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Samantha Holzer (Photo credit: Jordan Harris)<\/p>\nSamantha Holzer (Photo credit: Jordan Harris)<\/p>\n
Samantha Holzer, 27, grew up in Pittsburgh\u2019s well-known Squirrel Hill Jewish community. It was a connected area, with Jewish businesses, a JCC and synagogues along and around Forbes Avenue. (It still is.)<\/p>\n
Upon moving to Philadelphia\u2019s Graduate Hospital neighborhood a year after graduating from Ohio University, Holzer quickly realized that the Greater Philadelphia Jewish community is a little different. It\u2019s spread out, in pockets; vibrant, active pockets, to be sure; but pockets nonetheless.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s Center City, Old York Road and Northeast Philly, to name a few. Actually, those are the three that Holzer, now a community engagement manager for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, is working to connect.<\/p>\n
The Federation has tasked Holzer with overseeing the respective kehillot in those three areas, as part of a wider network of eight kehillot across the region. In the Federation\u2019s system, two managers, including Holzer, oversee three areas. Two others handle the remaining two.<\/p>\n
Holzer said it\u2019s \u201ca lot of ground to cover,\u201d but it\u2019s worth her time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just want to give back to the community that shaped me. I think it\u2019s important for my generation to be committed in the way our parents were,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Holzer grew up in a Conservative Jewish household, attending Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill. Her family kept a kosher-style kitchen, though they did bring in non-kosher food. She also attended religious school and Jewish summer camp, and she kept a close circle of Jewish friends.<\/p>\n
By her teen years, the Pittsburgh native started going to the Friendship Circle for mitzvah classes before her bat mitzvah. After that, she got involved with the nonprofit organization that partners teenage volunteers with individuals with special needs for social, recreational and educational programs.<\/p>\n
When she got to Ohio University, Holzer noticed that there were few Jews around, but a friend from Pittsburgh told her about Ohio University Chabad. It had a presence on campus that offered Shabbat dinners, Jewish classes and social events, according to jewishbobcats.com.<\/p>\n
Holzer turned the Chabad house into her home on campus, bringing non-Jewish friends for Shabbat dinners and babysitting for the couple, Rabbi Levi and Chanee Raichik, who ran it.
\u201cWe all kind of just hung out there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Holzer got her degree in child and family studies, and when she graduated, she reached back out to the Friendship Circle in Pittsburgh. One of its founders told her there was an opening in Philly, and made the connection. Holzer applied for the role of program coordinator, got the job and spent the first four years of her career organizing the same programming that she once participated in as a teenager.<\/p>\n
A September blog post on jewishphilly.org, announcing her new role at the Federation, relayed that Holzer had led about 100 programs a year for the Philly Friendship Circle, including the Sunday Circle program, \u201ca two-hour, weekly activity-based program for children with special needs and their neurotypical peers.\u201d<\/p>\n
She applied for the role at the Federation to expand her \u201cmission-based work,\u201d as she described it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am super excited about this next chapter, to grow, challenge myself and make meaningful connections in the Kehillot I\u2019ll be working with,\u201d Holzer said in the blog post. \u201cThese past few years have been especially challenging for Jewish people. Being a part of something bigger, that inspires leadership, connection and a sense of belonging here in Philadelphia, is what really excites me.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it is a challenge. The Federation only brought back its kehillot system four years ago, so there\u2019s not much collaboration between institutions in Old York Road and the Northeast. (Center City has more.) Holzer and the Federation are encouraging more collaboration.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why she\u2019s spending her first year on the job just talking to people. Her goals are to identify potential lay leaders in the communities and to help the institutions fulfill their needs, like security.<\/p>\n
\u201cIdentifying individuals who want to take on roles and providing them with the resources to strengthen the leadership pipeline from within, so our Jewish communities can have these really strong leaders,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
She is also working to identify specific characteristics within each kehillah.<\/p>\n
Old York Road has an aging population, but synagogues want to make sure their congregations are still engaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can we make sure Jewish life is still a constant in their lives?\u201d Holzer asked.<\/p>\n
Center City has a young adult population that wants to engage, but not necessarily at synagogues.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many other opportunities to be Jewish, socially, and in whatever way speaks to you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The Northeast has growing Orthodox and immigrant populations. Holzer has also quickly figured out that KleinLife, led by CEO Andre Krug, is in many ways the heartbeat of the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cKleinLife is doing amazing work out there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Long term, Holzer wants the leaders in these communities to call her when they need something, so she can connect them with the people and resources that can help. She also hopes to build connections between the institutions within each kehillah and between the kehillot.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we interconnect them?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n