BUDAPEST, Hungary — Amid ongoing wars in both Ukraine and Israel, as well as rising antisemitism around the world, directors and leaders from 31 Jewish community centers from eight countries are coming together on Monday for a four-day JCC Global conference here to launch JCC Global’s flagship cooperative program designed to enhance the capacity and sustainability of JCCs in Ukraine, which have been both harmed and become more necessary by three years of war with Russia.

The conference, which runs through Thursday, brings together JCC leaders from Israel, Ukraine, Hungary, the United States, Argentina, Mexico, Poland and the United Kingdom to coordinate their partnerships for long-term cooperative projects and to help unite the efforts of Jewish communities worldwide.

Founded in 1977, JCC Global coordinates a network of more than 1,000 community centers around the world aimed at strengthening Jewish peoplehood and developing Jewish leadership and global partnerships between JCCs globally.

JCC Global’s “From Good to Great” three-year program is designed to enhance the capacity and sustainability of JCCs in Ukraine, by facilitating global cooperation with partner JCCs worldwide. The program is funded by a grant from the Jewish Federations of North America.

The leaders have met once virtually in teams to introduce themselves and discuss ideas for joint projects, and this is the first time they are coming together physically to finalize the planning stages of their projects, said JCC Global Executive Director Smadar Bar-Akiva. Following the meeting in Budapest they will continue to meet virtually at least twice a month to follow-up on their work. They will meet again in Jerusalem in two years.

The last JCC Global conference took place five years ago at the JCC Global 10th world conference of JCCs in Jerusalem.

JCC Global has focused much of its work assisting the JCCs in Ukraine since the outbreak of the war there with grants helping to provide employment services and mental health support directly to JCC members in Ukraine and developing a nationwide JCC network in Ukraine under the auspices of JCC Global. The “From Good to Great” program is a part of that focus and will establish three-year partnerships matching JCCs in Ukraine with peer JCCs in Israel, North America, Latin America and Europe providing mentorship on resource development, capacity building and facilitating people-to-people joint programing. The partnerships will also provide an opportunity for partner JCCs to learn about resilience strategies during periods of war and confrontations from JCCs in Ukraine.

In addition to sessions to introduce and work on the collaborative projects-in-progress, the Budapest gathering will explore the concept of Jewish peoplehood, learn about the Jewish experience in Europe and Jewish renewal in Ukraine, and discuss JCCs’ responses internationally to current events. It will also include meetings with representatives of Jewish leaders from Hungary.

Bar-Akiva noted that the program builds on the model of two previous cohorts of joint partnerships under the banner of the JCC Global Amitim-Fellows funded by UJA-Federation of New York, which produced 23 global projects from 2013-2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic and the wars in Ukraine and Israel prevented continuation of the partnerships. The new funding has provided the possibility for the third cohort in its new form, she said, with specific focus on partnering with JCCs in Ukraine.

“We really believe that every JCC [can contribute and learn], and we want to strengthen that,” she said. “Since COVID, the war in Ukraine and the war in Israel, the network was so instrumental in really saving lives and helping each other and supporting each other that our organization actually has been strengthened because…the global connections are actually vital and no JCC was left alone. During these times it was proven that this global network approach where people give and receive, people help each other, support each other, and learn from each other is really crucial.”

JCC Global provided eJewishPhilanthropy with transportation and accommodation for the conference. Judith Sudilovsky will be reporting from Budapest in the coming days.