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MESSAGE FROM FOUNDATION CHAIRMAN FRED ZIMMERMAN

So much of Jewish life is an invigorating mix of tradition and innovation.  The familiarity of the Shabbat service, the Passover seder, the strains of Kol Nidre…all are part of the litany of traditions that link us to our Jewish forbears of centuries ago.

Yet while our great-great-great-grandparents might be able to follow the general outline of our services and Haggadot, it’s a safe bet that some more modern developments would take some getting used to.  Our traditions, while solid and time-tested, are not static, and each generation leaves its own imprint for the next.

Our philanthropic traditions are no different.  In the small, isolated Jewish communities of pre-modern Europe, the leaders of the community would assess the yearly needs for the welfare of the community, and then use their best efforts both to assess each person’s share of the burden, and then collect for the common good.

If this sounds a little like how our Federation campaigns work today, that’s not a coincidence.  The things that we do to keep our Jewish communities strong have their roots in time-honored structures.  Our fundraising, our planning, and our allocations all hearken back to generations past.

If our great-great-great-grandparents showed up in our community today, there’s no doubt that they would notice a lot that they’d find familiar.  They’d recognize our synagogues and schools and social welfare agencies as essential for Jewish life.

But they’d also be astounded by some significant differences from the community they were used to.  The resources that we have available to us would stagger their imaginations.  They would see a level of success unprecedented in history, and would be astounded at some of the things we’ve achieved.

Quite probably they’d also be a little amazed at the comfort within the larger society that our Jewish community had achieved.  And they would marvel at the organizations and institutions that make up the fabric of our modern community.

On reflection, though, what would probably make the biggest impression on our ancestors wouldn’t be the money that we raise, the buildings that we build or the programs we fund.  It would be the sense of permanence that pervades our activities.  To our ancestors, planning for much beyond the next year—let alone the next generation—was usually an unaffordable luxury.  It is only in our modern time, with a strong Israel and a vibrant American Jewish culture, that we can successfully take care of our immediate needs while laying the foundations for generations to come.

That is why our Jewish Foundation occupies such a key role in our community.  Our annual campaigns maintain today’s strength, and our Foundation builds for tomorrow’s.  By supporting the Jewish Foundation, each community member can not only provide for our Jewish future, but also get a say in what that future will be.

When you leave your Jewish legacy through the Jewish Foundation, you say proudly that Jewish life--in Nashville, in North America, in Israel and the world--will not just survive, will not just endure, but will thrive.

Chair, Jewish Foundation of Nashville