Join us for the Arava Institute Reception on August 25

August 2026

Welcome to Gesher (‘Bridge’ in Hebrew) – JCRC's monthly impact newsletter to keep you informed on our work and the challenges and opportunities before our community.

Fiscal Year Highlights

Let's end our fiscal year strong

Our fiscal year ends August 31

Consider a donation to end this fiscal year strong

JCRC is grateful for the support from our community which allows us to continue strengthening Jewish life across Minnesota and the Dakotas. As our fiscal year comes to a close on August 31, we are proud to share a few highlights from the past year.

Your support makes this work possible and allows JCRC to continue protecting our community, educating future generations, and advocating for Jewish life throughout our region. Help JCRC close our fiscal year on a strong financial note.

View fiscal year 2026 highlights

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Building Bridges

Recent impact highlights from JCRC

Advocacy

Consul General of Israel to the Midwest visits Minnesota

JCRC planned a full schedule for Consul General Elad Strohmayer (pictured middle) including meetings with Rep. Kelly Morrison, Secretary of State Steve Simon, Rep. Samakab Hussein, General Joe Sharkey, Twin Cities clergy and more. The visit concluded with a JCRC leadership dinner hosted by Ali (pictured right) & Joy Alizadeh, close allies from the local Iranian community.

Strohmayer spoke of JCRC as his link to the Jewish community of Minnesota and the Dakotas, eager for us to invite him again for continued relationship building with elected officials and community leaders.

Education

Preparing educators for the new MN mandate for Holocaust education

The new MN Statute that JCRC advocated for in 2024 goes into affect this school year, requiring middle and high schools to teach about the Holocaust. JCRC is offering a new professional development course ideal for MN educators preparing for this mandate. Through concise chronological study of the Holocaust paired with sound instructional practice across 9 online sessions (Sept 30-Oct 28), this course offers a comprehensive, evidence‑based approach to teaching one of history’s most challenging subjects. Teachers will leave with a a full unit of classroom‑ready materials.

Free. CEUs available.

Relationships

Jewish community reception at Minneapolis Institute of Art

We thank our partners at Mia for hosting a community reception for a guided view of the exhibit “Modern Art and Politics in Germany 1910–1945: Masterworks from the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin,” an exhibition that featured more than 70 paintings and sculptures from the collections of the Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery), the distinguished modern art museum of the Berlin State Museums. Many JCRC supporters attended including many family members of Holocaust survivors.

Relationships

JCRC invites press coverage of return of painting stolen by Nazis

Jackie Sondell, a second generation descendant of Holocaust survivors, was presented with a painting that belonged to her family before the Holocaust. Austrian Deputy Consul General Johannes Gassner traveled from New York to return the painting. The painting is an 1847 watercolor miniature of Carl Graf Gleispach, painted by Albert Theer. Under the Austrian Art Restitution Act of 1998, it was determined that the painting, which had been displayed in the Museum of Military History in Austria, rightfully belonged to Eduard Epstein. Eduard was an Austrian Jewish businessman who fled in 1940. JCRC arranged for KARE11, FOX9, Star Tribune and MPR to cover this emotional moment.

See media coverage below

Upcoming Events

Arava Institute Reception

Tuesday, August 25, 5:30-7:30 pm

Conversation with Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed, Executive Director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies which unites Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian and international students to address shared ecological challenges.

Applications now open:

Youth Fellowship for Jewish Identity & Leadership

For 11th & 12th graders

Rolling admission through September 24

$1000 stipend

A single school year program designed by JCRC to empower Jewish high school juniors and seniors to explore and embrace their history, develop leadership skills, and cultivate a deep sense of pride, meaning and joy in their Jewish identity. Upon successful completion, participants will earn a $1,000 stipend.

Learn more and apply

Ko'ach Advocay Fellowship

For college students in Minnesota

Rolling admission through October 5

$1000 stipend

Fellows will build the skills, relationships, and Ko’ach (strength) to co-develop a shared advocacy agenda and gain practical experience engaging with campus administrators and political leaders. Upon successful completion, participants will earn a $1,000 stipend.

Learn more and apply

JCRC Staff Column

My community invested in me

How my path to Jewish leadership led me to JCRC

Johnna Parks

Program Associate

She's new!

My Jewish identity has shaped every stage of my life. Looking back, I can trace every step of my journey back to the Jewish community that raised me.

It began at home, where my parents taught me to celebrate Shabbat each week and instilled in me a deep appreciation for Jewish life and community. They nurtured that foundation by sending me to Jewish preschool, enrolling me in Talmud Torah and Herzl Camp, and encouraging me to become involved at Beth El Synagogue. Through those experiences, I developed a love for Judaism, Israel, and the importance of showing up for my community.

Advocacy Alerts

Thank you for voting! Record turnout!

For weeks, the JCRC urged Minnesotans to make their voices heard in Tuesday’s primary election. Although it is impossible to know precisely how many Jewish Minnesotans voted, we have every reason to believe that our community participated at rates far above the statewide average.

Indeed, Minnesota appears to have set a new record for participation in a state primary: more than 1.1 million Minnesotans voted in the statewide U.S. Senate contest alone.

Consider St. Louis Park Precinct 1, whose Election Day polling place is Beth El Synagogue and which includes the largest concentration of Jewish voters in Minnesota. 60% of the precinct’s registered voters participated in the U.S. Senate primary. That was the 5th highest participation rate among Minnesota’s 2,022 precincts with 500 registered voters or more—and the highest of any precinct in Senate District 46.

Mazel tov to all the candidates, their campaign teams and the many, many volunteers who stepped into the arena. We also extend our sincere thanks to the election judges and officials whose work helps ensure that Minnesota’s elections remain among the most transparent and well-run in the nation.

Most of all, we are deeply grateful to every Minnesotan who took the time to participate in our democracy—regardless of whom you supported. Our democracy is strongest when all of us make our voices heard.

View election results