The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia launched what it is calling the “Center to Combat Antisemitism” earlier this week, with the center targeting non-Jewish communities in the area with education, legislation, allyship and community work in mind.
The center will be led by the Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council. The work will focus on enhancing public awareness of antisemitism, equipping the public with strategies to address and combat it and advocating for legislation that keeps Jewish communities safe and builds solidarity with other ethnic and religious groups through allyship.
According to a news release from the Federation using data from the American Defamation League, Pennsylvania ranked sixth in the nation in reported antisemitic events in 2023, with 394.
Jason Holtzman, director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said the center will be doing much needed work in a community that is feeling the pressures of international and domestic politics.
“Through the establishment of the Center to Combat Antisemitism, the Jewish Federation is increasing our capacity to meet the escalating crisis of rising antisemitism through a focused and systematized response,” he said. “To effectively address antisemitism, we need to engage all sectors of society to combat the pervasive nature of this hate.”
Some of the actions that the Federation will be taking through the new center are hosting antisemitism training sessions for school faculty, creating a community forum to share resources and ideas, organizing an annual symposium on antisemitism, creating a database with legal advice and contacts for antisemitism-related cases and organizing interfaith advocacy work with other religious leaders.
This continues work that the Federation has been doing for years. The Federation’s efforts to combat antisemitism have accelerated in the past 12 months since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians. The Federation helped implement a crisis communication system for students at 22 local schools, as well as work with consultants to increase security measures for nearby synagogues and Jewish institutions.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia was founded in 1901 and has worked on behalf of the region’s Jewish communities since then, with its headquarters stationed on Market Street in Center City. It is funded through grants, gifts, endowments and other methods.
The financial commitment to the Center to Combat Antisemitism is not publicly available at this time. More information can be found by going to jewishphilly.org.
