Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Inc.

Geographic areas served: New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester Counties

Programs: The celebrate israel parade is the world's largest public gathering in support of israel. Each year, the parade engages tens of thousands of marchers, as well as hundreds of thousands of spectators across the globe. The parade also serves as the singular event each year wherein representatives from every segment of the new york jewish community come together to show their solidarity with and affection for the jewish and democratic state of israel.

the center for community leadership at jcrc-ny works to build safe and thriving communities by fostering intergroup understanding, shared purpose and engagement across ethnic and religious boundaries, and by building collaborations and partnerships which harness the potential of new york city's diversity through the following carefully honed and interrelated strategies: training and mentoring current and emerging community leaders on the value of diversity, and on the skills needed to share resources, manage dynamic tensions, and collaborate on problem solving, incubating and guiding community-based coalitions in advancing shared interests; building and strengthening the local capacity of both grassroots and borough wide organizations in support of collaborative community efforts, educating and guiding decision makers in our catchment area on effectively responding to the complex needs of a heterogeneous population, cultivating and sustaining a system of mutually respectful relationships among diverse communities, to prevent, ameliorate or resolve intergroup conflict.

jcrc-ny's israel and international affairs seeks to: interpretpolitical developments in israel and the world to all new yorkers,convene forums and exchanges with israeli and other foreigndignitaries, monitor congressional legislation related to israel,monitor united nations actions and programs relating to israel,mobilize the ny jewish community in times of crisis, and maintaincontact with jewish communities around the world. For over threedecades jcrc-ny has engaged in an israel missions project for metropolitan area ethnic, religious, and communal leadership.

in addition to the three largest program listed, jcrc-ny has several other areas where work is concentrated including:1) intracommunal affairs: jcrc-ny's jewish intracommunal affairs seeks to bridge internal divides for advancing the ideal of a more unified community. Today new york area jewish life is more diverse than it has ever been. Jews increasingly find themselves living in competing jewish camps and less as members of an overarching jewish community. Jcrc-ny's jewish intracommunal affairs, in partnership with the uja-federation of new york, seeks to address this challenge by creating forums for civil discussions for jews on opposite sides of political divides, with a particular focus on the communal discussion regarding israel. With an eye on the ground level, our goal is to cultivate the leadership of the institutions of new york jewry in order to bridge our disparities and create a firm foundation for building a more unified jewish community. 2) jcrc-ny's activities with the russian-speaking community include: working with and providing guidance to russian-speaking jewish organizations in new york, israel and the former soviet union countries, helping to organize the different communities to participate in public events such as the celebrate israel events and rallies and actions in support of israel, holding briefings for russian media on american, jewish and israeli issues, co-sponsoring events with russian-speaking organizations, connecting with israel's russian-speaking elected officials, and monitoring anti-semitic activities in the former soviet union countries.