Photo: Home Front Command responds to the deadly missile strike in Beit Shemesh. Courtesy: Israel Defense Forces.

The war with Iran has escalated significantly since I wrote to you on Sunday. Hezbollah has joined the conflict. Iran is striking back across the region, hitting Israel, US bases, and countries from Kuwait to Saudi Arabia. A missile struck a synagogue in Beit Shemesh, Israel, killing nine Israelis, including three teenage siblings. Six American service members were killed in Kuwait. Across Israel, families are living between sirens, running into shelters and coming back out, trying to hold normal life together in between. Everyone in our programs in Israel is accounted for, and not one of them has asked to leave. 

Here at home, there is no credible threat to Cincinnati.  

But we must stay alert and practice the security measures we have learned over the years. We started SAFE Cincinnati in 2013, among the first federations in the country to invest in dedicated local security. We have years of preparation and millions of dollars protecting our synagogues, schools, and community spaces. That infrastructure is in coordination with law enforcement and our national partners right now. 

I am grateful for that foresight.  

I am also grateful for a recent visit to Florida to catch up with our snowbirds. It was good to be with our people in better weather. The conversations were warm, the commitment was real, and the connection to Jewish Cincinnati was as strong as ever. 

We continue to strengthen that connection here with the next generation. Younger leaders are rising into giving and governance. We just launched LEAP, a young adult leadership experience. Our campaign is crossing $6 million this week thanks to your generosity. You are showing up in so many ways. 

And yet.  

Many of our feeds are filled with language that should alarm every one of us. People can disagree about this war. What I am talking about is something older and uglier: the claim that Jews are behind it, that specific Jewish movements are orchestrating it, that America is fighting for Israel, not with Israel, for its own reasons. I see it. I know many of you see it too. Old tropes, new velocity, far right and far left in nearly identical language. That is exactly why what we build between crises matters. It is why we are bringing Cincinnati-area law enforcement leaders together with national counterterrorism and intelligence experts to examine the origins and presence of violent extremism in America. 

So we continue to build. Even now. Especially now. 

In our schools. Sycamore Community Schools brought in the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), our public-affairs arm, to lead antisemitism training during their district professional development day. And we continue to reach out to school districts across Cincinnati to have more conversations like this one. 

In our civic voice. The Ohio Senate passed the IHRA-based antisemitism definition act this week. It goes to the House next. Our community mobilized for this while JCRC continued to push for it. 

Across the table. Our Cohen Family Leaders in Light Institute is accepting nominations for its third cohort. Forty-seven leaders, eleven community projects, and counting. This is how you change the narrative about Jews before a crisis makes it urgent. Make your nomination now.

And while we build our own table, we pull up chairs at other people's tables too.
 
March 25 is a perfect example. We’re helping host a screening for Black and Jewish America, Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s PBS docuseries, at the Holloman Center for Social Justice. Three communities, one room. Register now. 

This Shabbat, I plan to light my candles and sit for a moment with what I'm grateful for: this community, the people who show up, the ones who give, the ones who stay in the room when it's hard. 

I will also sit with the weight of what's unfolding. For nearly five decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has made the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people its central purpose. This war has many participants and many reasons. For us, it is personal. We hold the cost of it, to Israelis whose lives have been upended, to American service members and their families, to Iranian civilians who deserve the freedom they have been fighting for. We hold all of it. And we keep pulling up chairs. 

Shabbat Shalom,  

Danielle V. Minson  
CEO
Jewish Federation of Cincinnati  
jewishcincinnati.org/give

PS: What's ahead: 

March 25: Black and Jewish America screening, Holloman Center for Social Justice. Register now.
April 16: Newsworthy or not?: JCRC Annual Meeting. National Jewish journalists on what's getting covered and what's getting lost. Register now.
April 19: Z3 @ Cincinnati, Mayerson JCC. Featuring Omer Shem Tov, a Nova Festival survivor held in captivity for 505 days. A bold conversation about Israel, identity, and the future of Jewish life. Register now.
Nominate a leader for our Cohen Family Leaders in Light Institute. Nominate today.

PPS: Your campaign dollars are at work right now. Because of investments made years ago, our partners didn't have to build new systems this week. They activated the ones already in place. The Jewish Agency is delivering financial grants to families within 48 hours of a missile strike. JDC has deployed emergency relief and mental health support across 200 municipalities. With 110,000 reservists called to duty, a national support network of 100 local coordinators is operational. One child in a Beit Shemesh shelter, after receiving a JDC relief kit, said, "I was a little scared, and then I opened the kit and felt better." Visit here for the full picture. 

Our Silver Circle members, donors who have given for 25 or more consecutive years, will hear directly from JDC and the Jewish Agency on April 14. You can register here. Not yet in Silver Circle, but want to attend? Reach out. Email me. We'll pull up a virtual chair for you.