Lech Lecha tells the story of Abram being commanded by God to leave his native land and begin his journey. On Monday, while in Israel for the Jewish Agency for Israel Board of Governor's meeting, I traveled with a group of Jewish leaders to the old Ben Gurion airport terminal to witness 240 Ethiopians finishing their journey from Gondar to Israel. It was inspiring. Seniors, children and everyone in between sat in the room, many holding Israeli flags, being welcomed by major dignitaries from Israeli society. This is the beginning of the end of the Ethiopian aliyah. By next fall, this entire group of Ethiopians will have completed their journey. As Abram got up and left his native land to begin the Jewish nation, these olim (immigrants) left their native land to begin their new Jewish lives. Each donor to our Federation is helping to make this a reality. Thank you.

This week's Torah portion, Vayeira, contains lots of the early stories of Abraham, including his own brit milah (circumcision). It shows Abraham becoming a Jew and starting to hone his leadership skills as he encounters certain obstacles on his journey (it’s worth the read!). Last night, 150 young adults came out to the PPG Aquarium for our annual YAD Main Event, a mainly social program with a campaign component for young adults. For many of those in attendance, this was their first step into Federation involvement. Others are already involved and are in the process of honing their own leadership development skills to best impact our Jewish community. Each of our donors is helping to groom the next generation of leadership. Thank you.

Finally, I cannot write without some reflection on the impact of Hurricane Sandy. I watched this tragedy unfold from Tel Aviv through CNN, the BBC, Sky News and Fox News, as well as emails from colleagues in the affected area. This hurricane took lives and shattered lives. Its impact is being felt hard within the Jewish community of New York and New Jersey, the largest in North America. Yesterday, I saw a photograph of Torah scrolls spread open on tables to allow them to dry. I ask each of you to consider donating to our Federation's efforts to secure desperately needed dollars. We ask you to do this over and above your annual campaign contribution to the Federation. We need the Annual Campaign funds to take care of our community’s ongoing needs and we require these additional dollars to have an immediate impact on the victims of this tragedy. One hundred percent of the dollars given to Hurricane Sandy relief will go directly to needs. You can make your donation by clicking here. Again, I end this paragraph with the same way I concluded the two above - Thank You.

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.

Jeffrey H. Finkelstein
President / CEO