Agencies & Programs We Fund
During the fall of each year, volunteers from all parts of the Madison Jewish community offer every community member an opportunity to make a contribution to the Jewish Federation of Madison's Annual Tzedakah Campaign. In a formal allocation process, volunteers determine how to distribute these funds by evaluating which agencies and programs are most in need.
Listed below are our programs and partner agencies whose work serving the community is made possible by Jewish Federation of Madison financial support and donors like you to the Annual Tzedakah Campaign.
Camp Shalom: An inclusive summer day camp for children and teens, guided by Jewish values, that fosters personal development, friendship, and community. Led by experienced and nurturing staff on over 154 picturesque acres in Verona, campers safely play and learn through a variety of engaging and innovative activities.
Hilde L. Mosse Gan HaYeled Preschool: An integrated, play-based learning environment founded on Jewish values and culture, with a focus on social and emotional development. Offering flexible schedule options, including wrap-around care, year-round for 18 months - 5 years old.
Midrasha Hebrew High School: This Jewish Federation of Madison program, in partnership with Beth Israel Center, Congregation Shaarei Shamayim, and Temple Beth El, offers classes in Hebrew and Jewish Studies for 8th-12 graders from a variety of denominational and non-affiliated backgrounds. Provides students with the opportunity to develop a strong, positive Jewish identity.
Community Grants through the Cheryl Rosen Weston (CRW) Fund: Supports projects that work to advance social justice, build community partnerships, and improve the well-being of all community members. These grants are made possible through a generous bequest by the fund's namesake posthumously.
Community Relations Committee: Serves as a liaison between the local Jewish community and the larger population.
Goodman Aquatic Center: The 5,500 square-foot beautiful outdoor pool with six 25-meter lanes for lap swimming and zero depth entry, making it accessible to everyone, is enjoyed by swimmers each summer from the Jewish and general communities.
Hava Nagila Jewish Community Picnic: The annual community summer celebration at the Goodman Jewish Community Campus with fun for all ages, including activities, games, swimming, music, dancing, food, and more.
Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Jewish Community Campus: The 154-acre home of Camp Shalom, Goodman Aquatic Center, and facility offering year-round community recreational, educational, and social activities.
Israel Program - Creating connections between Israel and our Madison community. Coordinates annual Israel-related communal events, creates an Israel presence, and serves as a resource for current events and issues related to Israel.
MadCAB - Madison Jewish Leadership Cabinet: MadCAB brings together a cohort of young adults for an 18-month program designed to enhance their leadership skills and create the next generation of leaders within Madison's Jewish Community.
Madison Jewish Film Festival: The inaugural Madison Jewish Film Festival in the fall of 2022 featured four films over two days - in a variety of genres - with talkbacks.
PJ Library: Free, monthly, specially curated, award-winning storybook celebrating Jewish values and culture and programming throughout the year for children between the ages of birth through twelve years old and their families.
Programming for Adults and Young Families: Planned activities and outings throughout the year with group hikes, community forums, volunteer opportunities, and fun events for families with young children.
Shalom Baby: Welcomes new or soon-to-be parents and their young children (by birth or adoption) to our local Jewish community. Helping new parents find support and build social connections.
Shalom Madison: Welcomes existing and new residents to our community. Helping people connect to local Jewish resources and make social connections.
Teen Israel Trip Stipends: Offers stipends for up to $1,500 per student to help with organized teen trips to Israel.
Yom HaAtzmaut Celebration: Annual community celebration of Israel's birthday with fun and educational activities for all ages.
Yom HaShoah Service & Program: Annual service of remembrance to honor local Holocaust survivors and their families, led by members of the greater Madison Jewish community, followed by a speaker presentation.
Chabad at UW: Provides educational, social, and recreational programming supporting Jewish life for college students and faculty at UW, regardless of background and affiliation.
Jewish Burial Association of Madison (JBAM): Providing for the burial needs of the greater Madison Jewish community, including establishing Beit Olamim cemetery.
Jewish Social Services (JSS): Empowers families and individuals across generations and cultures to build community and self-sufficiency, with a strong commitment to the Jewish community and inspired by Jewish values. JSS offers services to people of all ages and backgrounds in the areas of short-term advocacy, long-term case management, Jewish spiritual care, and immigration.
UW Hillel Foundation: Provides Jewish support and programming for UW college students and offers them a wide variety of Jewish enrichment, advocacy, and social justice activities. Advocates on important issues to the Jewish campus community.
Wisconsin Jewish Conference: Serves as a resource, advocate, and clearinghouse to address important public policy issues for local Jewish communities throughout the state.
ADL (Anti-Defamation League): ADL is the leading anti-hate organization in the world. A global leader in combating antisemitism, countering extremism, and battling bigotry wherever and whenever it happens, ADL works to protect democracy and ensure a just and inclusive society for all.
HIAS (Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society): Works around the world to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands because of who they are, including ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. For more than 130 years, HIAS has been helping refugees rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.
JDC (American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee): Dedicated to lifting lives and strengthening communities in 70 countries. As the leading global Jewish humanitarian organization, JDC rescues Jews in danger, provides aid to vulnerable Jews, develops innovative solutions to Israel’s most complex social challenges, cultivates a Jewish future, and leads the Jewish community’s response to global crises like natural disasters, public health emergencies, and more.
The Jewish Agency for Israel: Provides social welfare and refugee rescue and resettlement programs in Israel, including education and job training, connects Jews to Israel and one another, and conveys the voice of the Jewish People to the State of Israel to help shape its society.
Jewish Council for Public Affairs: Serves as the Jewish community’s primary convener, community relations powerhouse, and policy advocate. JCPA represents the network nationally, working in common cause with other civic, racial, ethnic, and faith communities, advocating for a just and pluralistic American society, peace and security in Israel, and human rights around the world.
Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA): Represents 146 Jewish Federations and over 300 Network communities, which raise and distribute more than $3 billion annually and through planned giving and endowment programs to support social welfare, social services, and educational needs. Initiatives include:
- BeWell: Providing our communities with support and tools to respond to the increasing mental health concerns of young people ages 12-26.
- iRep (Israel Religious Expression Platform): Offers Federations a platform to work together to influence a range of issues to promote meaningful change to the religion-state status quo and advance religious freedom.
- Israel Action Network (IAN): Builds a strong base of support for Israel, counters delegitimization, and advocates for a peaceful future with two states for two peoples.
- JEDI (Jewish Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion): Resources to engage in racial justice and Jewish equity, diversity & inclusion.
- LiveSecure: Grant funding to provide security training, tools, and resources needed to protect our communities.
- Jewish Changemakers Fellowship: Offers three weeks of online leadership development over the summer for current and aspiring Jewish leaders, between the ages of 20-24.
- Project EM: A national initiative bringing Jewish human agencies together to provide support to job seekers.
- Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund: Providing for short and long-term needs in Ukraine and neighboring countries to support refugees and Jewish communities through allocations to NGOs.
NCJW (National Council of Jewish Women): NCJW advances social change through a faith-based Jewish lens, bringing together activists across generations and across the country.
Taglit-Birthright Israel: Jointly sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Madison and other North American Federations, the government of Israel, and private Jewish philanthropists, provides free, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26.
World ORT: The ORT network reaches more than 200,000 people a year, in more than 30 countries, and is one of the largest educational charities in the world. ORT provides a combination of high-level science and technology education with strengthened Jewish identity to bridge the gap between ability and opportunity – and to ensure the continuity of Jewish life worldwide.