Belonging at Entwine

Our Commitment to Cultivating Belonging

What Belonging Means to JDC Entwine

At Entwine, we define belonging as the feeling of being accepted, valued, and supported within social groups, physical places, and collective experiences.

Belonging is an ongoing communal effort we each take responsibility for. We view Entwine community members as co-creators and co-owners in fostering acceptance and support across all experiences. Belonging encompasses being part of something meaningful while actively contributing to its creation.

Why Belonging Matters at JDC and Entwine

JDC’s rich 110+ year history stands as a testament to building connection and belonging within Jewish communities worldwide. Since its founding in 1914, JDC has worked across borders to strengthen Jewish community bonds, providing critical humanitarian aid during times of crisis and fostering cultural continuity. From feeding starving Jews in WWI to rescuing Jews in danger during WWII, from running the JDC-Lauder Camp Szarvas for Jewish youth from around the world to launching economic empowerment initiatives for women in Ethiopia, JDC has consistently served as a safety net for communities worldwide. At Entwine, we take the responsibility of continuing to be that lifeline seriously. We explore, elevate, and celebrate stories of the global Jewish community.

Judaism is expansive – multiethnic, multiracial, multicultural, and ever-evolving, and each member of the Entwine community reflects that experience. This inherent multiplicity requires us to create shared spaces where individuals engage in conversation about how their perspectives and experiences connect global Jewish identities and values. Each of us is different, and we express our Judaism in a multitude of ways. Entwine programs provide opportunities for individual community members to maintain their own integrity of practice while learning about others’ traditions.

This commitment flows from our understanding of the Jewish value of arevut (mutual Jewish responsibility). At Entwine, we encounter this responsibility in all its complexity: truly supporting one another requires deepening our understanding of where people come from and what they need to live fully Jewish lives. Our programs create opportunities for face-to-face connections between Jewish people of all backgrounds and experiences. Through these encounters, we uphold JDC’s legacy of supporting an interconnected Jewish world—building communities where, as former JDC Executive Vice President Ralph I. Goldman (z”l, 1914-2014) once said, we can be “a home for all Jews.”

How We Cultivate Belonging at Entwine

Entwine’s programs cultivate belonging by upholding JDC’s century-long operating principles and centering arevut in all that we do. Our hope is that every member of our community and everyone supporting our work feels they are meant to be here. Over the years, JDC Entwine has:

• Engaged experts to help strengthen belonging in our programs, including conducting landscape analyses, developing tailored curriculum to expand our understanding of Jewish identity, and helping us create responsive strategies to emerging needs in the Jewish communal landscape.
• Facilitated programming exploring the variety of Jewish experience, including those of Ashkenazi and Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, Israeli Jews, Jews with disabilities, Russian-Speaking Jews, descendants of Holocaust survivors, LGBTQ+ Jews, Jews of Color, Indigenous Jews, and more.
• Facilitated training for all program staff on cultivating belonging within our program cohorts.
• Facilitated programs in 50+ different countries, building relationships between people across the Jewish diaspora, Israel, and fostering a global sense of Jewish peoplehood.