Meeting the Moment
Enduring Relationships, Building Community, Addressing Hate“You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it”
Pirket Avot – Ethics of our Community (2:21)
Community Relations work is core to the mission of the Buffalo Jewish Federation. Our team works to strengthen civic engagement and nurture critical relationships with Buffalo’s most important civic, faith, business, and legislative leaders. Our efforts focus on representing and serving as the voice of Jewish Buffalo in the broader community during critical moments, building strong friendships, and countering antisemitism and rising hate directly through education, building bridges through shared interests, and advancing the values, interests, and security of the Jewish community.
Building
Relationships
ADDRESSING ANTISEMITISM
ENGAGING
WITH ISRAEL
LEADERSHIP
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Building Relationships
A core component of community relations success is building authentic and enduring relationships.
Intergroup/Interfaith Relations
For many years, Federation professional and volunteer leaders have built and nurtured strong relationships across diverse faith communities, fostering connections through individual relationships, communal exchanges, and shared experiences. As our community evolves, so do our interfaith engagement strategies. We are committed to deepening connections with Catholic, Evangelical, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, and Muslim communities across Buffalo, among others.
Legislative Partners
Building on the success of the 2024 Leadership Breakfast, where we engaged with numerous civic and legislative leaders on the local, county, state, and federal level, we continue to focus on all levels of government and key leaders. In addition, are more proactive in advocating for legislation that is critical to the Jewish community, particularly around addressing hate, antisemitism, community safety and supporting the State of Israel.
Business and Civic Leaders
Federation recognizes the powerful and influential role that business leaders play in sparking [or stopping] community conversations. We strive to connect with the most important leaders across Buffalo, those who are able to speak with thousands of employees across our community, to build understanding and positive associations with Israel and Jewish peoplehood.
Understanding and Addressing Antisemitism
Antisemitism and hate of all forms have surged to unprecedented levels. The Buffalo Jewish Federation proactively prepares for and immediately responds to and tracks incidents of antisemitism and hate.
K-12 Engagement
We strive to be a supportive resource for school districts, individual schools, administrators and educators. All resources are provided at no cost to the school or district. Our work focuses on two main areas:
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- School Culture: We provide tools, guidance and expertise to help navigate everyday challenges, ongoing initiatives or immediate help to maintain a safe, educational environment for Jewish families and staff. This includes assistance in addressing antisemitism. These best practices will not only support Jewish students, staff and families, but are adaptable to support all minority religious and ethnic populations in the school.
- Curricular Support: We have tailored curricular support for elementary, middle and high school levels. Our resources are aligned with New York State standards. Topics include Jewish peoplehood, Jewish identity and history, and the Holocaust.
Our current K-12 initiatives include the Mobile Museums of Tolerance, Righteous Among the Nations Mural, the Kindness Suitcase, Student to Student and more! Individual support and programming to equip Jewish teens and the adults in their lives to respond to antisemitism are ongoing.
Supporting Campus Life
Jewish college students in Buffalo and around North America have been experiencing unprecedented levels of antisemitism since October 7. Working in partnership with Hillel at Buffalo’s professional team and board, Federation will support those on campus form relationships with university administration to ensure adherence to student conduct codes and time, place, and manor regulations on protests. Additionally, we will advocate for the discipline of faculty who misuse their position to promote political agendas or harass Jewish and Zionist students.
Holocaust Education
The mission of the Holocaust Education Resource Organization (HERO) of the Buffalo Jewish Federation is to REMEMBER the survivors and victims; TEACH the lessons of the Holocaust; and EMPOWER future generations to take action. HERO offers many resources to the community including the Annual Teacher Training Conference each spring, Holocaust Survivor, 2nd and 3rd generation speaker series, and the 8th grade Arts & Writing contest.
Engaging with Israel
For more than seven decades, the Federation system has helped strengthen the State of Israel and has been dedicated to supporting Jewish people around the globe. Engagement with Israel is elemental to Community Relations and our priorities are:
- mobilizing our networks when Israel is threatened
- strengthening understanding of Israel by investing in immersive programming for Jews and non-Jews to experience Israel directly
- exploring ways to foster stronger relationships directly with Israelis
Meet the Team
Rob Goldberg
Senior Advisor
Rob is the Immediate Past CEO of the Buffalo Jewish Federation and currently serves as the organization’s senior advisor. He received his Bachelors of Art from Brown University in Religious Studies and his MBA from Bryant University. He currently serves on the boards of Temple Beth Tzedek, Hospice and Palliative Care of Buffalo, and White Whiskers Senior Dog Sanctuary. Rob lives in Williamsville with his wife Shira, and in his spare time, loves to read, cycle, golf and enjoy time with his adult children and 6 grandchildren.
Rachel Beerman
Community Relations Manager
Rachel Beerman joined the Buffalo Jewish Federation team in 2021 after serving as the curriculum designer for the new Buffalo Commons Charter School. She has spent her professional life working in education from preschool all the way through college settings, and she has a special love for teaching U.S. history to middle schoolers. Rachel strongly believes the work of community relations helps make WNY and the world a more caring and civil place. She lives in Buffalo with her husband and two young children, and in her spare time, loves to read, go on hikes with her family and explore local historical sites.
Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein
Community Relations Rabbinic Advisor
Rabbi Alex Lazarus-Klein came to Buffalo in 2008 to serve as the rabbi of Temple Sinai, now called Congregation Shir Shalom. A trained chaplain and gifted teacher, he is actively engaged in all aspects of communal life and links the Jewish community to other faiths, speaking at intergroup events and offering planning support. He works with leaders of all faiths, to improve the quality of life in Western New York and beyond. He lives in Amherst, with his wife and three children.
Lauren Bloomberg
Director of HERO
Lauren received her Honors Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, her Bachelor of Education, and a certificate in Hebrew and Judaic Studies from York University in Toronto. Lauren spent her junior year studying at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In addition, Lauren was a Lainer Intern for Jewish Education of North America. Over the past 20 years she has taught in multiple Jewish schools in Canada and the US working with children of all ages. Lauren moved to Buffalo in 2008 and lives with her husband Rich, teenagers Marlowe and Reid, and her dog Buffy.
Leadership Council
Harvey Sanders, Chair & Legislative Partners
Corey Auerbach, Business & Civic Leaders
Nancy Brock, Business & Civic Leaders
Ann Marie Carosella, K-12
Dr. Iris Danziger, Campus
Marni Marciano, K-12
Daniel Mink, Interfaith/Intergroup Relations
Armand Morrison, Holocaust Education
Robin Raphael, Interfaith/Intergroup Relations
