Background

As its mission—Rescue, Relief and Renewal—suggests, JDC has long recognized the value of creating vital and dynamic communities. Today, in this period of peace, freedom and relative prosperity for Diaspora Jewry, Jewish communal development has become a growing priority for our organization. JDC’s professional team works throughout much of the Jewish world, building local partnerships and assisting in the creation and implementation of a wide array of programs. Their efforts are all focused on helping to build Jewish identity and create engaging entry points into Jewish life.

But more than ever, it seems, nothing is standing still. Although Communism ended almost twenty years ago, Jewish life in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) is continuing to re-establish itself in new and exciting ways. Everywhere, technological advancement and increased mobility are transforming traditional notions of affiliation and community. More and more Jews appear to be constructing their Jewish identities from the growing menu of Jewish choices that are available to them, positing a remarkably fluid notion both of what Jewish life is, and what it ought to be. And as the demographic profile of Jewish populations shifts, the very notion of what Jewish communities should look like—and who they serve—is being reassessed.

The recently-established JDC International Centre for Community Development (JDC-ICCD) was created to support JDC’s communal work and to strengthen the overall quality, depth, range and creativity of Jewish community development activities. It reflects an established JDC tradition of enhancing field work through research as well as the desire to better understand and respond to these changing realities of Jewish communal life.

More information on the JDC can be found at http://www.jdc.org .