The Jewish Community Relations Committee (JCRC) of the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond is the central public affairs arm of the Richmond Jewish community.
Who We Are:
The Jewish Community Relations Committee is comprised of four outreach areas and subcommittees:
- Government and Legislative Affairs
- Israel Education and Advocacy
- Intergroup and Interfaith Outreach
- Public Education
Our Areas of Focus Include:
- Eradicating antisemitism and all forms of racism
- Supporting a strong, democratic, and peaceful Israel as the homeland and nation-state of the Jewish people
- Spreading awareness of the lessons of the Holocaust
- Promoting religious freedom and the separation of church and state
- Ensuring the safety and security of Jewish agencies, organizations, and individuals in greater Richmond
- Protecting the most vulnerable among us
Outshine Hate
Outshine Hate is part of the strategic plan of the JCRC. It is a comprehensive, community-wide effort to ensure that Jewish Community Federation of Richmond delivers, supports, and amplifies relevant programming, action, and initiatives that combat the scourge of antisemitism and hate.
The Plan:
Our five-part plan is undergirded by a proactive approach to relationship-building. Together with local and national partner agencies and community institutions and elected officials, Federation seeks to address the need in the Richmond Jewish community to identify and confront antisemitism, anti-Jewish, and anti-Israel bias using a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach. As Federation looks ahead to engaging key audiences like educators and the next generation, we are organizing and executing new programming and training based on five core areas of focus:
Advocacy
The Federation will work with partners locally, regionally and nationally to advocate and support policies and legislation which combats racism and antisemitism and supports Israel and counters delegitimization in the context of two states for two peoples.
JCFR/JCRC will use our collective voice to foster a strong relationship between the United States and Israel – on the municipal, state and federal levels. We encourage public officials to speak out against BDS and deepen the alliance between the U.S. and Israel. We will expose efforts to delegitimize the state of Israel.
Educator Resources
Israel education provides a positive connection with one’s Jewish heritage, culture, religion and language. It can build a sense of collective Jewish responsibility and enduring relationships between learners and the land, state, and people of Israel. While Israel education involves the acquisition of knowledge (i.e. learning about Israel), it also involves asking some of the challenging questions about contemporary Jewish existence. For example, the tensions between the Jewish and Demoractic character of Israel, the authority of the Rabbanut and their command over the country, and the role that Palestinian Citizens of Israel (or Arab-Israelis) play in society.
One of the best approaches to Israel education offers authentic encounters with Israelis and the land of Israel, most commonly presented as travel to Israel and personal interactions with Israelis.
American Jewish Heritage Month 2024
VIRGINIA
The Jewish South - Newspaper published in Richmond, Virginia 1893-1899
The Levy Family Who Saved Jefferson's Monticello
ENGLISH / AMERICAN LITERATURE
Podcast with short stories (under 10 minutes) appropriate for elementary school children
Ed Lacy, Jewish pulp fiction mystery writer, civil rights activist
Joshua Montefiore, First Jewish Author to Publish a Law Book in America
HISTORY / SOCIAL STUDIES
From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America
Exhibit Items from Columbus to 1800
Exhibit Items Confronting Challenges
Bernard Gotfryd photograph collection
The White House Scientist and the Ancient Jewish Book
Moses Levy (1757 - 1826)
1st Jewish Lawyer in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, With George Washington crossing the Deleware
Francis Salvador, the first Jewish Memberr of a legislative assembly in American History:
As a judge, Simon Sobeloff fought for desegregation across the Mid-Atlantic and the South:
Rosa Sonnesschein, publisher of "American Jewess" (1895-1899):
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"Dear Anne Frank", a winner of the 2016 National Honor Award for Letters About Literature, written by 16 year old Erin Allen:
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/08/letters-about-literature-2/
Nina Tarasova, Popular Jewish Russian American singer early 20th century:
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2015/10/searching-for-nina-tarasova/
1942 Photo of Jewish Heritage and American Home:
Full hour lesson plan on the only Jewish refugees (a total of 982 people) allowed in the United States during WWII. They were settled in Fort Ontario, NY:
Truman's Recognition of Israel:
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/taxonomy/term/13347
Smithsonian Institute Jewish American Collection Items:
https://www.si.edu/spotlight/jewish-american-collections
Links to a series of hour and half discussions on a lot of topics including:
America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today
Susan, Linda, Nina, and Cokie: The Extraordinary Story of the Founding Mothers of NPR
The Jewish Justices of the Supreme Court, from Brandeis to Kagan – Their Lives and Legacies
The Eddie Cantor Story: A Jewish Life in Performance and Politics
Lincoln and the Jews: A History
We Called Him Rabbi Abraham: Lincoln and American Jewry, a Documentary History
When General Grant Expelled the Jews
Shared Legacies: Honoring the Black-Jewish Civil Rights Alliance
Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis and Social Justice
https://www.archives.gov/news/topics/jewish-american-heritage
Albert Einstein's 1939 letter to President Franklin Roosevelt:
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/archives/pdfs/docsworldwar.pdf
Important Jews of Color:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/20-black-jews-you-should-know/
9 Current Jewish Political Leaders Who Helped Shape U.S. History:
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/05/9767689/famous-jewish-politicians-leaders
Virginia Holocaust Museum Jewish American Hall of Fame with link to slideshow
https://www.vaholocaust.org/jewish-american-hall-of-fame/
ARTS
Roman Totenberg, Jewish American Violinist:
https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2021/05/roman-totenberg-a-symphony-of-a-life/
Louis J Kahn, Jewish American Architect
Yiddish Radio and Music:
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2021/05/american-yiddish-radio/
https://www.yiddishradioproject.org/
https://www.yivo.org/sound (Good short video introduction to American Yiddish / Jewish Music recordings
The House I Live In - short film 10 minute 1945 starring young Frank Sinatra stopping elementary aged kids from beating up a Jewish Kid featuring the song "The House I Live In". (Does contain some anti-Asian bias that is reflective of the attitudes against the Japanese after WWII.)
https://loc.gov/item/mbrs00009167/?loclr=blogpoe
George Gershwin, "Rhapsody in Blue" at 100, on Library of Congress' YouTube page:
https://www.youtube.com/user/LibraryOfCongress
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: Creators of the Marvel Comics Universe
https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2018/11/celebrating-comics-champion-stan-lee/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kirby
Aaron Copland:
https://www.aaroncopland.com/
Copeland's Fanfare for the Common Man:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdqjcMmjeaA
Copeland's Appalachian Spring:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LGjLBzAhKw
Arthur Szyk: Artist for Freedom:
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/szyk/
Irving Berlin:
CBS Sunday Morning - Irving Berlin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV9uq8z2k5Ey
Irving Berlin singing his "God Bless America" with hundreds of girl and boy scouts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vmc-pEyUHTs
Roy Lichtenstein:
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/lichtenstein-roy/
Individual works by contemporary Jewish artists with written commentary:
https://thejewishmuseum.org/collection
Jewish Celebrities of the 21st Century:
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/g37333400/jewish-celebrities/
Intergroup Relations
In order to build upon relationships with the Christian, Muslim and Black communities around issues of mutual interest, and those related to fighting racism, anti-semitism and Islamaphobia and supporting Israel, the Jewish Community must stand together with our friends of others faiths while also building meaningful relationships based on dialogue, coexistence and understanding. This will build coalitions and understanding and further our mission of strengthening our world.
Israel & Global Jewry
In partnership, the Israel and Overseas department and JCRC will showcase the "intersectional" nature of Jewish history and highlight the story of our people beyond the Ashkenazi narrative that is so pervasive. This will address important growth that needs to occur within the Jewish community to recognize the Arab, Latino, and Black Jews in our midst, while also educating inter-cultural and inter-religious groups about the multi-layered Jewish story and building trust with other minority communities as a result. This is essential in combating the narrative that Israel is a colonial state, and is a teaching opportunity about the ethnic diversity within the Jewish community.
Security
In 2020, The Jewish Community Federation of Richmond partnered with Secure Community Network (SCN) to enhance our community’s safety, security, and preparedness posture. SCN, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is the official safety and security organization of the Jewish community in North America. SCN works on behalf of 146 federations, the 50 largest Jewish nonprofit organizations in North America, and over 300 independent communities as well as with other partners in the public, private, nonprofit, and academic sectors to ensure the safety, security, and resiliency of the Jewish people.
Stay Connected
Upcoming JCRC Events
Sign up for the monthly JCRC newsletter!
JCRC in 2022-2023
Recent Virtual Programs
Click on the links below for recordings of recent virtual programs.
- Jews of the Middle East: A 3-Part Series with Elhanan Miller (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3)
- Judicial Reform in Israel 101
- Basya Gartenstein interviews Mayor Levar Stoney
- Defining Antisemitism: An Insider's Perspective