About 300 people gathered at a community gathering, “Cleveland Stands Against Hate,” to mourn Yaron Lischinsky, an Israeli citizen, and Sarah Milgrim, an American citizen, who were staff members of the Israeli Embassy who were fatally shot on May 21 outside of the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland on May 23.

As he grew up in the Cleveland area and attended the Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School (formerly known as Agnon), the concept of tzedakah was instilled in Jonathon (Jono) Nisenboum’s day-to-day life by his family and broader Jewish community. Jono recalls how his parents emphasized the gift of giving and the importance of giving back to the community. At the time, he did not realize how blessed he was to be surrounded by such a strong and welcoming Jewish community.

Mazel tov, Elisabeth Sherman for receiving the 2025 Ruby Bass Challenge Award for her exemplary dedication and leadership to the Jewish Federation of Cleveland and the Women IN Philanthropy Campaign.

By the banks of the Asi Stream in northern Israel last Friday, a very special and one-of-a kind event took place in the warm spring sunlight. If you didn’t know better, you might have thought that this was a joyous school reunion or even a friendly block party. Men greeted one another with hearty backslaps and long embraces. Women clutched one another, kissed cheeks, and knelt to hug each other’s children. There were tears, yes, but more than that, there was laughter. But this was no ordinary get-together.

More than 80 volunteers of all ages raked, pruned and beautified Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery on Ridge Road in Cleveland on May 18.

The Ohio Department of Aging estimates that between the years of 2020 and 2040, people who are 65 and older will outnumber everyone else by four times. That's why caring for older adults has been and always will be a priority for the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

Jewish Cleveland has a strong tradition of supporting education through providing scholarships to those in need. In fact, one of the oldest known legacy gifts to the Jewish Federation of Cleveland was a bequest from the estate of Mrs. H. Black, who left an endowment gift to “aid deserving students in their higher education.” This bequest, among many others, provided core support for lower- and middle-income Jews to enroll in higher education. Starting in 1905, the Jewish Educational Loan Committee began distributing these grants to eligible students.

The Mt. Sinai Health Foundation in Cleveland was honored with the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s highest civic honor, the Charles Eisenman Award for Exceptional Civic Contributions.

Haviv Rettig Gur, senior analyst of The Times of Israel and the host of the “Ask Haviv Anything” podcast, stressed to Jewish Clevelanders that it is important to ask “the hard questions.”

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland announced at the 121st Annual Meeting on May 13 that the Mt. Sinai Health Foundation has been named the recipient of the Charles Eisenman Award, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s highest civic honor for outstanding contributions to our community.