The Jewish Federation (JFED) is a secular Jewish non-profit organization found within many metropolitan areas across the United States with a significant Jewish community. They provide supportive and human services, philanthropy, financial grants to refugees around the world, humanitarian and disaster relief, host leadership conferences and fellowship opporunites for women and youth, charitable drives, help those in need navigate comprehensive resources, and provide outreach to at-risk Jewish populations in 70 countries worldwide, and more. While the Jewish Federation was created to primarily to service Jewish communities, they also provide for other communities. All federations in North America operate an annual central campaign, then allocate the proceeds to affiliated local agencies. There are currently 146 Jewish Federations, the national umbrella organization for the federations is the Jewish Federations of North America, in the United States.
Background
Starting in 1654, when the first Jewish communal settlement in New Amsterdam (modern-day New York) began despite Governor Peter Stuyvesant's attempts to ban the first Jewish people in North America from the settlement (until he was evenutally overruled), and for the next 250 years; the Jewish community promised local governments they wouldn't become a burden, by taking care of their own community. Through-out this period, as the Jewish community continued to grow in what would become the United States, they "established synagogues, burial societies, credit unions, and Hebrew youth societies in dozens of cities before there was a single federation."
According to Historian, Donald Feldstein in The Jewish Federation: The First Hundred Years: ″There is no single source where one can find a comprehensive history of the Jewish Federation in North America...The first Jewish Federation in the United States was founded in Boston in 1895, another was organized in Cincinnati, Ohio, and within several years federations sprung up around the country wherever there were significant Jewish communities."
The founding philosophies of the first Jewish Federations in America were based in secularism, but deeply influenced by Jewish tradition, like Hesed (loving kindness); and organized like the Kehilla, a communal organization found in diverse regions throughout Eastern Europe at the time; created to meet the welfare needs of Jewish communities in an inclusive and comprehensive way. However, unlike the Kehilla, which were usually formed under the authority of local governments to collect taxes from the Jewish community in support of services, the Jewish Federation in the United States has always been fully autonomous.61-62
History
The first Jewish federation was founded in Boston in 1895 as Associated Jewish Philanthropies. Cincinnati formed its federation, United Jewish Social Agencies, the next year. Chicago founded its federation in 1900 followed by St. Louis. Federations were soon formed in many other cities with large Jewish populations. Initially (1895-1945) the federation system was focused on welfare needs of individual Jews with the goal of integrating them into the US. The Jewish federations inspired the 1913 formation of the forerunner of the United Way, the community chest in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1932, an umbrella organization for the federations was formed called the National Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds.
The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) national campaign and organization was started in 1939. With the foundation of the Israel state in 1948, the UJA increased in importance.
Until the 1960s with the start of Medicaid and Medicare, federations allocated large portions of the campaign funds to Jewish hospitals.
Structure
Each federation is autonomous from federations of other cities and they tend to focus on local concerns. The federations typically have elected boards or trustees that are accountable to the community, paid staff, and volunteer leadership. Originally, the federations operated on volunteer only basis, but quickly turned to professional staffs. They engage in centralized planning for the needs of the local community, and may provide centralized administrative services for their constituent agencies.
Depending on the size of the community, the federation may provide services directly or fund another agency to provide that function. For example, the federation may have a local as an arm or function, if not provided by a separate federation funded agency.