Meaningful Experiences

We continue to offer the community truly meaningful experi­ences through our expanded programming and events.

Jeannie Opdyke-Smith’s empowering story of her mother’s journey as a Righteous Gentile at two recent Women’s Philan­thropy events is an example of what one person’s compas­sion can do to save many lives.

Our annual campaign kickoff brought “The Soap Myth,” starring Ed Asner, a concert reading that reminded us to never forget that there is still so much we can learn from the Holocaust and our pledge of never again. 

A panel of speakers on the history of The Power of Protest movement to Free Soviet Jews shared firsthand experiences this spring. 

The opportunity to learn some­thing, see something and taste something Israeli was offered to the entire community during a free celebration of Israel called Israel in the Park.

Our partner organizations and agencies are also able to share in our increased engagement goals by providing educa­tional experiences through our collaboration grants.

These programs and events help strengthen Jewish identity, and there are other ways we contribute to this outside of the Indianapolis community. We are fortunate to have funded many Jewish overnight camp experiences and Israel trips for our youth and young adults. According to our Indianapolis Jewish Community Study, 17 percent of Jewish children age 6-17 attended/worked at a Jewish overnight camp in 2017. We also know that 52 percent of Jewish households contain a person who visited Israel, including 32 percent who visited with a Jewish group. Lastly, we know people are more likely to be Jewish-ly involved if someone in their immediate family has been to Israel. This year we have given out $44,412 for camp and Israel trips, which is an increase in grants and needs than in 2018.

Along with the Israel and camp scholarships, we also provide additional endowment schol­arships.

Our next big community event is the Indianapolis Jewish and Israeli Film Festival in August. I love films because they allow us the opportunity to explore and be transported into different Jewish experiences. I encour­age you to join others for one or more of these spectacular films. 

I look forward to sharing in these experiences with you.

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