The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization representing 148 Jewish Federations and 300 independent Jewish communities across North America. JFNA was formed from the merger of the United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Council of Jewish Federations, and the United Israel Appeal.
JFNA provides fundraising, organization assistance, training, and overall leadership to the Jewish Federations and communities throughout the United States and Canada. The Federation movement protects and enhances the well-being of Jews worldwide through the values of tikkun olam, tzedakah and Torah. Four hundred smaller Jewish communities in North America are members of the Network of Independent Communities, which are administered via the JFNA.
JFNA hosts a General Assembly for the Federations to meet annual and exchange information.
History
Council of Jewish Federations
The original umbrella organization for the federations was the National Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds formed in 1932. "National" was dropped from the name in 1935 and "Welfare Funds" was removed in 1979.
Jewish Federations of North America
In 1999, the CJF merged with the United Jewish Appeal to become the United Jewish Communities. 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. JNFA declined to run the decennial National Jewish Population Survey in 2010 due to re-prioritizing.
National Jewish Population Survey
The National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) was a decennial survey ran by JFNA as a census of the Jewish community in the United States. The NJPS has been controversial at times. The 1990 survey indicated that inter-faith marriage was occurring at a rate of 52 percent which was quickly denounced by demographers. With the NJPS 2000-01, a number of problems plagued the survey as it used a different method than the 1990 thus not comparable, cost $6 million and the data was lost. JFNA would not fund the 2010 survey due to re-prioritizing given decreased revenue given its limited direct benefits while some Jewish federations like the New York federation. JFNA was then open to partnering with other agencies on the national survey.
References
External links
- The Jewish Federations of North America Website
