When nearly 600 people gathered in Manhattan last week to celebrate outgoing UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric Goldstein, the program opened with board members taking turns speaking in front of a projected timeline, each marking a tectonic shift that took place in the Jewish world during his tenure.

That timeline started the day before Goldstein started his role, on June 30, 2014, when the bodies of Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel — three Israeli yeshiva boys who had been kidnapped and killed by Hamas terrorists — were discovered. Soon after, a 50-day war against Hamas, Operation Protective Edge, commenced in Gaza, the first of a number of crises the Jewish community would weather during Goldstein’s 12-year term at the federation’s helm.  

“There was no easing into this role, no time to observe and no time to learn the ropes,” Alisa Doctoroff, past president and former board chair of UJA-Federation of New York, said during the presentation. “It said so much about Eric, who stepped in with strength, humility and resilience.” 

Speakers described Goldstein as a methodical and empathetic leader, highlighting the formation of the Community Security Initiative following through the 2018 Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh and the ensuing rise in antisemitism domestically, his leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the federation created infrastructure to support elderly Jews and Holocaust survivors and worked to prevent agencies from shuttering, and the Oct. 7 terror attacks in southern Israel. 

“It was a gigantic, bittersweet moment,” Amy Bressman, a former UJA board president, told eJewishPhilanthropy. “He will be really remembered for navigating unforeseen circumstances that you couldn’t plan for, you couldn’t even imagine, you couldn’t in any way expect. And he just led in the same consistent heart-mind combination. I think that a lesser leader might have been unbelievably thrown by crisis after crisis after crisis, and he just wasn’t. He just had the resources to handle circumstances that no one could have foreseen.”

Marc Rowan, the federation’s current board chair, described Goldstein’s work as reverberating far beyond New York City. “Nowhere in the job description is the Jewish community of New York,” he said. “And the Jewish community of New York, and the region for which Eric is responsible, that’s a big part of where the money goes, but the symbolism of this job is way beyond that.”

The dinner also included a video address from Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who thanked Goldstein for his support in the aftermath of Oct. 7, specifically the federation’s Israel Emergency Fund, through which it raised over $239 million to support Israel throughout the past nearly three years of crisis. 

“From the earliest hours of that fateful day, you modeled friendship and offered support, and in every moment since you declared in words and in deeds, an enormous amount of deeds, that the New York federation will always be with Israel,” said Herzog. “The outpouring of support from this federation in so many spheres of life in Israel and so many spheres of life in the Jewish world amidst the incredible storm, the vast funding and support for our homeland will never be forgotten.” 

Though Goldstein remains in his role until October, when he will be succeeded by Michael Kay, head of school at the Leffell School, the farewell event was held on June 18 — timed to Goldstein’s original planned departure date — and inadvertently — the New York Knicks championship parade. Attendees included UJA donors and lay leaders, agency executives, Jewish community leaders and Goldstein’s family and friends, a spokesperson for UJA told eJP.

Goldstein’s own speech reflected on the interactions with individuals throughout his 12-year tenure that he will take with him. 

“We’ve heard a great deal this evening about big ideas, big achievements, the big picture, and so often we measure our work in large numbers, how much raised, how much allocated. But when people ask what I will remember most from these 12 years, it will be about the individual people I’ve met, the stories I’ve heard.”

He also shared a number of thank-yous — for UJA’s staff, his family and those in the Jewish communal world who aided UJA’s work throughout his tenure. 

“Finally,” quipped Goldstein. “I’d like to express deep gratitude to the mayor for throwing me a parade earlier today.”