Romania

The pandemic made a difficult situation worse for Romania’s most vulnerable Jews. That’s why JDC partnered with FEDROM’s Social and Medical Assistance Department (SMAD), adapting its services to continue meeting clients’ needs throughout the pandemic. This assistance included food vouchers, medicine delivery, phone consultations with psychologists, as well as the distribution of masks, gloves, disinfectant, and protective gowns for volunteers, clients, and staff. In addition, JDC partnered with SMAD to support newly poor families through the COVID-19 Emergency Humanitarian Fund, a safety net that complements local welfare efforts by supporting families in distress.

Romania’s Jewish community was heavily affected by the 2008 financial crisis, which created mass unemployment and sent living costs skyrocketing. To aid the country’s most vulnerable Jews, JDC partners with the Federation of Jewish Communities of Romania (FEDROM) to provide food, medical assistance, homecare, and winter relief grants. JDC also supports the Rosen Home, serving elderly Jews in Bucharest, and Project Braille, a program for Jewish seniors who are visually-impaired. And for Jewish families dealing with unemployment and high living costs, JDC support helps provide case managers, monthly food vouchers, emergency grants, medical and psychological care, clothing, and academic support.

JDC helped establish the Bucharest Jewish Community Center (JCC) in 2007, a center of Romanian Jewish life that features a wide variety of activities for community members of all ages. When pandemic struck, the Bucharest JCC — and JCCs across the country — innovated its programming, and over 2,000 community members joined a variety of activities organized by JCC Bucharest alone, while JCCs in Iași, Oradea, and Timișoara, provided regular virtual programming. In the summer, when lockdown measures were briefly lifted, JCCs across the country hosted “Children’s Day” festivals and Shabbat celebrations for people of all ages.

Other JDC-supported programs innovated their programming throughout the pandemic. Bereshit, Romania’s flagship Jewish learning event, held virtual gatherings in 2021 that attracted more than 500 participants in over 25 communities — more than 10% of Romania’s Jewish population. And Keshet, a weekly seminar that explores topics in Jewish culture and identity, attracted some 200 participants to its online sessions. In addition, community members found new ways to innovate events and ceremonies, holding hybrid Chanukah candle-lighting and Shabbat celebrations for all ages.

By investing in the next generation of Romanian Jewish leadership, JDC invests in the future of Romanian Jewish life. That’s why JDC helps run Limmud-Keshet, an annual pluralistic festival of Jewish learning that attracts over 1,000 participants. JDC also sends young Jewish leaders to pan-European events and seminars, like the Buncher Community Leadership Program — a series of intensive seminars, workshops and mentoring programs. Through Szarvas, the JDC-Ronald S. Lauder Foundation international Jewish summer camp in Hungary, JDC connects young Jewish Romanians to the broader Jewish world.

JDC has also been instrumental in developing family camps – a place where parents and children can access a rich array of social and educational activities, and learn about their Jewish heritage together. In partnership with the Polinger Family Foundation, JDC strengthened its family camps, reaching hundreds of Jewish families in Bucharest, Romania’s largest city, as well as Timisara, Iasi, Cluj, and Oradea. These family camps are entry points for unaffiliated Jews, and lay the foundation for a caring and unified community.

The pandemic made a difficult situation worse for Romania’s most vulnerable Jews. That’s why JDC partnered with FEDROM’s Social and Medical Assistance Department (SMAD), adapting its services to continue meeting clients’ needs throughout the pandemic. This assistance included food vouchers, medicine delivery, phone consultations with psychologists, as well as the distribution of masks, gloves, disinfectant, and protective gowns for volunteers, clients, and staff. In addition, JDC partnered with SMAD to support newly poor families through the COVID-19 Emergency Humanitarian Fund, a safety net that complements local welfare efforts by supporting families in distress.