CEO Zach Benjamin Takes Reins, Shares Vision for a Single Agency

In March 2021, the Future Visions Committee, a joint leadership committee of Jewish Long Beach and the Alpert Jewish Community Center (Alpert JCC), issued its formal recommendations to both boards that the two agencies integrate to form a single, seamless organization serving the Jewish and broader communities of Long Beach and Northwest Orange County. The measure passed unanimously and the final steps take place this month starting with one leader at the helm.

Over the last six months, Jewish Long Beach CEO Zach Benjamin has worked side-by-side with Alpert JCC Interim Executive Director Deborah Goldfarb, and co-presidents Dr. Barry Zamost (Alpert JCC) and Edie Brodsky (Jewish Long Beach) to reorganize the agency’s structure and set their sights on the future. They have promoted some employees, created some new positions within the organization, and freshened up job descriptions to align the agency’s operations within the integration’s framework. A new chief operating and development officer will be joining the team this month.

“Our goal is to be as adaptable as possible to the ever-evolving needs of our community,” Benjamin said, “By removing the firewalls that have traditionally existed between our two agencies, we are now better positioned than ever to achieve radical impact in Jewish communal advocacy, early childhood education, strategic grant-making, service to seniors and other vulnerable populations, wellness, social engagement for people of all ages and backgrounds, strengthening our community’s connection with Israel, and so much more.”

Logistically, the merger will minimize duplication of services and staff functions, provide focused programming and educational opportunities for all ages, serve the vulnerable, and offer both the Jewish and greater Long Beach community easy access to all.

Many of the longtime supporters and board members of either agency echo the same sentiment: “Finally!”

Edie Brodsky, Jewish Long Beach board president said, “After decades of increasing cooperation, with a commonality of purpose, and a commitment to Jewish values, these two agencies have successfully integrated to create a more effective force for good in this community. The time was right and the boards were willing.”

Dr. Barry Zamost, Alpert JCC board president, shared that when his family moved to Long Beach in 1982, the Jewish Community Center and Jewish Federation were there to embrace them and their growing family.

“Moving forward now with this new structure, we hope to engage new generations of individuals and families and enhance their quality of life," Zamost said.

Continuing to be the convener of Jewish life and culture in the community is dependent on the agency’s ability to embrace as inclusive a cross section of the Jewish and broader communities as possible. Jewish Long Beach has contracted with Brandeis University to complete a comprehensive demographic and attitudinal survey of Jewish residents in the greater Long Beach and West Orange County cities.

“The last study of this scope in the Long Beach area was conducted in the 1950s,” Benjamin explained. “This survey of the 15 municipalities in our catchment area will help us to identify gaps in our programs and services, as well as to gain a more complete understanding than ever before about our constituency, how they experience Judaism, and how they manage complex and intersecting identities. In turn, the data from this study will guide the first integrated Jewish Long Beach and Alpert JCC strategic planning process in 2022.”

Benjamin said that the survey findings will be shared with all the area synagogues and other organizations that celebrate and preserve Jewish life and traditions.

“I see Jewish Long Beach as the entry point to both the Alpert JCC and the many organizations we support with our grants and partnerships,” Brodsky added.

Last year the organization disbursed approximately $500,000 in grants, donations, and services to the local area.

The Alpert JCC and Jewish Long Beach provide programming for all ages and stages of life. Known as “Your Center for Life,” The Alpert JCC provides a gathering space in which all are welcome to pursue early childhood education, after-school programs, fitness programs, aquatics activities, and summer camp, as well as to engage in Jewish life, culture, and education.

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History of Each Organization

Jewish Long Beach can trace its roots to the 1929 creation of Jewish Welfare Funds that materialized across the country, largely in support of Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Europe. The outflow of Jewish refugees reached its crescendo just after World War II, as the fledgling state of Israel welcomed Holocaust survivors and other Jews whose lives had been endangered by anti-Semitism. Today, Jewish Long Beach is a multifaceted agency that serves the Jewish and broader communities through strategic grant-making, advocacy, the development of emerging leaders, and stewardship of the community’s philanthropic funds. Jewish Long Beach manages over $30 million in assets and owns and operates the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Jewish Long Beach Campus.

The Barbara and Ray Alpert Jewish Community Center, originally the Long Beach Jewish Community Center, was established in August 1948 by action of Jewish Long Beach’s predecessor organization, the Long Beach Jewish Council. The Center was renamed the Barbara and Ray Alpert Jewish Community Center in 1997. In 1999, the Alpert JCC moved to its new home on the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Jewish Long Beach Campus. Known as “Your Center for Life,” The ALPERT JCC provides a gathering space in which all are welcome to pursue early childhood education, after-school programs, fitness programs, aquatics activities, and summer camp, as well as to engage in Jewish life, culture, and education.

Other ways to stay in touch with Jewish Long Beach:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JewishLongBeach

Instagram: @jewishlongbeach

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jewish-long-beach

Alpert Jewish Community Center

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlpertJCC

Instagram: @alpert_jcc

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alpert-jewish-community-center/