How do Jewish communal professionals go about the work of building community in this complex time? How is the community dealing with grief, antisemitism, mental health, and also focusing on the positive draws that bring people together?

In the episode--recorded in front of a live audience of 1,300 Jewish communal professionals at the "Leading Edge Presents JPro25, in Partnership with Jewish Federations of North America" conference in Baltimore, Maryland--Eric speaks to Sarah Fried, the Chief External Affairs Officer at Hillel International; Josh Miller, Chief Program officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation; and Miryam Rosenzweig, President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Milwaukee.

"The Glue, with Eric Fingerhut," is brought to you by Jewish Federations on North America, the backbone of the North American Jewish community, representing over 350 communities across North America. Find out how you can get involved or donate to your local Federation at www.jewishfederations.org.

Have something to say about the show? Email us at podcast@jewishfederations.org.

Executive Produced by Niv Elis. Produced by Charlie Freedman.

Studies show that in the aftermath of natural disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis, indicators of resilience were better predictors of how well a community recovered than the things you might expect, like wealth or physical infrastructure. Amazingly, communities with stronger social relationships and more informal, grassroots networks had higher survival rates and were able to rebuild faster. Their economic recovery was faster, and their rates of stress and trauma were lower.

This is a concept that speaks to the very core of what The Glue is all about, the idea of what holds communities together in these most difficult times.

In this episode of The Glue, we speak to Dr. Daniel Aldrich, Director of the Security and Resilience Studies Program at Northeastern University, and one of the foremost scholars on Resilience, who has also done quite a bit of research on resilience in Israel and the Gaza Envelope, in particular, even before the October 7th attacks, most recently serving as an advisor to Tkuma, the government’s rebuilding task force. You can learn more about Daniel Aldrich's work on resilience in this presentation about natural disasters.

We also speak with Jewish Federations of North America’s Vice President of Israel and Overseas and Israel Office Deputy Director Rina Goldberg, who has been instrumental in helping allocate funds from the the astonishing $860+ million Israel Emergency Campaign Jewish Federations have raised.

She helps us understand how resilience and resilience-building fit into our efforts to help Israel recover and rebuild its communities.

"The Glue, with Eric Fingerhut," is brought to you by Jewish Federations on North America, the backbone of the North American Jewish community, representing over 350 communities across North America. Find out how you can get involved or donate to your local Federation at www.jewishfederations.org.

Have something to say about the show? Email us at podcast@jewishfederations.org.

Executive Produced by Niv Elis. Produced by Charlie Freedman.

Two weeks ago, Jewish communal leaders from across North America convened in Washington DC for Federations' annual General Assembly, where we tackled the biggest issues facing our community.

In this episode of The Glue, we bring you the conversation between Eric Fingerhut, Pulitzer-prize winning commentator George Will, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) as they discuss antisemitism, how Israel can win its war, the state of college campuses, and how American politics has changed since the election.

You can also check out another podcast that we recorded live at General Assembly: The “Wondering Jews” podcast with Mijal and Noam. Mijal Bitton was our “Scholar in residence” at General Assembly, and she and Noam recorded their very first live podcast episode there, with guest Megan McCain. Their conversation was extremely compelling, and I encourage you to check it out.

"The Glue, with Eric Fingerhut," is brought to you by Jewish Federations on North America, the backbone of the North American Jewish community, representing over 350 communities across North America. Find out how you can get involved or donate to your local Federation at www.jewishfederations.org.

Have something to say about the show? Email us at podcast@jewishfederations.org.

Executive Produced by Niv Elis. Produced by Charlie Freedman.