Friday Five – January 23, 2026
At JewishColumbus we have a bold and audacious goal to become the BEST Jewish community in North America. Friday Five is a way to share how your support makes a great impact possible. Every other week, we are proud to share that impact, community partnership, accomplishments, and our most incredible moments of pride. Thank you for coming along.
Where should our community invest? That was the question teens pondered during Session 2 of JewishColumbus’ Jewish Community Youth Foundation (JCYF) session. Through a spirited “Would You Rather” game, Jewish text study, and thoughtful discussion, they explored how Jewish values guide giving when needs compete.
Participants then put their ideas into action by individually investing “funding” across a wide range of causes before working together to make group decisions, sparking meaningful conversations about fairness, compromise, and shared responsibility.
The experience reinforced that philanthropy is not just about generosity; it is about intentional, values-driven decision-making. These lessons will no doubt shape them as emerging community leaders. In the next session, teens will review real grant proposals, hear from professionals, and score the submissions as they move closer to investing $10,000 toward mental health initiatives in the Jewish community.
JewishColumbus remains deeply committed to protecting the safety and well-being of our Jewish community. As part of this ongoing work, JewishColumbus staff, in partnership with the FBI and local law enforcement, recently participated in a Tabletop Exercise, a scenario-based simulation designed to strengthen our readiness in the event of a potential security incident. This hands-on training challenged participants to think through real-time decision-making, communication, and coordination, ensuring we are aware of best practices and prepared to act on them when it matters most.
These exercises are just one part of a broader commitment to proactive security planning across our community. Moving forward, similar trainings will continue to be offered for Jewish community professionals, board members, and community members to reinforce a culture of preparedness, partnership, and resilience.
Over winter break, CEO Naomi Lamb, Rabbi Aaron Portnoy, and 19 OSU Hillel students traveled to Poland for a once-in-a-lifetime immersive experience made possible through the support of the JewishColumbus Innovation Fund. Students confronted the immense tragedy and loss of the Holocaust by bearing witness at concentration camps like Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka, walking through the remnants of the ghettos in Krakow and Warsaw, and exploring the 1,000-year history of Jewish life in Poland. Students also connected with peers from Hillels in Krakow and Warsaw, gaining insight into what Jewish life looks like in Poland today.
One student shared, “I know I am no longer the same person I was before the trip; I am transformed.”
Immersive travel experiences like this are proven to be among the most powerful tools for Jewish engagement and continuity, and JewishColumbus is proud to invest in shaping the Jewish identities of young people in this way.
JewishColumbus is leading a community-wide effort to build a best-in-class accessibility and inclusion services program across the community. By shifting from reactive fixes to proactive planning, JewishColumbus ensures that every individual can experience Jewish life with dignity, access, and a true sense of belonging.
This effort centers on the creation of a comprehensive inclusion ecosystem that weaves together training, consultation, coaching, and practical tools to help Jewish organizations design spaces, programs, and operations that are welcoming and accessible from the start.
By combining shared learning with ongoing guidance and real-world application, inclusion is not treated as an add-on, but as a shared standard embedded in how we serve our community.
This year’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day marks 81 years since the historic liberation of Auschwitz. Here in Columbus, we honor that legacy not only through remembrance, but through action: ensuring that our community’s 140 Holocaust survivors can live independently with dignity, respect, and meaningful connection to Jewish life.
The need is urgent: 135 survivors live well below the poverty line, and the services that support them are truly life-sustaining. JewishColumbus proudly invested nearly $300,000 this year to support this vital work.
Through Jewish Family Services (JFS), survivors receive essential support including: food assistance, transportation, care management, help navigating reparations, digital skill-building, socialization, caregiver support, and ongoing educational and cultural programming. Many survivors also live at Wexner Heritage Village, where staff consider it an honor to care for this extraordinary population and to provide not only clinical support but also spiritual connection through Shabbat services and holiday celebrations.
As one survivor shared after moving to Columbus, “It was the best day when I came here. Thank you for everything that you did for me,” – Lyudmila, Holocaust Survivor
We hope you will join us for the International Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration on Wednesday, February 19, 2026, at 7:00 pm. RSVP Required.
