UJA-Federation of New York

UJA-Federation of New York
NicknameUJA
Formation1917
Type501(c)(3) Nonprofit
Tax ID no.51-0172429
HeadquartersNew York City
Locations
Chief Executive Officer
Eric S. Goldstein
President
Linda Mirels
Chair of the Board
Marc Rowan
Budget$249.7 million USD (2021)
Endowment$1.2 billion USD (2021)
Websitewww.ujafedny.org Edit this at Wikidata

UJA-Federation of New York (United Jewish Appeal⁣ – ⁣Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, commonly known as UJA) is a major Jewish community and philanthropic organization predominantly serving the New York metro area.

Headquartered in New York City, UJA raises and allocates funds to "care for Jews everywhere and New Yorkers of all backgrounds, respond to crises close to home and far away, and shape our Jewish future."[1] distributing support to social service, healthcare, NGOs, and community agencies in New York, Israel, and over 70 countries.[2]

History

UJA-Federation, as it is known today, was created from the 1986 merger of the United Jewish Appeal, established in 1939, and the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, a predecessor organization established in 1917.[3]

During the late 1980s, UJA-Federation participated in the Soviet Jewry Movement with its Passage to Freedom campaign to help Jewish Émigrés from the Soviet Union.[4]

Finances

The organization's fundraising capacity has grown significantly over decades. In 2016, the annual campaign raised $153.4 million, bringing total funds raised to $207.6 million.[5] By 2021, the annual campaign raised $63.2 million, while total funds raised reached $249.6 million alongside an endowment valued at $1.2 billion.[6]

Leadership

Eric S. Goldstein assumed the position of Chief Executive Officer on July 1, 2014, replacing John S. Ruskay, Executive Vice President Emeritus.[7] UJA announced in the summer of 2025 that Goldstein would step down at the end of the next fiscal year.[8]

Linda Mirels was appointed president of UJA on July 1, 2023, and Marc Rowan was appointed chair of the board.[9] Other notable organizational appointments include Rabbi Menachem Creditor as the Pearl and Ira Meyer Scholar-in-Residence starting in July 2018,[10] former Israeli Minister Itzik Shmuli as Director-General of the Jerusalem office in 2021,[11] and former New York State Assembly member Daniel Rosenthal as vice president of Government Relations in 2023.[12]

As Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York (1917–1986)

As United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York (1942–1986)

As UJA-Federation of New York (1986–Present)


Emergency response and relief

UJA frequently mobilizes emergency relief campaigns for local and international crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization allocated nearly $70 million in emergency grants,[13] and conducted an impact study surveying 4,400 New York-area Jews to assess financial and mental health strains.[14][15]

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, UJA-Federation rapidly mobilized relief efforts,[16] leveraging its established network supporting post-Soviet Jewish communities to distribute more than $25 million across dozens of organizations.[17][18]

UJA engages in rapid crisis mobilization in Israel, including establishing in 2001 the Israel Trauma Coalition, which coordinates trauma and emergency preparedness.[19] Following the October 7 attacks, UJA created an "Israel Emergency Fund", which raised over $150 million in two months.[20]

Archives and legacy

Both the Center for Jewish History and the American Jewish Historical Society, an affiliate of the Smithsonian, houses UJA-Federation's archives. Beginning in 1981, the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York conducted an oral history project. It continued through the merger between Federation and the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York until 2004.[21] A collection of oral histories was published in 1995.[22]

To honor its centennial in 2017, the American Jewish Historical Society produced an exhibition exploring a timeline of UJA-Federation from 1917 to 2017, PBS produced a documentary for its Treasures of New York series, and a book, UJA-Federation of New York: The First Century, was published.[23][24][25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Home » UJA-Federation of New York". UJA-Federation of New York. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Who We Are". UJA-Federation of New York. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Pace, Eric (8 September 2003). "Sanford Solender, a Leader of Jewish Charities, Is Dead at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  4. ↑ "Guide to the Judith A. Manelis Papers, 1986-1990, *P-970". Center for Jewish History. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  5. ↑ "UJA's Campaign Reaches Pre-Recession Levels". Jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "Annual Report 2021" (PDF). UJA-Federation of New York. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  7. ↑ West, Melanie Grayce (22 November 2014). "Eric S. Goldstein Leads Jewish Nonprofit, Becomes International Voice for New York's Jews". Wall Street Journal.
  8. ↑ https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/uja-federation-of-new-yorks-eric-goldstein-to-step-down-next-year/
  9. ↑ Wecker, Menachem (2023-07-10). "UJA-Federation of NY names new president, board chair". JNS.org. Retrieved 2023-07-12.
  10. ↑ Sandee Brawarsky. "New Scholar At UJA-Fed.: 'Reunifying Our People'". jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2019-05-31.
  11. ↑ Chernikoff, Helen (2021-08-04). "Itzik Shmuli, UJA-Fed NY's new director-general in Israel, will also handle lobbying". eJewish Philanthropy. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  12. ↑ Kornbluh, Jacob (2023-06-13). "Queens lawmaker resigning to take top job at Jewish philanthropy". The Forward. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  13. ↑ "At UJA-Federation's Wall Street Dinner, held under the shadow of COVID, attendees pledge to fight antisemitism". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 2021-12-07. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  14. ↑ UJA Covid-19 Impact Study, conducted by SSRS on behalf of UJA-Federation of NY, Retrieved 2022-04-21
  15. ↑ Gergely, Julia. "Study: Jewish New Yorkers suffered financial, mental health strain during COVID". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  16. ↑ "NY Jewish federation approves $3 million in Ukraine emergency funding". The Jerusalem Post. 26 February 2022. ISSN 0792-822X. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  17. ↑ "Crisis in Ukraine". UJA-Federation of New York. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  18. ↑ "Timelines of the American Soviet Jewry Movement". American Jewish Historical Society. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  19. ↑ Levanon, Talia; Flamm-Oren, Elisheva; Kahn-Hoffmann, Gilah (2005-05-11). "The Need for a Continuum of Trauma Services". Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma. 10 (3–4): 729–740. doi:10.1300/j146v10n03_06. ISSN 1092-6771.
  20. ↑ "Grapevine December 8, 2023: It ain't over till it's over". The Jerusalem Post. 2023-12-09. ISSN 0792-822X. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  21. ↑ "CJH Catalog - Full View of Record". 67.111.179.150. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  22. ↑ "Collection: Oral histories collection | The Center for Jewish History ArchivesSpace". archives.cjh.org. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  23. ↑ "UJA Federation of New York: The First Century". American Jewish Historical Society. Retrieved 2022-08-25.
  24. ↑ "Treasures of New York | UJA-Federation | Season 2017", PBS, retrieved 2022-08-25
  25. ↑ Feldberg, Michael (2017). UJA-Federation of New York: the first century. United Jewish Appeal--Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York (First ed.). New York. ISBN 978-0-692-93655-9. OCLC 1026389304.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Further reading

  • Berkman, Matthew. “Transforming Philanthropy: Finance and Institutional Evolution at the Jewish Federation of New York, 1917–86,” Jewish Social Studies 22#2 (2017): 146–195. JSTOR
  • Berman, Lila Corwin. “How Americans Give: The Financialization of American Jewish Philanthropy,” American Historical Review 122#5 (2017): 1459–1489. doi:10.1093/ahr/122.5.1459
  • Elazar, Daniel J. Community and Polity: The Organizational Dynamics of American Jewry (1995) see pp 211–18 for a listing of the community Jewish federations and the founding date.
  • Feldstein, Donald. “The Jewish Federation: The First Hundred Years,” in Norman Linzer, ed., A Portrait of the American Jewish Community (1998).
  • Liebman, Charles S. “Leadership and Decision-Making in a Jewish Federation: The New York Federation of Jewish Philanthropies,” in American Jewish Year Book (1979), 3–76. JSTOR
  • Moore, Deborah Dash. “From Kehillah to Federation: The Communal Functions of Federated Philanthropy in New York City, 1917–1933,” American Jewish History 68#2 (1978): 131–146. JSTOR
  • Nissim, Hanna Shaul Bar. “The Adaptation Process of Jewish Philanthropies to Changing Environments: The Case of the UJA-Federation of New York Since 1990,” Contemporary Jewry 38#1 (2018): 79–105. doi:10.1007/s12397-017-9235-4
  • Wenger, Beth S. “Federation Men: The Masculine World of New York Jewish Philanthropy, 1880–1945,” American Jewish History 101#3 (2017): 377–399. doi:10.1353/ajh.2017.0034
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