaust education was incorrectly teaching people to "fight the big, powerful people hurting the weak people".

Positions

During the Gaza war, JFNA and other major American Jewish groups such as the ADL and AJC announced it opposed the reestablishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza.

Activities

National Jewish Population Survey

JFNA administered the National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS), a decennial census of the Jewish community in the United States. The 1990 survey indicated that the intermarriage rate was 52 percent, a claim questioned by demographers. The 2000-2001 edition of the NJPS used a different survey method, cost $6 million, and the data was lost. JFNA did not fund the 2010 survey due to re-prioritizing given decreased revenue given its limited direct benefits to local federations.

JFNA helps direct hundreds of millions of dollars annually for Jewish programming and organizes an annual conference that is one of the largest gatherings of Jewish professionals in the world.

Jewish DataBank

In 1986, CJF established the North American Jewish Data Bank in conjunction with City University of New York's Center for Jewish Studies. The Databank's purpose is to serve as a repository and to standardize research methods for academic studies and surveys about Jewish community. In 2004, the Databank moved to the University of Connecticut under the direction of scholar Arnold Dashefsky.

Cultural allusions

In the Woody Allen film Bananas, the dictatorial president of the fictional country of San Marcos accidentally calls upon the UJA, instead of the CIA, to help prevent a coup. The result is that as fighting swirls in the streets around him, at least one rabbi can be seen soliciting donations from combat troops.

References

References

1. "[https://appext20.dos.ny.gov/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY_INFORMATION?p_nameid=43945&p_corpid=37657&p_entity_name=Jewish%20Federations%20of%20North%20America&p_name_type=A&p_search_type=CONTAINS&p_srch_results_page=0 The Jewish Federations of North America, Inc.]" ''Division of Corporations, State Records, and UCC''. State of New York. Accessed on December 31, 2015.
2. (16 May 2019). "Eric Fingerhut leaves top post at Hillel to head Jewish Federations of North America". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
3. "[http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2013/131/624/2013-131624240-0a6de372-9.pdf Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax]". ''Jewish Federations of North America Inc''. [[Guidestar]]. June 30, 2013.
4. (9 May 2013). "The Jewish Federations Of North America Inc - Nonprofit Explorer".
5. Berkman, Jakob (June 9, 2009). "[https://www.jta.org/2009/06/09/life-religion/ujc-to-change-name UJC to Change Name]". [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]]. Retrieved 2016-12-31.
6. (January 5, 2010). "Network of Independent Communities". The Jewish Federations of North America.
7. "JFNA Briefing: Registration Opens for the 2012 General Assembly".
8. Karesh, Sara E.. (2006). "United Jewish Communities". Infobase Publishing.
9. (1995). "Community and polity:the organizational dynamics of American Jewry". Jewish Publication Society.
10. (7 September 1973). "ARTHUR LOEWENGART (Published 1973)". The New York Times.
11. (1939-01-13). "3 JEWISH GROUPS UNITE FOR REFUGEES; Combined Appeal to Be Offered to Nation for Fund 3 or 4 Times That Given Last Year HEIGHTENED CRISIS CITED Agencies to Retain Separate Duties in Pressing Common Cause for Victims". The New York Times.
12. Abelson, Reed (February 14, 1999). [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E6D8153AF937A25751C0A96F958260 "Merger Near, 2 Jewish Philanthropy Groups Pick a Leader"]. ''The New York Times''. Accessed December 9, 2008.
13. Elliott, Stuart. (May 17, 2010). "You Don't Have to Be Jewish to Love This Campaign". New York Times.
14. "Jewish Federation of Greater Washington adaptation of JFNA logo". The Jewish Federations of North America.
15. (February 23, 2010). "Inside the top-level layoffs at Jewish Federations of North America". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
16. (July 12, 2011). "Is the era of national surveys of American Jews at an end?". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
17. (2021-10-04). "Amid antisemitism concerns, 101 local Jewish federations to spend $54M on improving security".
18. Winer, Stuart. (October 4, 2021). "Jewish Federations announces $54m plan to protect US communities". [[Times of Israel]].
19. Robertson, Campbell. (2023-05-29). "With Watchful Eyes, a Nationwide Network Tracks Antisemitic Threats". [[The New York Times]].
20. (19 December 2022). "Pressed over liberal politics, Jewish public affairs group declares independence". [[The Forward]].
21. (2024-08-29). "After 10/7, Jewish federations raised $850 million for Israel. 40% is unspent". [[The Forward]].
22. (2025-11-21). "'The ground beneath us is burning': North American Jews confront rising antisemitism". [[Ynet News]].
23. (2025-11-21). "As young Jews move away from Israel, Jewish leaders are reluctant to change their approach". [[The Forward]].
24. Mustafa, Maysa. (19 November 2025). "Backlash after former Obama speechwriter laments young Jews' empathy over Gaza 'carnage'".
25. (2024-12-09). "Bucking Israel's far right, several large American Jewish groups say they oppose resettling Gaza". [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]].
26. (July 19, 1989) [https://www.jta.org/archive/new-study-finds-strong-connection-between-intermarriage-and-divorce "New Study Finds Strong Connection Between Intermarriage and Divorce"], ''Jewish Telegraphic Agency''. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
27. (2005-04-14). "New Brandeis Center To Trend-Spot In Novel Way". [[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]].