When you think of Jewish life in the state of Maryland, you probably think of the thriving communities in the greater Baltimore area, or the Montgomery County suburbs of Washington, D.C.
You might not think of Annapolis, or Arnold, or Bowie or Easton — but there are Jews there. And for the first time in nearly two decades, the Jewish communities of those cities will have their own umbrella organization to help them.
Earlier this month, the Jewish Federation of Annapolis and the Chesapeake officially began operations. These operations are the same of any federation: unite and protect Jewish communities, namely the ones that fall between the areas of operation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and The Associated in Baltimore, said the Federation’s co-founder and president, Jody Goldsmith.
“[People] want a place where people can look to for collaboration and information and cooperation and constructive building,” he said.
Goldsmith said that there was an organization called the United Jewish Council of Anne Arundel County that existed until 2008, but that it wasn’t the same as the new organization — it wasn’t part of the Jewish Federations of North America, and it only covered the Anne Arundel synagogues.
The Jewish Federation of Annapolis and the Chesapeake includes the last half of its name very intentionally — in addition to Annapolis’ Congregation Kneseth Israel and Congregation Kol Shalom and Arnold’s Temple Beth Shalom, it will work on behalf of Bowie’s Temple Solel and Easton’s Temple B’nai Israel, as well as other Jewish organizations in the general region.
“I think they need it for the same reason that all Jewish groups need it now, which is that we’re facing a time of both great challenge and great opportunity, and the more we can unite together to create synergy around [the question of] ‘how do we handle the issues of antisemitism and ensure a thriving and positive Jewish future?’” said another Federation co-founder, Secretary Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi.
Goldsmith said the new organization will also, hopefully, help unify the Jews in Maryland’s capital city and surrounding areas. In his experience as a congregant, president and senior gabbai at Kneseth Israel, most of the area synagogues are insular and there isn’t much mixing among them.
“It’s very synagogue-centric. Which is good and bad, right? So everyone has their own little communal circle,” he said. “It’s very important that we get more and more together, looking at our commonalities as Jews, not at our differences.”
Goldsmith said that one of the area synagogues was unsure whether it was a good decision to join, as they had no previous experience with a federation of any kind. He passionately explained that it’s a great deal — the Federation will be there to support the synagogues in any way they need, and expects nothing in return.
“I wrote back [and said], ‘This is a place for you to go if you need something. We’re not going to need anything from you. It’s not what you can give us,’” he said. “We’re just looking to have some organization where people can turn to and feel united and know that there is strength in numbers, even though our numbers are very small.”
What this looks like in practice is offering staffing help in times of need, funds during an emergency, or security support. The Federation will help facilitate events for and between the synagogues, and act as a go-between for the shuls with larger regional and national Jewish organizations. It plans to set up a BBYO chapter, too. It will also give Jews in the region a “central voice” when they need to reach out to elected officials, Mizrahi said.
The feedback thus far has been all positive.
“The elected officials are very excited. The Jewish folks who were in the institutions, who have banded together, are pleased,” Mizrahi said. “But also, there are quite a number of Jews that don’t belong to a synagogue at this point, and have been looking for a way to know if there is a great speaker or movie or opportunity for service that they can get involved in if they don’t belong to a synagogue. So those folks have been very excited.”
The first event for the Federation was held earlier this month, before the organization had officially started operations. It was presentation on preventing antisemitism that included elected officials, Jewish leaders and members of the public. More than 100 folks attended.
“All of us met together with our congresswoman [Sarah Elfreth], and it was just a phenomenal meeting. Our county executive is really happy to see us work together,” Mizrahi said.
She added that the proof of the excitement can be found in the numbers. The other day, Mizrahi said, she went to the bank to help set up the Federation’s account and was surprised to find out that it already had $400 in donations. The Federation had set up a donations tab on the website, but had yet to tell anyone about it or ask for contributions.
For Goldsmith, this all just shows the Federation has an exciting future ahead of it.
“Everything with the Federation, it’s all positive,” he said. “We’re just trying to do good things for good people.”
