It’s mid-summer and the Jewish federations’ world is once again on a social media kick. The Jewish Community Heroes campaign is about to launch year 3. And, in Philadelphia, the Jewish Federation – building on the measurable outcomes of last summer’s #ISH initiative from JFNA – is launching “Philly, What’s your ISH?”

We’re guessing that Philly has had huge success leveraging all those email addresses they received from the Heroes program to embrace the participants into the local federation world (making this initiative a natural follow-up). And, while we wish the Federation luck in achieving their goals, for the money we assume they’re paying the Brownstein Group, we figure they would get a better “bang for the buck” by renting out R2L for a couple of nights of partying.

from Jewish Exponent:

Fishing for a New Connection

Would a billboard with the line “Sun, Sand and Shiksas” offend or engage Jews?

The question arose during advertising development for the new “Philly, What’s your ISH?” project, a social-media campaign launched last week to give 18- to 35-year-old Jews in the Philadelphia area a way to explore virtually what being Jewish means to them.

According to a focus group created to help formulate the campaign, the answer to the “shiksa” question may depend on your age.

… So what is ISH, and how can it save our Jewish world?

“It’s essentially an online community where young Jewish singles, marrieds and parents can express themselves and find others who share the same values, in a non-judgmental environment – no strings attached and no expectations,” said Alex Stroker, chief marketing officer for Federation.

… “This has a balance between being simple and radical and cutting-edge,” said Jason Cole, chair of Federation’s Renaissance Group for young Jewish leaders. “In today’s instant-gratification environment, I think ISH will be a really powerful tool to get people to do a lot of thinking about what it means to be ISH.”