On October 7, 2023, more than 250 innocent civilians were taken hostage by the terrorist group Hamas. These individuals are as old as 85 and as young as 9-months; they are men, women, and children; they are Israeli, American, Russian, Argentinian, and Thai. They have missed birthdays, anniversaries, and so many more milestones while being subjected to unimaginable horrors.

When it launched some 20 years ago, no one could have predicted how desperately needed this program of @akiva High School – a beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland – would be today.

After the devastation that occurred on October 7, Cleveland immediately stepped up to help the communities impacted by the attacks. Cleveland has since established a partnership with Kibbutz Kissufim, a community in the Gaza envelope that suffered a great deal of damage on October 7. In April, several volunteers from Cleveland traveled to Israel and spent two days helping rebuild Kibbutz Kissufim. Cleveland and Israeli volunteers from our sister community of Beit Shean/Valley of Springs were able to exchange stories, laugh together, and build hope while gardening and cleaning the Kissufim community.

Adhering to its longstanding commitment to the needs of the Jewish community, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland is spearheading a task force to address gaps in older adult care in light of changes both locally and nationally.

Since October 7, 2023, the lives of all Israelis were changed. But along the sorrow and grief, the nation's strengths have also been revealed. Residents in Beit Shean, Cleveland's sister city, told their own stories of how they're dealing with everything - and how Jewish Cleveland has been with them every step of the way.

Recently, jHUB has launched two new initiatives to address the growing demand for different opportunities for preteens to experience Jewish traditions and culture - the B-Mitzvah Experience and the Hebrew Club.

When our world changed on October 7, 2023, we opened the doors of our day schools to Israeli families temporarily relocating to Cleveland.

The importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education has become a major emphasis in our Jewish day schools. And the students in the upper schools of Fuchs Mizrachi School, Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, and Yavne High School have taken full advantage of these new classes by entering and winning local and national robotics and engineering competitions.