Working with philanthropists, the Jewish Funders Network (JFN) knows that issues of meaning making are not part of the conversation in the Jewish community. We want to bring these issues to the forefront of the philanthropic agenda. We can do this by raising awareness of the need for these conversations, providing literacy in theology and philosophy, and creating partnerships between funders to put issues of meaning making on the communities’ agenda.
Currently, the Jewish community has a focus on engaging the next generation and fighting antisemitism. However, the content provided is often shallow. Because the funders themselves are not well educated in issues of spiritualty, they are not able to advocate for explorations of meaning making in the projects they fund. Thus, it is crucial that we start by educating and engaging funders on these issues. Given the advent of AI, deep political polarization, and ongoing impact of the pandemic, now is the time to educate and spark further funding.
This program deploys a set of tools to bring conversations about theology, spirituality and meaning to the forefront of the Jewish philanthropic agenda and will result in increased funding for organizations and individuals dealing with these issues.
