Friday Five – July 10, 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.
In June we relaunched the JewishColumbus Maimonides Society, honoring healthcare professionals who care for others every day and choose to extend that same commitment to our community through their support of the Annual Campaign.
We marked the launch with an event featuring Dr. Ashley Fernandes, a national expert on medical ethics and the Holocaust. Dr. Fernandes teaches a course at the Ohio State University College of Medicine alongside Dr. Dara Albert, Associate Professor in the Department of Child Neurology. Their course is only one of a few in the country, training future physicians to grapple with the moral weight of their profession through the lens of history.
If you work in healthcare, we hope you’ll join the Maimonides Society this year and join us for impactful and content-rich events. We need you.
Contact Rachel Gleitman to learn more.
The late Mitzi and Henry Saeman (z”l) believed that philanthropy should begin early, and their vision continues to shape our community today. Through their extraordinary generosity, they seeded JewishColumbus’ B’nai Tzedek Fund (BTF) program, empowering Jewish teens ages 13-18 to experience the joy and responsibility of charitable giving. By establishing their own mini donor-advised funds, teens learn to evaluate community needs, make meaningful grant decisions, and build a lifelong commitment to tzedakah. This summer, as we remember Mitzi’s remarkable life and legacy, we also celebrate the lasting impact she and Henry created through a program that continues to inspire new generations of Jewish leaders.
You can help carry the Saemans’ vision forward by opening a new B’nai Tzedek Fund for a young person in your life or making a gift to strengthen the program for future participants.
Together, we can honor Mitzi and Henry’s legacy by helping the next generation discover the power of giving.
The City of Bexley’s investment in securing local Jewish institutions is a powerful example of what true allyship looks like – government and community working together to protect Jewish life enables JewishColumbus to direct our resources toward strengthening the community in other meaningful ways.
We are most grateful to Representative Joyce Beatty for her support of $650,000 in federal funding to help establish and expand Bexley’s Synagogue Resource Officer program. The partnership between the City of Bexley and the Bexley Police Department demonstrates that keeping our community safe is a shared responsibility: one that grows stronger when public partners stand alongside us.
Strong organizations are always looking ahead, asking the right questions and building what comes next. That’s the work Morgan Binswanger has dedicated his career to, and it’s what he now brings to JewishColumbus as our Chief Strategy Officer.
Morgan joins us after leading strategy at the MIT Media Lab, Harvard University, and the LIVESTRONG Foundation, helping organizations turn big ideas into meaningful action. In his role, Morgan will guide long-term planning, strengthen collaboration, and help position JewishColumbus to meet our community’s evolving needs while staying grounded in our mission and values.
“Growth and transition are both exciting and challenging, and the most enterprising teams meet them with deep curiosity and the courage to imagine what’s possible,” Morgan said. “JewishColumbus is primed to lead in ways few ever get to, and I’m grateful to support this community at every step.”
We’re thrilled to welcome Morgan and the expertise he brings.
Small actions can make a big difference. Jewish Federations of North America’s One Mitzvah a Day program connects thousands of participants across North America in a shared commitment to gratitude, advocacy, and Jewish communal strength.
Columbus Jewish community members can make a positive impact through simple daily actions – most often expressing gratitude to elected officials, community leaders, educators, and others who stand with the Jewish community and against antisemitism. These small acts of appreciation help strengthen relationships, encourage allies, and reinforce the power of our collective voice.
Sign up to receive your daily mitzvah and join the movement at onemitzvahaday.com.