May is filled with opportunities to learn, celebrate, and connect – from insightful briefings on the U.S.-Israel relationship to family-friendly holiday fun and inspiring conversations with community leaders. Join us throughout the month for meaningful gatherings that highlight the strength, creativity, and impact of Jewish Cleveland.

Attendees donned blue-and-white clothing, wore beaded necklaces, sported headbands with a pair of Israeli flags waving from the top and had their cheeks dabbled with face paint as they celebrated Israel’s 78th Independence Day on April 22 at B’nai Jeshurun Congregation in Pepper Pike.

As you may have seen, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland recently shared the findings of the latest Greater Cleveland Jewish Population Study. Conducted by the University of Chicago’s National Opinion Research Center, the study offers a data-driven snapshot of our community based on responses from 2,000-plus households. This study, which Federation commissions every 10 years, provides a detailed look at Jewish Cleveland – its size, diversity, challenges, and strengths, and areas of need.

Diversity is defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary as the quality or condition of having or being composed of differing elements. In Jewish Cleveland, diversity is found in a variety of differing elements – race, age, religious identities, family structures, life experiences and more.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Charles Eisenman Award for Exceptional Civic Contributions – the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s highest honor, awarded each year at its annual meeting.

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Young Leadership Division, in partnership with the Israeli American Council, hosted its third annual Mimouna Celebration on April 12 at the Federation’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Building in Beachwood.

Read a blog post by Marina Perelman, 2026 Weinberg Mission to Israel participant.

Some who took to the podium shared a personal anecdote, while others recited poetry. A few sang somber, reflective Israeli songs.

Cleveland's community shlicha (Israeli emissary), Ella, shared the following reflection at our Yom Hazikaron commemoration on April 20, 2026.

Holocaust survivor Erika Gold of Beachwood scanned the crowd of over 500 people gathered at Congregation Miskhan Or in Beachwood on April 13 for the Yom Hashoah V’Hagvurah commemoration and delivered a message for everyone to take home with them: “Learn our history. Share it. Don’t forget it.”