Last night our community gathered at The Venue CU for the Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation's annual campaign fundraiser. Included below are the remarks by our Executive Director, Ma'ayan Weinberg. We are grateful to the committee who put on this event, Ken Krimstein our keynote speaker, and all of you who attended.
We are here tonight under the theme of “As One”. And as I prepared for tonight’s event, I questioned if it was truly genuine to continue forward with this theme. Our country feels divided. Our community feels divided.
But then I step back. And yes. Absolutely. Tonight more than ever before I genuinely mean that we are here “As one”. As one, our board moves forward through disagreements, and pain, for the good of our Jewish community. Because we are all fighting the same fight right now, even if we feel we are not. We are diverse nationalities, ethnicities, coming together across different political parties… And yet, we are our one people. Am echad, Lev echad. We are our One and only Jewish community. So it is imperative now more than ever that we maintain the true meaning of solidarity with our entire Jewish community.
As one, we’re a source of strength and resilience through adversity and prosperity.
As one, we bring our communities together to extend a helping hand to those in need.
As one, we’re a living testament to the power of unity and shared purpose.
At the heart of this unbreakable spirit lies the Jewish Federations - the bedrock of Jewish communities around the world. We’re the collective force that keeps Jewish life thriving, not just in times of crisis, but every single day.
Thank you to our Rabbis and community partners that propel and ground our Jewish community in our shared values. Thank you to Lee Deville, our board president, who has shouldered more pain in this community than any one individual should be asked to, and done it with genuine care, concern, and grace. Thank you to all the volunteers and the committee that made tonight possible - Dana Mor, Datia Rosenberg Bross, Jess Leroy, Diane Gutenkauf, Yarden Ashur, and all the spouses behind the scenes. Thank you to Azer, our Community Engagement Coordinator, and my right hand. A deep, heartfelt thank you to Ken Krimstein, whose work is inspiring a new generation, and who gave your time generously to be with us tonight and this morning at the Sunday School for our children.
This is a fundraiser, so don’t think you’ll get away without a pitch tonight.
Let me remind you again why we are here:
As one, we uplift the people of Israel and Ukraine by offering our support.
As one, we take a stand against the rising tide of antisemitism.
As one, we pledge to ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities worldwide.
Our mission is fueled by the generosity of community members like you. Your annual contribution empowers us to provide humanitarian aid to our allies, combat antisemitism, and nurture vibrant Jewish communities.
CUJF is an organization of 2 staff and hundreds of volunteers, who have propelled CUJF’s work to address antisemitism this past year in remarkable ways:
- CUJF sat down five local Jewish organizations alongside community members in a committee to bring to fruition an meaningful October 7th commemoration, centered on our community’s voices and providing a safe space for our collective grief and to move forward.
- CUJF has built relationships with city leaders including Mayor Marlin, Mayor Feinen, and local School Districts to ensure that our community’s concerns are voiced and respected.
- We are actively working with national organizations to fight anti-Israel measures and BDS locally, that are direct attacks on Israelis living in our community and the Jewish people.
- CUJF is the only organization that took swift action when the Urbana City Council faced anti-Israel protestors. Our organization rallied the community, created an ad hoc committee, and offered information sessions on the dangers of the referendum question being voted on. CUJF has continued to provide info sessions and webinars on the antisemitism that stokes such referendums and the BDS movement.
- CUJF is now represented for the first time on the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Jewish Life on Campus, helping to shape a supportive campus environment inclusive of our comunity.
- Since October 7th 2023, CUJF raised $40,000 to help send over 100 community members to rally for Israel in Washington, D.C., and we have collectively raised over $55,000 in humanitarian aid to Israel.
- CUJF formed a new committee of volunteers - The Committee Against Antisemitism.
- The rise in antisemitism has direct links to lack of Holocaust education in our communities. As a result, we continue to focus our efforts through the work of the Holocaust Education Center (HEC):
- This fall CUJF delivered professional development for teachers in Unit 4 (Champaign Schools) and Unit 116 (Urbana Schools), training dozens of educators in Holocaust education and equipped schools with comprehensive resources and curriculum to address antisemitism.
- Through our Holocaust Book Trunk Project, we’ve ensured that every Champaign school library now has a complete set of Holocaust curriculum materials, books on their shelves, and guidance on using for students and educators alike.
- We are sending Holocaust speakers into churches and libraries across our area, expanding awareness and building interfaith bridges.
Tonight’s event is not about me. And frankly, it’s not about you either.
It is about the tens of thousands of students in Central Illinois whose only access to Holocaust Education is through CUJF.
It is about the nearly 100 community volunteers who are trained to provide the only Chevra Kadisha services in the area and who spend endless hours washing and preparing our loved ones bodies for burial, and sit up through the night to provide shomrim.
It is about our community’s Holocaust survivors who have entrusted their stories to CUJF to carry into the future.
It is about the families in our community whose only option to not lose their house, to pay off medical debt, to keep their water turned on is our human services.
It is about the kids who we send to Jewish summer camp with their peers, who otherwise would not be able to afford to go, or feel included.
It is about the three other organizations in this town that rely heavily on the funds that we raise to maintain their programming.
It is about the volunteers who have spent hundreds of hours, alongside raising their kids and working full time jobs, to raise the funds and plan the events and put on the programming and show up in the middle of the night to bring a shiva candle for someone whose father/mother/spouse just died and run a check to a bank during their lunch break so a mortgage won’t default.
Our world feels like it is on fire. But not here. Our community does not need to be on fire. In this world, I call on each of you to stay in relationship with the people we don’t always agree with. It is the only path towards educating, healing, and thriving. Look around the tables. There are faces some of you have never seen before. Welcome. There are faces that are missing. When they are ready, they will be just as welcome at this table.
I know that giving is not within everyone’s reach. It is not why every person is here tonight. But for those of you who can, I ask that you dig deep tonight. That you find the shared purpose that resonates most with you and give to that. Give for everyone who cannot right now. Give for anyone who isn’t ready right now.
As one, CUJF will lead the way to a brighter tomorrow where Jewish life flourishes for generations to come. Join me, and we will rise as one.