After two challenging years filled with impersonal meetings and long-distance connections, the Jewish communal sector is meeting in person once again. This week, 1,200 Jewish communal professionals from a diverse array of organizations will convene in Cleveland for the JPro22: Going Places, Together conference in partnership with Jewish Federations of North America and with the support of our local partner, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland.

Together we will look deeply at the hard lessons we learned from the pandemic, talk honestly about areas where the Jewish community can improve cooperation and learn about innovative tools and practices to break down barriers and navigate collaboration within organizations and across the sector.

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The theme of JPro22 is collaboration. According to the Oxford dictionary, to collaborate is to “work jointly on an activity, especially to produce or create something.”  

In today’s culture that hails independence and places the individual at the center of attention – think “I”-Pad and “I”-Phone – discussions about collaboration do not come naturally. Nor are we all comfortable with the topic. But the pandemic taught us so much about the strength of the community and the power of togetherness. During the darkest hours of the pandemic, we suffered separately, but in unison, and witnessed beautiful moments where barriers broke down and we came together to help one another. It is this solidarity of coming together for something larger than oneself that we will celebrate and strengthen this week in Cleveland.

Collaboration doesn’t happen on its own. It requires culture, thought and intention. It is a skill and a craft. It involves losing control. It is about taking risks into the unknown and putting aside individual and institutional egos, logo sizes and self-interests for the sake of the common good and bigger picture.  

The pandemic taught so many of us in the sector that mergers can spare duplicated efforts and save millions of dollars in wasted resources. Organizations with different goals yet common audiences and vice versa can identify points of contact and cooperation. And many of us learned that we are much more flexible than we thought we were.

This conference itself is a case in point. 

When the idea first percolated in our minds to join JPro22 with Jewish Federations of North America’s two professional conferences, so much was at stake. We are two vastly different institutions with very different structures and cultures. Collaboration would mean compromising on branding, giving up control and adjusting conference content. But it also would mean bringing complementary assets to the table, melding the vast reach and scale of Jewish Federations with the dedicated focus of JPro on professional growth and development, pooling resources and working together towards the much larger aim of improving the vitality of the communities that we serve.  

And despite whatever disagreements we encountered along the way, we never lost sight of that sacred goal – to work together to best serve our communities and address their critical needs. With this goal in mind, we allowed ourselves to be vulnerable enough to lose some of the “I” for the sake of the collective “We.”  

One of the highlights of JPro22 is a session that will shine a light on nearly 100 collaborations across the sector. These collaborations will educate members of the field on the possibilities that exist when we look beyond what is familiar to us, and inspire our conference goers to take these ideas back to their communities. During the conference, we will also engage in honest discussions about the difficult dimensions of collaboration and how to overcome them.

It is no surprise that two months ago, JPro22 was already sold out with 1,200 registrants, which is without a doubt a testament to the connections we so crave. Among the registrants, we are proud to include nearly 30 community delegations that are being led by local Federations and include professionals from countless local organizations. 

As we step out of our zoom squares and get set to meet in person once again, let us commit to truly step outside our boxes and examine where we can partner together to further our collective aims and interests. We must ask ourselves honest questions, am I creating an environment that is truly inclusive and that fosters collaboration? Do I have the necessary tools to develop talent that can ably balance personal aspirations with deep team commitment? When we say we are serving our communities, let us truly put their needs first.  

The first collaborative project our ancestors took on as a nation was the building of the mishkan, when the Israelites were wandering in the desert. The entire nation contributed what they could to the building of the mishkan, which scholars say stood for hundreds of years until the time of the First Temple in Jerusalem. Thousands of years later, we are still perfecting the art of fruitful and meaningful collaboration. Indeed, this week in Cleveland, 1,200 Jewish professionals will affirm their commitment to going places – together. And our communities will be more viable as a result.

Ilana Aisen is the chief executive officer of JPro.

Shira Hutt is the executive vice president of Jewish Federations of North America.

Two online access points for those who wish to participate but cannot attend in person are available via jpro22.org and include livestreamed plenaries (pre-registration is required) and continued learning opportunities via Encore Workshops.