Volunteer service has long been one of the Jewish community’s most powerful tools for embodying our values, creating connection, and building resilience. Today, as we navigate a world shaped by rising antisemitism, polarization, and profound communal challenges, Jewish service is both an antidote to isolation and an opportunity to make a measurable difference for both the Jewish community and the broader world.
Over the past several months, we have seen firsthand how service can be a transformative entry point into Jewish identity and community – especially when it’s integrated across the ecosystem of Jewish institutions. What if Jewish service becomes a core element of how Hillels, JCCs, Federations, synagogues, and camps engage their people and build Jewish life?
That vision is already coming to life thanks to strategic collaborations between more than 60 organizations, including Repair the World, Jewish Federations of North America, and Hillel International – the organizations we are privileged to lead. Our partnership is powered by the Jewish Service Alliance, which was founded in 2020 to meet urgent needs during the COVID-19 crisis.
Since that time, the JSA has grown into a dynamic coalition of Jewish communal partners uniting through volunteer service to inspire Jewish life, deepen Jewish education, and strengthen communities. Together, the JSA has engaged nearly 400,000 participants in nearly 700,000 acts of service and learning across 35+ states and 10 countries. This movement is meeting urgent needs and sparking Jewish learning and identity development, where Jews find purpose, connection, and a renewed sense of belonging.
Service is more than giving back
For example, the Jewish Federation of St. Louis recently launched an initiative called LABriYOUt, which in Hebrew means “to health,” that uses nutrition education, community building, service, and cooking to empower adults with special needs. The idea for this program was conceived by a local Federation staff member who participated in the 2024 Catalyst Fellowship – a nine-month program that includes training from Repair the World educators and Jewish Federations of North America staff.
The Catalyst Fellowship is achieving exactly what it set out to do: catalyze a culture of service through the system of 141 Jewish Federations that are already building flourishing Jewish communities and help that culture thrive.
On college campuses, Hillels are embedding service into their Jewish engagement models as a pathway to hope and healing in the midst of campus dynamics that can isolate and marginalize Jewish students. This was especially true in the months following October 7, when Jewish students faced unprecedented levels of harassment and intimidation.
At the University of Michigan, one Hillel student grappling with overwhelming grief and confusion in the aftermath of the Hamas attack channeled her pain into action. As a service engagement intern with her Hillel community powered by Repair the World, she organized a campus-wide service project collecting winter supplies for refugees newly arrived in Detroit. “I couldn’t fix the world,” she said, “but I could help someone feel safe and warm. That gave me hope.”
Service, in this way, becomes more than giving back. It becomes a spiritual grounding.
A lifeline
We also know that service can be a lifeline for those enduring personal hardship. After the devastating Palisades fire in California in January 2025, one Jewish college student lost her home and nearly all of her belongings. Just two weeks later, she signed up for a service project with Repair the World in partnership with her Hillel, helping package meals for people experiencing homelessness. Her friends asked her why she was giving her time when she had just lost so much. Her response: “I needed to remind myself that I still had something to give.”
These stories are not exceptions. They are signals of what is possible when service is rooted in partnership and when Jewish institutions work together to develop meaningful opportunities for purpose, leadership, and solidarity.
We are heartened to know that partnerships through service are extending beyond people in our own organizations. AEPi chapters across the country are now incorporating Jewish service into their programming as a way to build bridges across communities. And Birthright staff are being trained in Jewish service and incorporating Repair the World’s methodologies on their trips. The ripple effect is that Birthright alumni return home with a deeper connection not only to Israel but also to their Jewish service journeys.
Now is the time to deepen our investment in this work – not just financially, but structurally. That means creating shared roles across institutions to coordinate service. It means continuing to embed service learning into the educational missions of Hillels, day schools, community centers, and camps. It means aligning service with Jewish holidays, values, and lifecycle moments so it becomes woven into the fabric of how we live and contribute Jewishly.
Shared service among different backgrounds
At a time when antisemitism is escalating worldwide, building bridges between Jewish and non-Jewish communities has never been more important. Engaging in shared service is one way to see each other’s humanity and counter the isolation and misinformation that fuel anti-Jewish hatred.
Research suggests that when people of different backgrounds come together to serve side by side, they begin to see one another not as stereotypes or strangers but as partners with shared values and hopes. In this way, service can be a vital strategy for dismantling prejudice and cultivating empathy.
The work of Jewish service cannot and should not be the job of any one organization. As Jewish tradition teaches in the Book of Ecclesiastes (4:9), “The work of two is greater than one, and, in the end, their labor will benefit more.” This verse demonstrates that there are infinitely more strengths and advantages to addressing challenges together rather than alone.
In the coming years, we look forward to investing in deeper partnerships, bringing Repair the World’s model to more cities, and expanding bridge-building programs for Jewish and non-Jewish volunteers to serve and lead together in communities and on college campuses throughout the US and Canada.
Together, we can meet this moment by choosing to collaborate, by embedding Jewish service into our organizations’ culture and practice, and by embracing Jewish service as a path toward healing, belonging, and a stronger, more interconnected Jewish future.
Eric D. Fingerhut is president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America. Cindy Greenberg is CEO of Repair the World. Adam Lehman is president and CEO of Hillel International.