The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore announced May 5 the creation of three new organizations, which will be launched on July 1. The initiatives are a result of The Associated’s 2020 Greater Baltimore Jewish Community Study.
EngageCo, Jewish Educational Services and the New Jewish Library will all be dedicated to expanding and enhancing Jewish education and communal engagement.
EngageCo will support Jewish journeys for Baltimoreans by combining the work of The Associated’s Jewish Volunteer Connection to meet community needs through volunteer engagement with the educational agenda of the Macks Center for Jewish Education. EngageCo will be dedicated to creating partnerships, initiatives and resources to increase the number of Baltimoreans connecting to Jewish life.
JES will bring together the services provided by the Macks Center for Jewish Education and SHEMESH to establish an organization that supports Jewish day schools, congregational schools and preschools, along with educators and families. The new organization aims to preserve and strengthen Jewish educational excellence in Baltimore.
Rabbi Aaron Levitt will serve as the executive director of JES. Over the years, he has served as the Judaic Studies principal at the Robert M. Beren Hebrew Academy in Houston, as the Talmud Department chair at the Hillel Day School in Boca Raton and as the assistant rabbi of Boca Raton Synagogue. Most recently, he was as an educator at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy and the youth rabbi at Kemp Mill Synagogue in Silver Spring.
Avi Greenlinger will serve as chair of the board of JES after co-chairing the JES Transition Committee this past year.
The New Jewish Library will connect community members to educational resources. This new organization expands on the library previously housed at the Center for Jewish Education and features a collection of more than 16,000 multi-media sources, books, Judaica and curricular materials for educators and the general community. The New Jewish Library will support the Jewish education and engagement work in The Associated’s network of agencies.
Jessica Fink will serve as executive director of the New Jewish Library. Previously, she was the Macks Center for Jewish Education librarian and a former CJE Connector. Maureen Walsh David will serve as the library’s chair of the board.
“We are excited to announce that, as part of this effort, we have outstanding professional and lay leadership to lead these important efforts,” the Associated said in a statement. “his is the initial phase of our community planning work to ensure a robust blueprint for tomorrow, while utilizing our services in the most efficient, effective and innovative way. The announcement of EngageCo leadership will be shared in the coming weeks.”
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