Can there be rest in times of crisis? The only answer is yes, and the future of our sector depends on it; gratitude to Barry Finestone for raising this critical conversation for the field (“The crisis we’re ignoring: Who’s caring for the people who hold up the Jewish world?” Aug. 25).  

Every week, we hear stories that reveal pervasive worker exhaustion within our community. One leader recalled a year of working such long hours that it left her body completely devastated — her physical health spiraling downward, and quickly. Another shared how they haven’t slept or disconnected from professional responsibilities in many weeks, leaving them struggling to focus and perform at work. This tracks across studies showing that 70% of workers report feeling completely burned out.

Given the philanthropic resources available in our Jewish community, are these the types of conditions we should be cultivating within our workplaces? These examples illustrate a widespread moral disconnect between the way we work, the values that drive our organizations, and the future of our sector.

This is the silent screaming of our moment. 

You can’t binge rest

We can’t solve the depth of struggle that professionals are feeling with half measures. It’s time to build the future of work together, starting here:

See talent well-being as a non-negotiable component of every grant

Modeling matters. Check out Fund the People‘s how-to guides on how to bake talent investments into grant processes. Asking about talent strategy as part of grant applications and being clear that your investments are well spent when focused on people are two easy ways to see grantees thrive into the future. 

Spend more, now 

Endowments have grown to record highs over the last two years. It is time for a spend-down — larger draws of 10%, 20% and more. We encourage philanthropists to stop waiting for a rainy day. Funders have the power to be a key driver of an ecosystem that prioritizes talent. Not doing this essentially means that whatever goals a funder has for their investments are being severely undercut by sending a conflicting message that they believe in the mission, but not the people who power it. Foundations should fund intermediaries at higher levels, like R&R, SRE Network or Jews of Color Initiative, who are doing this work and regranting the dollars for this exact purpose. 

Model and prioritize this work

It’s time to focus not only on talent development, but on talent sustainability. Start with a living wage for your team by making the case to your funders on why talent investing is so critical to your mission. Hire a C-Suite leader who is focused on this; or in small organizations, create capacity for an executive to manage this. Invest in healthcare, benefits and sustainable work hours. Talent well-being should be an integral part of a strategic plan; if it’s not, don’t wait for the next round — just add an addendum to your existing plan. You can start by developing an organizational rest ethic. 

Organizational leaders should be empowered to articulate the flaw in underpaying, under-resourcing and under-supporting employees. A start can be found here. 

Take a close look at your values in relation to the real lives of your people. Make it easier for people to set up retirement accounts, support employees in their healthcare expenses, develop fair parental leave policies, and give unions a seat at the table. Participate and apply the best practices from Leading Edge’s employee experience survey. 

Boards should hold their leaders accountable for implementing policies and practices that uplift the organizational culture, employee satisfaction, and engagement. Support collective rest policies, flexible scheduling, and others that research clearly proves are good for all. And most importantly, ensure that these policies are being practiced, not just sitting on the shelf.  

Lastly, culture is shared. Staff members at every level have an important role to play in creating a positive culture of well-being. Discuss with your supervisor any challenges you see, and offer to help pilot initiatives at your organization. 

We all can do better

Judaism has thousands of years of wisdom guiding us in a direction to support our workers, especially with Shabbat and shmita built into our ethos. Research shows that what makes nonprofit organizations effective is not the grind and hustle, but rather an equitable application of support and investment in talent. A 24/7 work ethic that is pervasive in many technology and for-profit companies is not aligned with the Jewish ecosystem, nor should it be modeled after. But, even still, for-profit companies have already gotten the memo that implementing sabbatical policies, collective rest and other rest-based interventions improve their bottom line.

If you’re a funder or a leader, ask yourself: 

If someone you loved worked in the least-resourced job on your team, would you feel proud of your organization? 

What are the pay and benefit discrepancies between the top-paid employee and the least-paid employee at your organization? Does the ratio between top leaders and entry-level staff match the value of the work? Of your organization? 

How, if at all, are your managers trained to ensure their team members are plugging into the organization’s existing benefits, working in their capacity and hours, and auditing time-off policies, to fix the real struggle of workplace exhaustion?

Jewish life has the power to shine bright, but only if we wake up enough to support the workers. Investing in the sustainability of our talent isn’t a radical idea. It must be baked into everything we do, and the philanthropic community should be leading the charge with clear and actionable measures. Every mission and every program is, in fact, downstream from the way in which we treat our workforce. 

Bottom line: Fund the talent, or forget the cause. 

Josh Feldman is the CEO and founder of R&R: The Rest of our Lives.

Rachel Zieleniec is the chief program officer of R&R: The Rest of our Lives.