Timeline of Federation History

Formation of the Federation of Jewish Charities and election of Charles Eisenman as first president.

Estate of Mrs. H. Black makes first bequest, $2,500 for the Educational Fund.

Contributions total $41,350 from 1,219 "subscribers."

Emergency campaign for relief of pogrom victims in Russia.

First professional, Samuel Goldhamer, hired.

Camp Wise becomes first new beneficiary agency in addition to original eight.

New Mt. Sinai Hospital opens on East 105th Street.

Prolonged Board debate on the alleged division between "uptown" and "downtown" Jewish communities with plea for bridging the gap for sake of unity.

Special Survey Committee studies complete structure and function of Federation.

First given in 1924, The Charles Eisenman Award is the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s highest civic honor, recognizing individuals or organizations for exceptional civic contributions.

Federation becomes "Jewish Welfare Federation."

Federation sponsors Yiddish course for all social workers to help integrate newcomers.

Bellefaire relocated to its new campus on Fairmount Boulevard, where it transformed its dormitory-style living space to more home-like cottage residences.

Federation creates Jewish Welfare Fund Appeal as a comprehensive campaign for local and overseas needs, "inasmuch as it appears rather certain that the needs of the allied Jewish campaign will continue for several years."

Federation creates Jewish Community Council, with Max Simon as first president, to counter antisemitism and provide broad base for participation in community activities.

Welfare Fund opening rally hears addresses by Rabbis Abba Hillel Silver and Barnett R. Brickner, followed by broadcast by Chaim Weizmann from Jerusalem, in view of growing crisis overseas.

Annual meeting takes the form of defense rally as contribution to the war effort.

Annual campaign exceeds $1 million for first time.

Federation establishes Community Relations Committee under chairmanship of Irving Kane, later to become chair of both the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council and the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds.

Sidney Z. Vincent joined the Community Relations Committee (CRC), then an independent organization, and went on to become a Federation leader, serving the community until 1975.

Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver presents case for an independent Israel at the United Nations in dramatic, historic session.

Consolidation of Council Educational Alliance, Camp Wise, Jewish Young Adult Bureau and Cultural Department of the Jewish Community Council to form the Jewish Community Center.

Federation allocation to The Hebrew Academy of Cleveland makes it the first federation in the country to fund a day school.

Henry L. Zucker becomes executive director upon Samuel Goldhamer's retirement after more than 40 years.

Jewish Community Council and Jewish Welfare Federation merge to form the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland.

Federation pioneers establishment of detailed course in leadership training, setting pattern for similar activities throughout the country; by 2003, Federation's Mandel courses will have trained thousands of leaders.

Federation creates permanent Endowment Fund Committee, becoming first federation in country to develop a comprehensive, organized approach to building an endowment.

Federation conducts tutoring project in Glenville; later recognized with William J. Shroder Award by Council of Jewish Federations.

Facilities Planning Committee begins to help agencies with plans for new buildings.

Study of need for news publication results in creation of the Cleveland Jewish News as an independent paper.

Federation moves to Euclid Avenue, possessing its own home for the first time.

Annual campaign nearly doubles in extraordinary response to the Six Day War, reaching a record $11.5 million.

First donor-designated trust established at Federation; precursor to philanthropic (named) funds that enable donors to make charitable grant recommendations to meet community needs.

Interfaith study mission to Israel

Federation participates in reorganization of Cleveland Welfare Federation and United Appeal into the Federation for Community Planning and the United Torch Services.

Harold H. and Jean Lee Kahn Charitable Foundation becomes first incorporated supporting foundation of the Federation.

Yom Kippur War; highest campaign achievement in Federation history is one phase of tremendous community response.

Federation receives William J. Shroder Award from Council of Jewish Federations for Heights Area.

Stanley B. Horowitz becomes executive director after Henry L. Zucker and Sidney Z. Vincent retire.

Cleveland Mayor Ralph Perk joins protest for Soviet Jewry.

Federation begins partnership with Tel Aviv neighborhood of Neve Sharett in Project Renewal program, linking Jews in Cleveland to Jews in Israel.

Stephen H. Hoffman becomes executive director after Stanley B. Horowitz leaves to head United Jewish Appeal.

Federation/Congregational Plenum Commission on Jewish Continuity begins to undertake comprehensive planning effort on Jewish education; will merge with Bureau of Jewish Education in 1993 to form Jewish Education Center of Cleveland.

Clevelanders contribute $1.5 million to Operation Moses to rescue Ethiopian Jews; another $1 million raised in Operation Solomon in 1991.

Federation mobilizes 1,700 community members to travel to Washington, D.C., for march in support of Soviet Jews.

Residents of the Jewish community’s first group home for developmentally disabled adults established.

Cleveland is one of the few communities to send missions to Israel during the intifada.

First large mission from Cleveland to the Soviet Union to meet with refuseniks.

Families from former Soviet Union begin arriving in Cleveland; more than 6,000 are resettled by Jewish Family Service Association during the 1990s.

Federation welcomes 1,000th philanthropic fund.

Cleveland raises $15.2 million for Operation Exodus to resettle Jews from the former Soviet Union; another $7 million raised in 1993.

3,000 hear Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel address annual meeting at Front Row Theater.

Community-wide Kashruth program established.

Commission on Cemetery Preservation makes improvements in neglected cemeteries.

The Bureau of Jewish Education and the COJC merge to create the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland (JECC).

Mega missions to Israel through the 2000s

Federation selects Beit She'an, Israel, for Partnership 2000 program to forge new definition of Israel-Diaspora relations.

Federation establishes Community Options program enabling senior adults to age in place with access to services and programs; becomes nationwide model and helps secure release of millions of dollars in federal funding for similar programs.

Population study counts 81,500 Jews in 33,710 households in Greater Cleveland.

Ohio-Israel Cultural Exchange program created with governor’s office.

Federation creates the Silver Circle Society to honor all annual campaign donors who contribute for 25 consecutive years or more.

After series of church arsons in South Carolina, Community Relations Committee sends a mission to assist in reconstruction of a Baptist church.

Overseas Connections Committee created to identify programs to engage Cleveland Jews with Jews around the world.

New B'Yachad/Together Committee responds to tensions over proposed Orthodox campus in Beachwood; committee brings thousands together in following years for speakers and parlor meetings to strengthen the fabric of community life.

Jewish Volunteers in Action (predecessor to Jewish Volunteer Network) created.

Legacy Society established to secure more resources to meet future community needs.

Parents and Children Together (PACT) program begins in Be'er Sheva, Israel, to aid absorption of Jewish Ethiopian preschoolers.

Cleveland Orchestra concert at Blossom Music Center draws 10,000 and highlights Federation organized "Israel at 50" community celebration of Israel's Anniversary.

Federation begins strategic partnership with Jewish community of St. Petersburg, Russia, to help it become an organized, vibrant, and self-sufficient Diaspora Jewish community.

Annual Maurice Saltzman Youth Grant Program begins, teaching 40 high school students about grantmaking and federated giving by providing them $50,000 to allocate to community organizations.

Cleveland plays a major role in the restructuring of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI).

Cleveland leads the creation of United Jewish Communities.

Public Education Initiative (PEI) begins a partnership with the Cleveland Municipal School District.

Federation works with Catholic Migration and Refugee Services, the International Services Center and the Albanian community to resettle refugees in Cleveland from the Kosovo crisis; the Endowment Fund approves $25,000 emergency grant for humanitarian assistance to refugees in Albania and Macedonia.

New American Initiative begins training immigrants from former Soviet Union for leadership positions in Jewish organizations.

Formation of the Beit Shean Valley Community Foundation

Federation launches Israel Solidarity Action Plan.

Cleveland sends largest single community solidarity mission of the year — 200 people — to Israel in its time of crisis; repeats record-setting mission in 2002.

Federation incorporates its 50th supporting foundation.

Israel's health minister comes to Cleveland to kick off the ISHA program, a $3 million initiative to improve women's health in Israel with Cleveland volunteer participation.

Jewish Welfare Fund Appeal renamed the Campaign for Jewish Needs.

Israel emergency campaigns raise $8,904,560 in two years, which includes $1 million Endowment Fund grant.

Federation celebrates Centennial anniversary.

Groundbreakings for Milton and Tamar Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage, Wiggins Place independent living facility and Jewish Community Services building in Solon kick off initial projects of the multi-year Centennial capital and endowment campaign to strengthen and grow Jewish Cleveland.

Federation celebrates 100 years of community services and programs.

Cleveland hosts the United Jewish Communities General Assembly (GA), drawing more than 3,000 Jewish philanthropists, civic leaders and professionals from around the world.

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra opens its U.S. Tour in Cleveland in recognition of the Federation's Centennial.

Cleveland sends a delegation of 54 young adults on a national Tel Aviv One mission to Israel, in an effort to strengthen the connection of the next generation to the Jewish community.

Holocaust Survivor Initiative raises funds to support needs of local survivors.

Israel Emergency Campaign is launched.

Federation Strategic Plan focuses on three major goals: broadening participation in Jewish life in Cleveland; strengthening connections between our people and Israel; and implementing a comprehensive development plan.

Employment Related Support Programs launched due to recession.

A $16 million grant from Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel to the Jewish Community Federation, the single largest grant to any Jewish institution in northeast Ohio's history, enables the Federation to purchase and renovate a building in Beachwood to serve as the Federation's new headquarters.

United Jewish Communities becomes the Jewish Federations of North America, and as part of the national branding effort, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland becomes the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

Global Cleveland partnership is created to attract newcomers

Young leaders compile Federation annual report

Launch of I-Connect to connect young Clevelanders to Israel travel experiences

Federation conducts Population Study and Day School Study

Federation launches Bridge to The Future, an Israeli community revitalization organization in Beit Shean to transform disadvantaged communities

Federation hosts the 1st Annual Law Enforcement Executive Summit

Steve Hoffman spearheads the Secure Community Network (SCAN), the first national non-profit dedicated to protecting the American Jewish community through homeland security initiatives

jHUB created to connect interfaith families with the Jewish community

Nakum task force established to focus on Alzheimer’s Disease and its impact on Jewish families

IMPACT! program connects “Baby Boomers” to volunteer opportunities

Chesed Center food pantry opens in Cleveland Heights

Federation becomes nation’s first faith-based organization to hold a Department of Homeland Security simulation exercise

icnext (Israel.Cleveland.Next) is established to engage the next generation of Jewish Clevelanders and Israelis

Federation Strategic Plan approved goals reflect changing behaviors in how people see and interact with community and express being Jewish

Erika B. Rudin-Luria succeeds Stephen H. Hoffman as president of Jewish Federation of Cleveland

More than 200 members of the Cleveland Jewish community participate in the “No Hate. No Fear. Solidarity March Against Anti-Semitism” in New York City

Ohio shuts down after first confirmed cases in the state. Federation launches Covid response, raising $15,416,989 toward our COVID relief effort by December.

Ukraine/Ethiopia campaign announced, raising over $5 million.

JPro is hosted in Cleveland, hosting 1,200 attendees from 30 community delegations

Hamas terrorists launch a coordinated attack on Israel, killing over 1,100 and injuring more than 3,400, as well as kidnapping over 250. Almost immediately following, Federation launched an Israel Emergency Campaign.

Federation organizes a rally in support of Israel, with 2,000 community members coming together.

A vigil for the hostages is held, with over 800 attending.

Cleveland takes 1,800 community members to rally in Washington DC in support of Israel and against antisemitism.

Nearly 2,500 Jewish and general community members gather to mark one year of the Hamas war and call for the release of the remaining hostages.