JEWISH COMMUNITY BLOG

Jewish Federations of North America are proud to announce the inaugural cohort of the Jewish Federations’ Executive Accelerator, a new program designed to equip emerging leaders with the resources, network and coaching to competently and confidently grow into c-suite...

Dell Jewish Community Center Senior Health and Wellness Director, Mark Pattis. Courtesy: Shalom Austin The Wexner Foundation, in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation, welcomes Class 8 of the Wexner Field Fellowship. Utilizing the diverse, cohort-based learning...

Dr. Talia Golan (left) and Lily Saad (right) share a mission to bring more awareness to and support for pancreatic cancer. Photo courtesy of Lily Saad.  Dr. Talia Golan, head of the Pancreatic Cancer Center at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel shares some of...

Community members attend the Israel Marketplace at the Dell JCC on October 29, hosted by Shalom Austin and IAC as a fundraiser for JFNA’s Israel Emergency Campaign. Courtesy: Shalom Austin By Wendy Goodman What started as a gathering of solidarity on October 9 has...

Austin community members join hundreds of thousands of fellow supporters in Washington D.C. at the March For Israel. Courtesy: Shalom Austin By Wendy Goodman More than 60 Austin Jewish community members traveled to Washington D.C. on November 14 to participate in the...

Dr. Matthew Schocket and Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus visit Israel on a Solidarity Mission to Israel with Jewish Federations of North America. Courtesy: Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus In late October, Shalom Austin CEO Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus and Austin Jewish community leader...

Austin clergy recite Mourner's Kaddish at the Community Solidarity Gathering for Israel at Congregation Agudas Achim on October 9. Credit: David Finkel Photography By Wendy Goodman Since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, the deadliest day for the...

Author Jennifer Rosner at the Leslie Brittman Literary Event. Credit: Rebecca Golden The Leslie Brittman Literary Event was held on Sunday, October 29 at Chez Zee. Jennifer Rosner, National Jewish Book Award Finalist, and author of “The Yellow Bird Sings” was...

Attendees view film during Austin Jewish Film Festival at the Dell JCC. Credit: Ken Nordhauser By Cynthia Winer The annual Austin Jewish Film Festival opened on Thursday, November 2, at the Dell Jewish Community Center, bringing its audience an outstanding compilation...

Hate in the Lone Star State: Extremism & Antisemitism in Texas” A Report by the ADL Center on Extremism, released September 2023. Courtesy: ADL By Wendy Goodman In September 2023, ADL Center on Extremism published a report on extremist and antisemitic activity in...

By Jackie Nirenberg, Regional Director, ADL Austin It is hard to believe it has been over a month since Hamas murdered over 1,400 Israeli civilians in cold blood, the largest number of Jewish people killed since the Holocaust, and took more than 240 hostages,...

By Rabbi Amy B. Cohen In 2023, the Shalom Austin community came together to celebrate many incredible accomplishments. And in times of grief, fear and pain, the community came together to support one another. Throughout all of this, one truth remained consistent, the...

By Bettie Forman  AJPR (Austin Jews and Partners for Refugees) began as a group of volunteers from the Austin Jewish community who wanted to make an impact assisting refugees. Russ Apfel and Nancy Wolf, husband, and wife volunteers, brought together a group of...

Shalom Austin team at Z3. Left to right: Yarden Bleicher, Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus, Rachel Stern, Iris Bartov, Jessica Ochs. Courtesy: Iris Bartov By Iris Bartov Shalom Austin CEO, Rabbi Daniel A. Septimus and members of Shalom Austin’s Rapoport team, Rachel Stern,...

By Tumbleweed Smith A joint meeting of the Texas and Southern Jewish Historical Societies took place on the campus of Rice University in Houston, Texas during the weekend of October 20-22. The level of education, intelligence, accomplishments and dedication of the...

Vinnie Hogan, Shalom Austin Transportation Specialist gives a ride to those in need. Credit: Rebecca Golden Shalom Austin Mobility is a service provided by Shalom Austin Jewish Family Service that provides transportation to adults over 60, and adults with mobility...

Left to right: Susan Pintchovski, Bettie Forman, Ellen Sable and Lea Isgur, part of the NCJW group at a “Boot Vouchers” Rally at the Texas State Capital where they advocated for Texas Public Schools. Courtesy: Bettie Forman By Bettie Forman The National Council of...

Jewish National Fund-USA’s Breakfast for Israel in December 2022. Courtesy: Shalom Austin By JD Krebs It is more important than ever for the Jewish community to stand together in solidarity for Israel, especially with the sharp increase in antisemitism across the...

By Allison Teegardin  Recently, the leadership of Shalom Austin and Hebrew Free Loan of Austin (HFLA) embarked on a joint venture to combine their efforts and support each other's missions, both aimed at building and sustaining a thriving Jewish community in the...

Members of the Austin Fire Department receive a standing ovation by the members of Congregation Beth Israel for their part in putting out the fire that damaged the synagogue in 2021, in Austin, Texas on Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Credit: Evan L'Roy/Special to...

Beginning in June 2023, Shalom Austin piloted a supported employment program called WorkRight for six young adults and three job coaches. The position of WorkRight intern was created to hire and pay people who need support in their work skills. The interns were hired...

Attendees at the Jewish War Veterans Day 2023 Flag Raising ceremony salute the flag.Credit: Steve Krant By Steve Krant, JWV Post 757 Honor Guard members of Jewish War Veterans of the USA’s Austin Post 757 braved a chilly drizzle and overcast skies to perform their...

Rabbi Cantor Marie Betcher speaks to Cedar Park City Council on September 14, 2023.Courtesy: Rabbi Cantor Marie Betcher On September 14, 2023, the Jewish community was honored in Cedar Park, Texas. Cedar Park Mayor James Penniman-Morin signed the Rosh Hashanah...

Left to right: Julie Waltzer, Adeena Sussman, Vicki Osherow. Credit: Rebecca Golden By Allie Willensky The 20th annual Shalom Austin Women’s Philanthropy Mosaic luncheon which took place on Thursday, October 26 at the JW Marriott in Austin, Texas was a meaningful...

Matthew Perez. Credit: John Kniss By Allison Teegardin  In October, Shalom Austin welcomed Matthew Perez to the executive leadership team as the new Chief People Officer. This is a newly created position developed to meet the needs of the growing team. As the Chief...

The JCamps Team headed to URJ Greene Family Camp for a weekend of fall fun. Courtesy: Shalom Austin By Ethan Lane-Miller and Jessica Ochs JCamps joined URJ Greene Family Camp for a weekend of fun, friendship, and all things Fall Camp! Jessica Ochs, senior youth &...

 Credit: Eelco Bohtlingk via Unsplash More than eighty years ago, the Shoah destroyed many families even though there were survivors. The Descendants of Holocaust Survivors in Central Texas joined together to share their common histories, explore various issues...