A week prior to the five-month anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attack on Israel by Hamas, 20 leaders from the Jewish Federation of Cleveland embarked on a mission to the Jewish state.

On Oct. 6, 2023, Kibbutz Kissufim in Israel was an agricultural community home to 318 residents full of dreams. But located just 0.3 miles from the Gaza border, it was one of the communities attacked when Hamas invaded on Oct. 7, 2023.

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland today announced a new partnership with Kibbutz Kissufim, a community in the Gaza Envelope, that was among the 22 locations targeted by the terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023. On that day, Hamas attacked Israel and brutally murdered more than 1,200 innocent people in multiple locations near the Gaza border – injuring thousands more and kidnapping over 250 individuals, including Shlomo Mantzur (age 85), who lived on Kibbutz Kissufim. A kibbutz is an intentional community in Israel that focuses on a communal lifestyle.

For 180 days, a 15-foot-tall and 10-foot-wide ribbon displaying the faces of the 240 hostages will be visible outside the Jewish Federation of Cleveland building at 25701 Science Park Drive in Beachwood.

Adi Stern, professor and president of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, traveled to Cleveland to join Kathryn Heidemann, president and CEO of the Cleveland Institute of Art, in a conversation Dec. 6 about the war in Israel and the role of an art school in times of crisis.

With each Chanukah candle that we light, we bring light to all who need it.

About 340 women gathered together Nov. 29 in the auditorium of the Mandel Jewish Community Center for the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Women IN Philanthropy MaIN Event.

After her community of Kfar Aza kibbutz in Israel was attacked on Oct. 7, survivor Keren Flash has been sharing her story to shed light on the murdered, kidnapped and displaced.

As the Jewish Federation of Cleveland continues with its annual campaign events, like the Women IN Philanthropy MaIN Event on Nov. 29, it takes a new focus of bringing the community together in support of Israel.

WASHINGTON – More than 1,800 Clevelanders took part in a historic pro-Israel rally that drew an estimated 290,000 people from across North America to the National Mall Nov. 14. Twenty-five charter buses left early in the morning from the Cleveland area to bring supporters to the rally.