Now You Know
By Alan Budman, FJMC International President

May 1, 2025

Last week, FJMC sent 5 leaders to the Jewish Belonging Summit in Baltimore, Maryland. The conference was sponsored by the Safety, Respect and Equity Network, https://srenetwork.org/, an organization made up of other Jewish organizations which have pledged to promote inclusion.  Immediate Past President Allan Kahan, 1st Vice President Bruce Tomar, Secretary Bob Watts, Texas Regional Executive VP Baruch Garcia, and I attended what was a 24 hour meeting. We were surprised that the 5 of us were the only non-professionals in a crowd of about 200 attendees.  Everyone else held jobs as executive directors, fundraisers, rabbis, program leaders, etc.

Highlights from the conference included:

1. Hearing a Modern Orthodox Rabbi answer the question:  How do you reconcile your support for your gay son with your traditional values?  He replied, “Loving another person, especially your own child, is doing the work of God”.
2. Many Jews seek to be observant but lose sight of what are some of the most important aspects of Judaism - being kind, humble and seeking justice for all.
3. A discussion of the difference between loving kindness and doing kindness.  Do people do kindness with an ulterior motive, such as expecting something in return, or do they love kindness for its own sake?
4. We are all permanently “under construction” as we strive to perform Tikkun Olam.
5. Probably the most meaningful moment for me occurred during a breakout session.  We were discussing organizational support for underserved communities (see the FJMC Inclusion Initiative, here) when a Rabbi, upon learning that I was from FJMC, noted with a great amount of gratitude that on January 28, 2025, FJMC issued a strong statement, written by Executive Director Rabbi Noam Raucher, that supported the rights of transgender individuals.  The man remembered the date that the statement was issued. To be clear, he not only remembered the statement, he actually remembered the date it was issued. That shows the positive effect that FJMC is having on the Jewish world at large.  

FJMC has come a long way from the “Lox and Bagel Sunday Breakfasts” of our father’s generation. Our impact is felt throughout the Jewish world, and we can all take pride in how we “punch beyond our weight”.

Thank you. 

In Brotherhood,

Alan Budman
International President, 2023 - 2025
abudman@fjmc.org

FJMC provides opportunities to learn and exercise life/leadership skills which you may not have the opportunity to either learn or use in your work. (Such skills relate to working constructively with a group to accomplish something more than one person alone could not accomplish.)

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