Welcome to the Jewish Community of Louisville
Shalom! Welcome to your comprehensive web resource for information about Louisville’s Jewish community and thank you for choosing jewishlouisville.org.
There’s plenty to see—with more added regularly.
- Listings for most of Louisville’s Jewish agencies, organizations, synagogues and temples, along with links to their websites.
- The latest news and information about upcoming events, activities and classes throughout the Jewish community, in town and around the country.
- A local community calendar, where each of Louisville’s Jewish groups can post up-to-date information about their activities—with a simple search feature to make finding what you’re looking for much easier.
We at the Jewish Community of Louisville are committed to making this site a valuable and practical resource for everyone in our area. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions, comments, or if there’s something you’d like to see on our site. Thanks for visiting!
The 2012 Federation Campaign
Needs in the Jewish community have increased greatly. For example, over a seven-year period ending in 2010 (the latest year for which we have economic data), Jewish Family and Career Services increased support to individuals by 70 percent. During that same time, the value of the dollar contributed in 2003 has been reduced by 30 percent due to inflation and other factors limiting the amount of donations nonprofits can apply directly to programs. That means that in order to achieve the same level of effect, for each dollar contributed in 2003, two dollars is needed now. That’s a big change. It’s also reality.
We know economic times are difficult for many of us, but the needs for Jews here and all over the world is real and urgent. If you have not yet pledged to the 2012 Federation Campaign click here to pledge. If you have already pledged and would like to increase your contribution, please click here today.
Your Help Is Needed Today
Our Jewish community operates on a fiscal year. That means our Jewish agencies plan their budgets from July 1 through June 30 and rely on a successful Federation Annual Campaign to fund critical community programs.
Jewish Family & Career Services provides a wide range of services to families and individuals, as they say, “for every season of your life.” High school students turn to JFCS to prepare for the A.C.T. and S.A.T. and for guidance in selecting the right college. Families seeking to adopt, dealing with serious illness, coping with addictions, looking for help with an aging parent, struggling to keep food on the table, or facing job loss or divorce, can all find help at JFCS.
Funding from the Federation Campaign ensures that all of these services are available on a sliding scale basis and no family is turned away due to inability to pay.
If we are to have a thriving Jewish community in Louisville tomorrow, we must invest in our Jewish youth in Louisville today. To that end, we offer Jewish education options through the Louisville Jewish Day School, Louisville Beit Sefer Yachad (the Louisville Hebrew School), The Temple Hebrew School and the High School of Jewish Studies. We also engage our youth through an active Teen Connection program for middle schoolers, BBYO for high schoolers, and Hillel and Birthright Israel trips for college students.
Funding from the Federation Campaign ensures that these options remain viable, relevant and available to all Jewish children.
What Is Partnership 2Gether?
[by Shiela Steinman Wallace]
When the Partnership program began in 1997, it was known as Partnership 2000, and Louisville was part of the initial group that led the way in this new experiment in international relations. Could we build one-on-one partnerships with Israelis in the Western Galilee in partnership with Jews from a select group of American cities? What could we accomplish? What would this confederation look like?
Several years later, the Partnership had definite shape. There were exchanges in the arts, education and medicine and collaborations on business ventures. Israelis were making trips to the Midwest Consortium communities, including Louisville, to teach and study, to make music and to be camp counselors, and more.
And Louisvillians and their counterparts from other American communities were traveling to the Western Galilee to learn to handle mass casualty emergencies, to teach and learn, and to make art and music.
Real one-on-one friendships developed and blossomed. The year 2000 had come and gone, but the program was thriving, so it became Partnership with Israel.
Today, the Partnership remains strong, and Budapest, Hungary, has now joined in some of the activities. The program, more than ever, is an exchange of knowledge, ideas and creativity that connects people to people. It is not a one-way street, giving to Israel. So once again, the Partnership has a new name, Partnership 2gether.
JCL/JCC E-Newsletter