Young Jewish leadership program makes multigenerational impact – Sun Sentinel

(JNS) They’ve been the next generation for multiple generations.

The alumni list of the Jewish Federations of North America’s (JFNA) National Young Leadership Cabinet reads like a “who’s who” across the Jewish world of philanthropy, politics, art and business. And many of them proudly credit their cabinet experience as defining their lifelong Jewish journey.

“It is an important part of our leadership development pipeline. But it’s really important to the entire Jewish world. If you look at the leadership of almost every major Jewish organization, you will find people who were members of Cabinet whose interest in Jewish communal leadership was honed and inspired through their experience of Cabinet,” Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of JFNA, former president and CEO of Hillel International and a cabinet alum, told JNS.

Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), a cabinet alum, surprisingly announced recently that he will be leaving Congress later this year to head the American Jewish Committee. He told JNS that his foundational experience in the cabinet contributed to his desire to pursue Jewish service in his post-congressional life.

“I think all of the things in the Jewish community that has mattered to me through my life have contributed to this. I think if had asked my cabinet chevra (‘society’) if they had to look ahead a couple of decades, would it be more likely that I would wind up being in Congress or wind up running a great organization like AJC, they probably would have found the AJC position to be even more likely. And those experiences, because they’re so personal, absolutely resonated with me when this opportunity arose. It just made it even greater,” said Deutch.

Just last week, cabinet members were in Israel for the first major North American young leadership mission to Israel since the coronavirus pandemic, dubbed “New Mission for a New Generation.”

The aim was to engage in dialogue around the challenges of Israel-Diaspora relations, Israel’s emerging and dynamic geopolitical and humanitarian role on the global stage and pluralism and diversity in Israel, according to JFNA. The cabinet met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as well as changemakers, philanthropists, social entrepreneurs and young Israeli innovators; explored Jewish Federation-funded projects promoting diversity and inclusion; and met with new immigrants from Ukraine and Ethiopia.

The cabinet’s mission is to train and inspire the most promising young volunteers, ages 30 to 40, for positions of leadership in the Jewish community, providing them tools to better themselves and their capacity as leaders through continued learning, reflection and action. Members participate in a five-year curriculum that builds on a series of Jewish values: hineni (“call to leadership”), achrayut (“responsibility”), kehilah kedosha (“sacred community”), Klal Yisrael (“Jewish peoplehood”) and hazon (“vision”).

“I certainly got to cut my teeth on what national leadership looks like. I had only done things in my own community before. I had never known what it was like to be part of a national effort and learned from those around me, from those the…