2017-2018 Annual Report to the Community OUR MISSION Through the development of community-wide financial support, planning and allocations, the mission of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation is to ensure the continuity of the Jewish people, to enhance the quality of Jewish life and to build a strong and unified Jewish community in Milwaukee, in Israel and throughout the world. In fulfilling its mission, the Federation is committed to the principles of Klal Yisrael (the collective unity of the Jewish people), Tzedakah (the obligation to care for one another) and Tikkun Olam (improving the society in which we live). This year we received our seventh consecutive 4-star rating by Charity Navigator, the highest rating granted. BOARD CHAIR & CEO/PRESIDENT Collective action, when combined with generosity and Jewish values, can make the world a better place. Our Jewish community proved it again this year. Our 2018 Annual Campaign increased – for the fourth consecutive year – to $6.35 million, assets at the Jewish Community Foundation grew to over $190 million and the expected revenue from our Create a Jewish Legacy program rose to $19.5 million. We celebrated Israel’s 70th birthday and hosted a visit from the Israeli ambassador to the United States. We sent women to Israel through the Heart to Heart mission and Young Leaders through the George Weinstein Fellowship. We helped pass anti-BDS legislation in Madison and responded to anti- Semitism in Charlottesville and in our own neighborhoods. We stepped up when hurricanes battered Houston, the Southeastern U.S. and Puerto Rico. And we were recognized for our work by Charity Navigator, the Journal Sentinel and the Milwaukee Press Club. With stories and with numbers, these pages tell the tale of an extraordinarily generous community. In the true spirit of tikkun olam, our donors enabled us to distribute over $19 million to more than 1,000 charities through donor advised and endowment fund grants in addition to allocations from our annual campaign to help repair our world locally, in Israel and around the globe. It’s a community to whom we owe our deepest gratitude. Moshe Katz Hannah Rosenthal Board Chair CEO/President WHO WE ARE: FEDERATION PROGRAMS & SERVICES Coalition for Israel Center Jewish Community Jewish Learning Foundation Jewish Community Jewish Museum Milwaukee Nathan and Esther Pelz Relations Council Holocaust Education Resource Center Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle Women’s Philanthropy Young Leadership Division WHO WE ARE: INTERNATIONAL PARTNER AGENCIES American Jewish Joint Jewish Agency for Israel Taglit-Birthright Israel Distribution Committee 2 WHO WE ARE: LOCAL PARTNER AGENCIES Bader BBYO - Harry & Rose Samson Hillel Academy Wisconsin Region Family Jewish Community Center Hillel Foundation at University Hillel Milwaukee Interfaith Conference of Wisconsin-Madison of Greater Milwaukee Jewish Beginnings Jewish Family Milwaukee Jewish Lubavitch Preschool Services Day School World ORT Ovation Communities Yeshiva Elementary School 3 WHO WE ARE: NATIONAL AGENCIES American Jewish Association of Jewish Family World Service and Children’s Agencies BBYO Hebrew Immigrant Hillel Jewish Community Aid Society (HIAS) International Centers Association of North America Jewish Council Jewish Federations Jewish Telegraphic National Coalition for Public Affairs of North America Agency Supporting Eurasian Jewry WHO WE ARE: PROPERTIES n Evan and Marion Helfaer Community Service Building (photo at left) n Golda Meir Apartments n Habush House n Hillel Milwaukee Student Center/ Joseph and Vera Zilber Building n Maurice S. Surlow Senior Residences n Max and Anita Karl Jewish Community Campus n Shlichut Residence 4 WHO WE ARE The Milwaukee Jewish Federation is a fundraising organization that invests in partner agencies serving needs locally, nationally, in Israel and around the world, as well as our own programs and services. We are unique among Jewish agencies because we look at the big picture to ensure we are addressing community-wide issues wisely and according to Jewish values. WHAT WE DO The Milwaukee Jewish Federation changes lives. Our dollars are hard at work 24/7: n Taking care of our most vulnerable, right next door and around the world n Inspiring young people to live full, proud Jewish lives n Forging strong, lifelong connections with Israel n Standing up for our community locally, in Madison and in Washington, D.C. n Developing financial resources and strong leaders to support our community today and tomorrow n Mobilizing our community during good times and in times of crisis WHY WE DO IT We believe in the enduring power of collective action that, when combined with Jewish values, can make the world a better place. We are thousands of Milwaukeeans who contribute time and financial resources that, combined with the resources of other Federations and our partner agencies, make an impact none of us can make alone. Our network of Jewish Federations across the United States and Canada is collectively among the top 10 charities in the world. Our movement raises and distributes more than $4 billion annually for the well-being of Jews worldwide. 5 Building Bridges I grew up in Colorado Springs where I knew only one Jewish family. Then I moved to Boston where I attended college at MIT. It was a huge culture change. So I know first-hand how important it is for Jews to build bridges to those outside our community. I am chair of Jewish Museum Milwaukee and a board member of the Jewish Community Relations Council. The museum provides context for today’s issues through a Jewish lens, reminding us all what people are capable of – for good and for bad. The JCRC strives to build a consensus among local Jews to help others understand what the Jewish community thinks about issues of the day. Both organizations help us build trusting relationships with our non-Jewish friends, which helps prevent hate in its many forms including anti-Semitism. — Anneliese Dickman 6 Creating Connections with Israel My family hosted a Shin Shin (a young Israeli emissary) named Dar Eitan when I was in second grade. It made a huge impact on me. I’ve been to Israel a few times since then and I always visit her and her family. Her brother came here and stayed with us. She surprised me by coming to my bat mitzvah! It’s like having a sister in Israel. Instead of thinking about Israel as a place where we get culture or where there are a lot of wars, we can think of it in a more personal way. Because I stay in contact with Dar, it makes me want to stay involved in the Jewish community. When I heard about the Milwaukee Jewish Teen Philanthropy Board I knew right away that I wanted to get involved. This program helps us understand how we can make social change through philanthropy. It will help our Jewish community stay strong because we are learning from the generation before us, and younger kids are learning from me and my friends. — Danya Paley 7 Improving the World Through Charitable Giving It’s important to me that I make the world a better place. One of the ways I do this is through charitable giving. I give to the Annual Campaign, and I have a Donor Advised Fund at the Jewish Community Foundation for additional donations to organizations and causes I care about. As the chair of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s Human Services Task Force, I’m working to understand the critical issues affecting individuals and families who are struggling with poverty, hunger, disability, aging and mental illness. We are looking for community-wide solutions like transportation and socialization for seniors. Knowing that the Federation is doing this sort of analysis gives me confidence that they are investing my gifts wisely. — Nancy Kennedy Barnett 8 Building Our Financial Future In 1973, the Milwaukee Jewish Federation worked with a group of generous and forward-thinking leaders to establish the Jewish Community Foundation to encourage the development of planned gifts and endowments. They understood that collectively we can do more than any of us can do alone, and they foresaw the benefits of a growing foundation with resources that could support the community forever. Today, with over $190 million in assets, the Jewish Community Foundation helps donors make a long-term impact on the vibrancy and financial stability of our community. Becoming Chair of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees felt like coming home to me. I follow in the footsteps of my grandparents, Ben* and Ceil* Marcus, and my parents, Steve and Joan* Marcus, who invested their time and financial resources in Milwaukee’s Jewish community. Through their words (I clearly recall my mother telling me to be a giver, not a taker) and their deeds, my parents passed on a legacy of personal responsibility for Jewish life in Milwaukee. *Of blessed memory — Greg Marcus 9 Making a Financial Impact Both my husband Mitch and I come from Federation families. It’s just part of who we are. When I moved to Milwaukee, it was very easy to get involved through Women’s Philanthropy. Then when we had children, they started using Federation-supported services like the Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, the Steve & Shari Sadek Family Camp Interlaken JCC and BBYO-Wisconsin Region. Now I’m Chair of the Women’s Campaign. I know that my dollar has more value when I give it to the Federation. Like most families, our ability to give is limited, so when our gift is combined with gifts of others, we can have a much bigger impact than we can have on our own. And I still give additional dollars to those agencies that I love the most. — Cheryl Moser 10 Teaching the Lessons of the Holocaust I was born in Budapest in 1936, and I survived the war in the ghetto there where I saw half of the Jews being murdered.