Welcome! From The Executive Director

I didn’t realize I wanted to work in Jewish journalism and community building, though I suppose it should have been obvious. But like the air I breathed, it was just … there, fostered in my home, by my news-obsessed Israeli father and a mother who demonstrated the power of showing up.

And almost 14 years ago, when TC Jewfolk launched in Minnesota, the dream of a hyperlocal storytelling platform for multiple Jewish communities did not yet exist. But this idea, too, was in the air we breathed in our physical, and often virtual, newsroom, fostered by our news-obsessed team and incredible Jewish community.

The Cincinnati community is uniquely incredible. This community seems to instinctively understand that it’s possible to honor the past and look to the future – to envision what could be – at the same time. That’s Cincinnati’s super power.

And when we combine that super power with the fact that Jewish Cincinnatians have so much pride in their shared history, their shared story, well – that’s just magical.

You all weave the tapestry that is the story of Cincinnati Jews, contributing your and your families’ stories one at a time, stitching them together, day by day and year over year. Cincy Jewfolk is the hub where those stories can gather, be told, and strengthen the bonds between you. And if you are newish to the Cincinnati Jewish community, welcome! We can’t wait to help you tell your story, too.

And so, the Jewfolk model makes so much sense for a community like Cincinnati.

Theodore Herzl said, “If you will it, it is no dream!” Bringing the Jewfolk model to additional communities has been a dream of the Jewfolk board and staff that was a decade in the making – and now here we are. Hineini.

Hineini means more than just “I am here.” It implies, “I show up.” It says out loud that my – your – presence matters. It is a superhero’s heroic statement. Some might say, it’s a statement made by a community, like Cincinnati, striving every day to bridge your yesterdays with the potential of tomorrow.

Our goal in showing up here is to support you in that endeavor, and help you connect with other Jews and the community at large – however that looks to you.

As our team welcomes Cincinnati to the Jewfolk family, we want to thank the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati for sharing the vision for Cincy Jewfolk with us and getting us to this moment.

We also want to give a warm welcome to Sam Fisher as our Cincy Jewfolk Editor and Engagement Associate. Cincinnati, you’re in such good hands with Sam!

And we want to take this moment to invite you to be a part of this family. As a reader – please subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on our socials (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok) so that you don’t miss a thing  – or as a writer. We accept pitches for content and we, of course, pay content creators.

And last, but definitely not least, we also want to say thank you to all the folks we have met so far in Cincinnati. And the ones we’re about to meet, and are so very excited to get to know.

I’m overflowing with pride and ‘nachas’ for this project and all the people and steps and risks and small moments that it took to get us all right here together. It feels an awful lot like a Shehecheyanu moment.

Literally, Shehecheyanu means “that we are alive”, and it is a statement of recognizing time and appreciating that we have arrived at this moment.

I feel an immense amount of gratitude to be alive in this moment with you and to welcome you to Cincy Jewfolk! We’re so very glad you’re here.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יהוה אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הַעוֹלָם שהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִּיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

Baruch atah, Adonai Eloheinu, Melech haolam, shehecheyanu, v’kiy’manu, v’higiyanu laz’man hazeh.

Translation: Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d, Sovereign of all, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this moment.