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They say that necessity is the mother of invention. And this is exactly how the Jewish International Connection started 20 years ago.
When my husband and I moved to New York City in 2000, we found ourselves in one of the most densely populated Jewish areas in the world outside of Israel. Previously, we had a hard time finding Jewish companions while living in some extremely remote parts of New Zealand and Australia.
And when I say remote, I mean remote parts of the world where I had to perform my mikvah in the freezing South Pacific Ocean alongside signs warning people not to swim. Once we drove 500 miles to the nearest Jewish community for Shabbat. In Tasmania, when a man wearing a kippah knocked on our door, my jaw dropped: I hadn’t seen a religious Jew in six months.
On the way to Manhattan, he expected to be one in a million instead of one in a million. I anticipated that I would instantly integrate into a thriving and existing community.
I was also a bit intimidated at the prospect. I had found my calling in Australia and New Zealand. When we lived in Sydney and the Gold Coast, I encouraged Jews who had no connection to their religion or Jewish customs. My husband and I conducted outreach activities, hosted Shabbat dinners, and recruited Jewish students for trips to Israel.
What would I do in New York? There were already thousands of established Jewish organizations along with a large number of synagogues and kosher food.
When I shared my concerns with Rabbi Noah Weinberg, OBM, then director of Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem, he laughed. “Do you think there is no job for you in New York? You will find a lot of work there, ”he assured me.
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I did not understand at the time.
About a month after arriving in the Big Apple, a friend asked me if I would host a Rosh Hashanah meal for 36 foreign Jewish MBA students from 30 different countries. If it weren’t for that dinner, those students would have nowhere to go on vacation. Being a foreigner myself, I was sensitive to that, especially since I was also having trouble getting into the local community.
As I continued to host more dinners with more expats, I realized that I had stumbled upon a need and found my mission: to provide a community for foreign Jews living in New York who were disconnected from their religion and from other Jews.
I spoke with my friend Steve Eisenberg and, together with my husband Gavin, we founded Jewish International Connection New York.
Today, JICNY – and now JICIsrael as well – reaches more than 10,000 people from more than 40 countries.
We run programs in New York, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv.
We host thousands of Jews for Shabbat and holiday meals.
We have seen hundreds of non-observant Jews connect with their Jewish identity.
We offer weekly Torah classes
We host 250 events a year that include classes for couples, parents, singles, professional networking events, and cooking classes, to name a few!
We run annual heritage tours to places like Morocco, Poland, Germany and Israel
We recently celebrated our 129th marriage
And much more
The staff is still just me as a full time volunteer, part time assistant, intern, and a dedicated group of volunteers. For all our events, I am the contact person.
I remember worrying that it would have no impact on New York City. But two decades later, we have an organization that has crossed international borders to connect Jews from all over the world. And help them feel at home.
Looking back at our 20s, I still get excited. JIC was my first baby. And now, as I prepare to send my son to serve in the Israel Defense Forces, I can at least be sure that this, JIC, will live with me at home.
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