The Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor will be holding its Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at 7pm and invites the community to attend.
The Annual Meeting offers an opportunity to celebrate the past year—and there is much to celebrate.
Rabbi Asher Lopatin (R) in the Al-Frej Synagogue in Damascus (Photo credit: Daniel Bucksbaum)
Headlining this year’s Annual Meeting will be Rabbi Asher Lopatin, Federation’s Director of Community Relations, as he shares about his historic visit to Damascus, Syria earlier this year. Attendees will hear his exceptional storytelling of the small group of Jews with whom he traveled, the Syrian people he met along the way, and how the lessons of this trip can be applied to the local Ann Arbor area community.
In addition to this presentation, the Annual Meeting will celebrate the success of another Annual Community Campaign. Last year’s Campaign raised more than $1.5 million for organizations that enrich Jewish life in Washtenaw County, Israel, and around the world. The final sum for the 2025 Campaign, as well as a breakdown of how those funds are allocated, will be announced at the Annual Meeting. Federation is excited at the prospect of exceeding last year’s total.
Throughout April and May, Federation’s two volunteer Allocations Committees—one dedicated to local and domestic causes, and one to Israel and overseas—read proposals and hear presentations from organizations requesting funds for the 2025-2026 year. In mid-May, the Allocations Committees will make their recommendations to the Federation Board of Directors, detailing how funds raised by the 2025 Annual Community Campaign would be best distributed. The Board votes to approve those recommendations at its regularly scheduled meeting on May 19.
This year, the Allocations Committees are Chaired by Jeremy Bloom (local and domestic) and Levana Aronson (Israel and Overseas). For more information on the Allocations process and to see the full list of committee members, please visit jewishannarbor.org/about-us/community-impact. This is also where the allocations distributions from last year’s Campaign can be reviewed, in the 2024 Annual Impact Report. The Impact Report gives an inside look at the difference the Campaign makes on our community.
The financial impact of the Federation would not be possible without those volunteers who give their valuable time to enrich the community. At the Annual Meeting, the community will honor those volunteers, especially the Board of Directors. At the meeting, we will thank those Board members whose terms are ending and welcome incoming members. Community members present at the meeting will vote to elect the new Board. The full slate of Board members for the upcoming term can be found at JewishAnnArbor.org. Proposed changes to Federation’s bylaws will also be up for approval by the community at the meeting.
Most of all, the Annual Meeting is an opportunity to thank all the generous donors to the 2025 Annual Community Campaign for their dedication to supporting Jewish life locally, in Israel and around the world. If you have not yet made a gift or pledge to the 2025 Annual Community Campaign, there is still time before the Board votes to approve allocations on May 19. Please consider visiting JewishAnnArbor.org to make your contribution today, or contact Federation’s Communications & Development Director Rachel Wall at rachel@jewishannarbor.org or (734) 773-3533.
To register for the Annual Meeting on May 29, jewishannarbor.org/event/fed-annual-meeting-3-2.