• This Giving Tuesday support ISRAEL TRAUMA COALITION DONATE NOW

 

MISSION STATEMENT

Guided by Jewish ethics, the Jewish Federation and Foundation of Rockland County (“Federation”) is the County’s leading organization that uniquely convenes collective action, identifies and helps the most vulnerable, addresses security needs, strengthens connections to Israel, combats antisemitism, and celebrates the breadth and beauty of Jewish identity, truly bringing Rockland’s community together.

 

JEWISH FEDERATION
2025 COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN

FEATURED PROGRAM

 

AN EVENING WITH ESEK

 

DECEMBER 17, 2024, 7PM
Location TBA

Support Israeli Small Businesses

In a time of increasing need for support, ESEK's mission is to showcase the soul and spirit of Israel through products as unique as the stories of those who create them.

All goods will be available to purchase.

JEWISH VOICES, JEWISH LIVES

Read the latest posts

  • This Thanksgiving we are dedicating our Giving Tuesday campaign to the Israel Trauma Coalition. Trauma can create such a lasting impact that it’s often passed down through generations. What can we in the Jewish community do to help each other heal? Especially in the aftermath of the October 7th attacks and the ensuing and ongoing war, it’s essential to focus on support, both in Israel and globally.

    In 2001, after the second intifada, the UJA Federation of New York picked seven organizat...

  • My apologies for not focusing on a positive message this week. Sometimes you just have to tell it like it is.

    In the 15th and early 16th Century, the Roman Catholic Church was a globe-spanning endeavor. Under its umbrella were many priests, bishops, and cardinals, but it also was the spiritual and temporal underwriter of kingdoms, countries and colonies. The title ‘His Most Catholic Majesty’ was of common usage. The Church owned vast lands and fiefdoms, had revenue sources everywhere, an...

  • What do you do when your good friend does something that really and justifiably irks, even hurts you, but on a day-in-day-out basis, is as reliable and amazing as she can be? What if that generous, amazing nature is why you became friends in the first place? Will her getting it wrong on one thing ruin your friendship? Or will it give you an opportunity to trust her with your feelings, offer constructive feedback with the goal of seeing your friend succeed, thereby strengthening the relationsh...

  • It has been an eventful and consequential week, and I wanted to share a few thoughts, hopefully tying them together in a coherent way.

    Tuesday’s Presidential and local elections have left some of our community members disappointed or worried, others excited or motivated, and many of us hoping that we soon find some starting point for common ground among the disparate political perspectives we encounter. Anyone (especially locally) who participated in the electoral process - as a candidate,...

Community Events

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Dec

01 to 31 DEC

NCJC Month of Giving to the Community

New City Jewish Center 47 Old Schoolhouse Road
New City, NY 10956

Dec

06

Fahrbrengen Gathering At Beth Am Temple

Beth Am Temple 60 East Madison Ave
Pearl River, NY 10965

Dec

06

Habayit Tots Kabbalat Shabbat at NCJC

New City Jewish Center 47 Old Schoolhouse Road
New City, NY 10956

ADULT EDUCATION CALENDAR

Dec

08

Israel: Then and Now at CSI

CSI 300 N Bdwy
Upper Nyack, NY 10960

Dec

11

Pirkei Avot at CSI with Rabbi Russo

CSI 300 North Broadway
Upper Nyack, NY 10960

Dec

11

Building a Conscious Community with Judith Rose

CSI 300 N Bdwy
Upper Nyack, NY 10960

Dec

11

Beginning Conversational Hebrew at CSI

CSI 300 North Broadway
Upper Nyack, NY 10960

Facebook Feed

ANNUAL REPORT

2023-24
 

 

ROCKLAND COUNTY SYNAGOGUES

As the world slowly emerges from the Covid pandemic, people everywhere are re-discovering the importance of community. At the Jewish Federation & Foundation of Rockland County, we have striven to maintain our Rockland Jewish Community throughout the pandemic. And the response has shown that people care about belonging.
 

Rockland’s synagogues are coming out of this pandemic with an eye towards the future. If you are Jewish or connected to someone Jewish, you are part of this family. We want to help you find your spiritual home and community.

 

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Kfar Silver
 

The connection between Rockland’s Jewish Federation and Kfar Silver Youth Village is a recent one when a group of Rockland County residents visited the school, which is supported by ORT. The agricultural/residential school located just eight miles from Gaza is part of the Zionist dream to make the Negev bloom. 
 

Students come from all over to Kfar Silver, some born in many parts of the FSU…former Soviet Union, as well as students from Ethiopia who were airlifted to Israel with their parents. One third of the student body—750 students—live on the campus. Many come from low socio-economic and single parent families, the disadvantaged part of Israeli society. By the time these kids graduate and move on to the IDF and further educational opportunities, Kfar Silver will have given these kids a leg up they might otherwise not have had.
 

Rockland County’s Jewish community supports Israel in many ways. Federation’s direct support of Kfar Silver is as much about supporting Israel as it is about supporting a special project we feel a connection with…one we have grown to love. 

Adult Jewish Education
 

  • For those who stopped learning about what it means to be Jewish during their last Sunday school session before their bar/bat mitzvah…  
  • For those who have studied Jewish customs, religion, and culture on their own, but are hungry for more…  
  • For those who want to be educated about who they are and where they came from, but know little or nothing of what it means to be Jewish…
  • For those who aren’t Jewish but are fascinated with Judaism in all its many forms and want to learn about it…

Rockland’s Adult Jewish Education classes are for you. Background doesn’t matter. Level of education doesn’t matter. A desire to learn and participate in riveting, fascinating classes is all you need. Join our classes taught by fascinating, articulate teachers and enjoy!

Got questions? We have answers. 

PJ Library
 

For young moms and dads, reading stories to their children is something many do every night at bedtime…or even in the middle of the afternoon! PJ Library, which is a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, is underwritten in Rockland County by Rockland’s Jewish Federation. It provides Jewish-themed books for children, ages 2-8 every month and gives those moms and dads a wonderful way to help them understand and appreciate what it means to be Jewish…even at a young age.
 

PJ Library books are wonderful additions to every Jewish family’s library. It doesn’t matter what the family’s background, knowledge or family make-up or observance is. There are PJ Library books for every kind of Jewish family. 
 

But PJ is not only about books. It’s also about Jewish-themed activities…like Zoom classes on cooking for the holidays. And outings where young Jewish families can meet and make friendships with other young Jewish families.

Leket Israel
 

Leket Israel is the largest food bank and food rescue organization in Israel. Rockland’s Federation has had a long-standing relationship with Leket because we know how important it is to take care of the most basic need of making sure people who struggle to feed themselves and their families have food to put on the table each and every day.
 

During the year of the pandemic, Leket Israel had to change the way it feeds people in need. It went from rescuing good, nutritious food from restaurants, hotels, and even the IDF, and feeding more than 200,000 Israelis per week, to buying 12,000 meals a day because just like here in Rockland County, the need for food increased tangentially as the Pandemic worsened and people lost their jobs. 
 

Here in Rockland County’s Jewish community, we have a strong relationship with Leket Israel. It’s a special project we support directly and that has come to mean a lot to us. Through donations to Jewish Federation, we can see the difference those donations make in the lives of those who are helped by Leket Israel.

Community Relations Council
 

If you see something… 
 

The Community Relations Council is Federation’s advocacy arm. One of its prime roles is as the Rockland Jewish community’s voice with elected officials at every level from national to local. The CRC has developed relationships with many of these people and will contact them when there’s an issue that is of concern, and must be addressed. From gatherings the were highly visible, such as the one that occurred after the Monsey stabbings, to those that are strictly behind-the-scenes, the CRC takes a strong and active role in combatting antisemitism no matter where it occurs. 
 

The CRC makes sure our elected officials understand the pernicious effects the BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions) has on the State of Israel, and the hateful rhetoric that is too pervasive on certain social media channels and group pages in and around Rockland County. When the CRC becomes aware of such hate speech or any violent threats against the Jewish community, it makes sure our local officials are aware of them so they can be dealt with.

Community Weaving
 

The most important role Jewish Federation plays in the community is in community weaving. Federation has built a platform where all organizations and individuals can come together to share common concerns. Through Community Weaving, Federation brings synagogues and organizations together to work for the common good of Rockland’s Jewish community. 
 

Whether it’s to learn how to apply for security grants, or the PPP during the pandemic, or learning how to set up endowment funds for the financial security of an organization through Life and Legacy, Federation has made Community Weaving the important initiative it is for  the community. 

Our Address

450 West Nyack Road, West Nyack, NY 10994

  • Organizations