Jewish Federation of Madison (Madison Jewish Community Council)
The Jewish Federation of Madison's (Madison Jewish Community Council) mission is to work toward building a strong and unified community in order to ensure the survival, well-being and continuity of the Jewish people in this area and throughout the world.
Description:
Founded in 1940, the Jewish Federation encourages and supports educational programs, plans community wide Jewish events, supports social service needs, supports rescue and renewal efforts wherever Jews live, and maintains effective relationships and understanding between the Jewish community and the community at large. This is done through a variety of initiatives that support agencies, activities, services, and programs including a preschool, summer day camps, continuing education efforts, and numerous specialized committees.
Among the major programs and services of the Jewish Federation all of which are open to all:
Camp Shalom, a summer day camp for children entering kindergarten through grade 9.
Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Jewish Community Campus and Aquatic Center.
Hilde L. Mosse Gan HaYeled Preschool, a year-round, all-day preschool program starting at age 2.
Midrasha Hebrew High School, a supplementary evening Hebrew and Jewish studies program for grades 8 through 12.
History:
The first Jews came to Madison, then a village of 2,300, in the early 1850’s. In 1856, seventeen Jewish families formed the city’s first synagogue, known as Shaarei Shamayim, Gates of Heaven.
With the wave of new immigration from Eastern Europe, new congregations and organizations appeared in Madison including Hadassah, the Council of Jewish Women, the Workmen’s Circle, and the UW Hillel Foundation, the second in the nation founded in 1924.
In the 1930’s, seeking to bring some unity and cooperation to local synagogues and organizations, volunteers formed the Jewish Central Committee of Madison, conducting the committee’s business out of their own homes and offices.
By 1940, displaced European Jews clearly needed assistance. Offering such assistance and support required a more formal central structure. On May 10, 1940, the Madison Jewish Welfare Fund, the forerunner of today’s Jewish Federation of Madison, was created.
The Welfare Fund worked in the Jewish community to raise money for Jews overseas and for the growing immigrant population coming to Madison as refugees from Hitler’s Europe. In addition, at the request of the federal government, the Fund became the liaison to Jewish members of the United States armed forces stationed at Madison’s Truax Field.
On April 14, 1948, the Madison Jewish Welfare Fund formally incorporated under the laws of the State of Wisconsin, citing as its purpose the coordination, consolidation and centralization of charitable, educational and cultural fund-raising activities in the Madison Jewish community. In 1950, its first full-time professional, Bert Jahr, came to work for the Welfare Fund.
Having at first devoted itself almost exclusively to fund-raising, the Madison Jewish Welfare Fund evolved into a broader organization and eventually acknowledged its expanded role in 1974 by taking a new name, The Madison Jewish Community Council. In 2009, the name was changed, once again, to Jewish Federation of Madison.
While continuing its fund-raising efforts, the Council began to provide services as well – Camp Shalom day camp for children, founded in 1954; social work services to senior adults and their families; a community newspaper, the Madison Jewish News (1969); the Hilde L. Mosse Gan HaYeled Preschool (1970); and the Midrasha Hebrew High School (1975), sponsored in cooperation with Beth Israel Center and Temple Beth El.
In 1978, Jewish Social Services was founded as a separate corporation from MJCC. Today, the Jewish Federaiton of Madison also provides support to Hillel, sponsors cultural events and community celebrations, and maintains the Community Relations Committee, a liaison between the local Jewish community and the larger population.
In 1995, the Federation moved to its first permanent home, the Max Weinstein Jewish Community Building, named for one of the founders and past presidents of MJCC. In 1999, the Jewish Federation established the Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Jewish Community Campus on a 154-acre site in the Town of Verona.
Today, the Madison Jewish community numbers more than 5,000 individuals (not including the Jewish students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus). The Madison Jewish community offers a full spectrum of Jewish experiences making Jewish life and living in Jewish Madison vibrant and meaningful.
Contact people:
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Steven Morrison, Executive Director, (608) 278-1808, (email)
Jamie Gepner, Facilities Manager, (608) 278-1808, (email)
Bobbie Lazarz, Financial Resource Development Director, (608) 278-1808, (email) |
Office fax number: (608) 278-7814
Address:
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6434 Enterprise LaneMadison, WI 53719(See a map) |
Web Site: http://www.JewishMadison.org
Miscellaneous Information
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Yes
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| Last updated on October 15, 2009 |
