Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Associations

The first Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) was organized in 1854in Baltimore to develop Jewish community life. The facilities of early YMHAs consisted mainly of reading rooms, and the first paid worker was generally the librarian. The YMHAs differed from social clubs in that they were careful to ban card playing, gambling, and drinking. Immediately after the Civil War, YMHAs began to develop rapidly, especially in the South and Midwest. The sponsors of these associations were much impressed with the popularity of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), and the YMHAs followed suit when the YMCAs introduced sports, health, and other physical education activities. From their early days, YMHAs included Jews of all shades of opinion and belief. Provision was also made for non-Jews as members. When Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe came to America in unprecedented numbers between 1881 and 1910, the YMHAs offered classes in citizenship and English, and at the same time expanded their Jewish educational and cultural activities. On 2 November 1913, the Council of Young Men's Hebrew and Kindred Associations (YMHKA) formed to coordinate the efforts of the YMHAs. During World War I, the group raised funds to secure rabbis for service at military posts. In 1917, the YMHKA created the Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) to develop an infrastructure to support Jewish military personnel.

While many of the YMHAs had auxiliaries to serve the needs of Jewish women, the first independent Young Women's Hebrew Association (YWHA) began in New York City in 1902 under the leadership of Mrs. Israel Unterberg. Like Jewish settlement houses, the YWHA aimed to strengthen the Jewish community by focusing on the religious, mental, and physical lives of immigrant and working-class Jewish women. It offered courses in Hebrew, English, bookkeeping, dressmaking, gymnastics, basketball, tennis, and swimming. The physical education classes proved especially popular. Membership in the YWHA jumped from 30,000 in 1906 to 102,000 in 1913 and the all-female board of directors began opening new branches to meet the additional demand for facilities. By the 1920s, the YWHA had become heavily involved in promoting sporting activities for women. The New York branch hosted many national swimming competitions and, in 1924, the Women's Swimming Association meet became the first athletic event to be officiated entirely by women.

The JWB, which changed its name to Jewish Community Centers Association of North America in 1990, became the national governing body for the associations in 1921 and promoted the merger of YMHAs and YWHAs. After World War II, the YM/YWHAs broadened their character to become Jewish community centers—educational, cultural, and sports centers and places of assembly for the entire Jewish community—serving all ages. However, many retained the YM/YWHA name. By 2000, more than 275 YM/YWHAs, Jewish community centers, and their camps annually served over 1 million American Jews. The Jewish community centers had been so successful in responding to community needs that Jewish communities in Western Europe after World War II "imported" them as a means of rebuilding Jewish life.

Bibliography

Borish, Linda J. "'An Interest in Physical Well-Being Among the Feminine Membership': Sporting Activities for Women at Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Associations." American Jewish History 87 (1999): 61–93.

Kraft, Louis. A Century of the Jewish Community Center Movement, 1854–1954. New York: Jewish Community Center Centennial Committee, 1953.

Rabinowitz, Benjamin. The Young Men's Hebrew Associations: 1854–1913. New York: National Jewish Welfare Board, 1948.

The Young Men's Hebrew Association and the Young Women's Hebrew Association (YM - YWHA or often simply "Y") are part of an organization called the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America (JCCA). Jewish community centers are established by residents of a city with a large Jewish population to provide leisure and educational activities for their members. The aim is to strengthen Jewish family life, foster Jewish living in a democratic society, and provide shared experiences for all age groups.

Program

Center programs are multifaceted, flexible, professionally directed, and designed to meet the needs of the community where the center is located. Program activities stimulate personality development, leadership, participation in community affairs, and each member's sense of his or her Jewish identity. Extensive programs for health and physical education, camping, and outdoor recreation afford the opportunity for acquiring new skills and developing friendships. Many Jewish community centers also offer courses in music, arts and crafts, dance, drama, literature, and Jewish studies, in addition to lectures, concerts, art exhibits, theatrical performances, poetry and fiction readings, and cultural festivals.

The JCCA provides to local centers a variety of program materials dealing with all aspects of community center work, and it organizes and conducts regional and national conferences, institutes, seminars, competitions, and intercenter activities. The JCCA also recruits, orients, and places staff in Jewish community centers and oversees scholarship programs for their continued training.

Jewish community centers throughout the United States and Canada offer day care and early childhood educational services for Jewish children ages three to six. Jewish community centers also offer programs for Jewish senior citizens, permitting elderly men and women the chance to socialize, become involved with their community, and stay mentally and physically fit.

The JCCA and YM - YWHA chapters also offer Jewish athletes a chance to train and compete at local, national, and international sporting events through their sponsorships of Macabbi USA and Macabbi Canada. Every year approximately 6,000 young Jewish athletes compete at JCCA Macabbi Games. The best athletes compete at the World Macabbi Games, a two-week international competition held every four years in Israel. In 2001 Macabbi USA sent 360 athletes representing thirty-nine states to Israel to compete in the world games.

The JCCA and YM - YWHA work in cooperation with twenty-two resident camps throughout the United States and one in Ontario, Canada. Most camps offer day, short-term, and long-term camping programs where young people can learn swimming, canoeing, horseback riding, archery, and other outdoor activities. Many camp programs also include cultural and creative activities, such as jewelry making, wood sculpting, pottery, dance, and theater. Some resident camps organize family camping events. In addition, many local Jewish community centers run their own day-camp programs.

Through the Jewish Welfare Board Chaplain's Council, the JCCA serves the religious and social needs of Jewish military personnel and their families. Regional consultants and national United Service Organizations (USO) staff provide services to stateside USO clubs and councils and to small, isolated Jewish communities serving Jews in nearby military installations.

Organization and Membership

The JCCA includes 275 affiliated community centers in thirty-nine states, the District of Columbia, and ten Canadian cities. The JCCA is also affiliated with a Jewish community center in Hong Kong. Together, the JCCA-affiliated centers have a membership of more than 1 million people. Most centers and Ys make membership available to anyone in the community, regardless of religious affiliation. Financial support is derived from membership dues, course and programs fees, fund-raisers, corporate sponsorship, and foundation and private donations.

History

The first Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) was founded in 1854 in Baltimore, Maryland, to provide services and support for Jewish immigrants. By 1884 approximately seventy such agencies had been organized. They served as libraries, settlement houses, cultural centers, and helped new Jewish immigrants adapt to life in America by offering instruction in the English language and the American way of life. In 1913 the National Council of Young Men's Hebrew and Kindred Associations (YMH&KA) was formed to unite the disparate YMHAs into a national association. The national Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) was founded in 1917 to meet the religious needs and improve the morale of Jewish men in the armed forces. In 1921 the YMH&KA merged with the JWB, making the JWB the national association for Jewish community centers and YM - YWHAs. During the 1950s and 1960s many Jewish-Americans moved to the suburbs, and new community centers were established to serve the needs of this more affluent community. The centers began to expand their services to include day camps, travel camps, performing arts, day-care centers, sports programs, adult education, and services for senior citizens.

During the 1970s and 1980s, pride in Israel flourished in the American Jewish community, and many young people became interested in their Jewish roots. In response, Jewish community centers began to sponsor cultural events related to Jewish heritage and history, including Jewish film festivals and celebrations for Hanukkah, Israeli Independence Day, and other Jewish holidays. Many Jewish community centers also organized trips to Israel. The Jewish Welfare Board changed its name to the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America in 1995.

Bibliography

Kaufman, David. 1998. Shul with a Pool: The "Synagogue-Center" in American Jewish History. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press.

Rabinowitz, Benjamin. 1948. The Young Men's Hebrew Associations, 1854 - 1913. New York: National Jewish Welfare Board.

Internet Resource

Jewish Community Centers Association of North America. 2002. www.jcca.org.

Young Women's Christian Association

The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a membership organization with a local, national, and international program aimed at helping all women and girls achieve their full potential in a society where justice and peace prevail. The YWCA stresses improving the quality of education with special emphasis on preparing girls to perform their multiple roles in society, providing opportunities for girls and women to continue their education, supplementing the academic work of high school and college students with involvement in community affairs, exploring the problems and needs of women and students in urban settings, and motivating dropouts to return to school or prepare for gainful employment. The YWCA is also actively involved in promoting nonviolence and tolerance throughout the United States and the world.

Program

The YWCA of the U.S.A. offers numerous education programs designed to meet the needs of the community where the YWCA is located. Literacy, tutoring, English as a second language (ESL), and General Education Development (GED) classes are popular in many areas. Many YWCAs also offer welfare-to-work programs to help unemployed women learn to support themselves. YWCA's job training, job placement, and career counseling services enable thousands of women who are out of work to improve their employability and find meaningful jobs. The organization helps working mothers by offering quality child-care services. In 2001 more than 750,000 children participated in YWCA day-care and after-school programs, making the YWCA the largest nonprofit child-care provider in the United States.

Approximately 200 of America's YWCAs provide housing services for women and children; services include emergency shelter, transient housing, and transitional housing. The YWCA will also help needy women find permanent housing.

The YWCA's teen development programs include the YWCA/Pepsico Girls Leadership Program for economically and educationally disadvantaged teenage girls. In 1997 the YWCA launched its Tech-GYRLS program, in which girls ages nine to thirteen can explore computers and other new technologies under the guidance of technology professionals.

The organization's health care and fitness initiatives include sports and exercise programs, breast and cervical cancer screenings and referrals, breast cancer support groups, and courses on sexually transmitted diseases, prenatal care, self-defense, and substance abuse prevention. Further programs and services address crisis intervention, violence prevention, and family counseling. Many YWCAs also offer a program called Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Evaluation for teenage girls.

In its ongoing effort to combat violence, the YWCA of the U.S.A. annually designates the third week in October as Week Without Violence. This observance promotes awareness and alternatives to domestic violence, gun violence, ethnic violence, hate crimes, and violence in the media. In addition, since 1992 the YWCA of the U.S.A. has recognized April 30 as National Day of Commitment to Eliminate Racism.

Organization

The World YWCA provides a channel for the sharing of resources and the exchange of experience among its affiliated associations in 100 countries, including the United States. The World YWCA also works for international understanding, for improved social and economic conditions, and for basic human rights for all people. In times of emergency, the World YWCA undertakes and sponsors international humanitarian, welfare, and relief work, irrespective of religious, social, political, national, or racial differences. The World YWCA includes in its membership all women and girls who wish to participate.

The YWCA of the U.S.A. is composed of three types of member associations: community YWCAs, registered and accredited state and regional YWCAs, and student YWCAs. In 2001 there were 312 YWCA affiliates across all fifty states. Each local association governs itself and adopts a constitution in keeping with the requirements of affiliation with the national organization and the needs of the community it serves.

The YWCA of the U.S.A. is headed by a president and a chief executive officer. A twenty-five-member national board of directors works with the president and CEO. The national board unites the autonomous member associations into an effective organization for furthering the YWCA mission. The board also plans the annual YWCA convention for the development of a national program and acts as a link between local YWCAs and the World YWCA. The board is assisted in its work by one national student council representative. Through its placement services and training programs, the national YWCA helps secure professional staffs for the local affiliates.

Membership

Membership in the YWCA is open to any girl or woman twelve years of age or older from any economic, racial, occupational, religious, or cultural group. College women may join a campus-based student YWCA. Membership privileges are transferable from one YWCA facility to any other in the country. All dues-paying members seventeen years or older have voting privileges. Boys and men may become YWCA associates and take part in coeducational activities, especially in recreation, education, discussion, and community projects. In 2001 there were approximately 2 million members in the YWCA of the U.S.A. The World YWCA served over 25 million women worldwide.

Local YWCAs derive most of their financial support from the United Way, membership dues, and program fees. The national organization derives its funding from the local YWCAs, earnings on investments, and gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations.

History

The organization that became known as the Young Women's Christian Association began as a movement that gradually organized into a full-fledged association. The North London Home for women, also called the General Female Training Institute, founded in London, England, in 1855, is generally recognized as the first YWCA. London's Prayer Union for Women and Girls was organized around the same time. By 1859 these two organizations had merged under the name of Young Women's Christian Association. In 1858 a similar organization called the Ladies' Christian Association was founded in New York City. In 1866 a women's group in Boston, Massachusetts, began using the name Young Women's Christian Association. Such organizations proved popular in the United States, and soon YWCAs were established in other communities around the country. By 1875 there were twenty-eight YWCAs in the United States. The first YWCA branch for African-American women was opened in Dayton, Ohio, in 1889. The following year, the first YWCA for Native American women was established in Chilocco, Oklahoma. By 1900 there were 106 American YWCAs. Realizing the need for centralized administration, the local associations formed the National Board of the YWCA in 1907.

Since the early 1900s the YWCA has pioneered the fight against racial discrimination and segregation in the United States. The first interracial conference in the South was held at a YWCA facility in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1915. In 1936 the first coeducational interracial collegiate seminar was held at a YWCA in Raleigh, North Carolina. During World War II the YWCA gave aid and comfort to Japanese-American residents being held in relocation centers, and the YWCA helped resettled Japanese women and families after the war. In 1946 the YWCA adopted a groundbreaking interracial charter to protest racial injustice. In 1960 the cafeteria of the Atlanta YWCA became the first desegregated public dining establishment in the city.

The YWCA was also a pioneer in offering sex education in its health programs as early as 1906; the organization continues this effort by offering educational programs and services addressing such issues as sexual harassment, sexually transmitted diseases, acquaintance rape, adolescent pregnancy prevention, and birth control.

Bibliography

Boyd, Nancy. 1986. Emissaries: The Overseas Work of the American YWCA 1895 - 1970. New York: Women's Press.

Mjagkij, Nina, and Spratt, Margaret, eds. 1997.

Men and Women Adrift: The YMCA and theYWCA in the City. New York: New York University Press.

Seymour-Jones, Carole. 1994. Journey of Faith: The History of the World YWCA 1945 - 1994. London: Allison and Busby.

Internet Resource

Young Women's Christian Association. 2002. www.ywca.org.

— EDITH M. LERRIGO, Revised by, JUDITH J. CULLIGAN

A Jewish Community Center or Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, Israel-related programming, and Jewish education, however they are open to everyone in the community. The JCC Association is the continental umbrella organization for the Jewish Community Center movement, which includes more than 350 JCCs, YM-YWHAs, and camp sites in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to 180 local JCCs in the Former Soviet Union, 70 in Latin America, 50 in Europe, and close to 500 smaller centres in Israel.

Contents 1 History 2 Services 3 Locations 4 Incidents and security 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

History

The indoor pool at the YMHA in Winnipeg, Manitoba

The YMHA (Young Men's Hebrew Association) was first set up in 1854 in Baltimore to provide help for Jewish immigrants. A YWHA (Young Women's Hebrew Association) was first established as an annex to the YMHA in New York in 1888. The New York YMHA and YWHA now operate together as the 92nd Street Y. Another New York YM-YWHA, unrelated to the 92nd Street location, is called the 14th Street YM-YWHA, located in the Gramercy neighborhood. The first independent YWHA was set up in 1902. In 1917 these organizations were combined into a Jewish Welfare Board, and were later renamed Jewish Community Centers (or JCCs), though some retain the YWHA or YMHA designation. In the New York City area, many retained the designation (or simply the term "Y" like the 92nd Street Y still does today) into the 1990s.

Services

JCC Association offers a wide range of services and resources to help its affiliates to provide educational, cultural, social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs for people of all ages and backgrounds. JCC Association^[1] supports the largest network of Jewish early childhood centers and Jewish summer camps in North America, and is also a U.S. government accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs of Jewish military personnel through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council^[2].

Some JCCs provide services for people with special needs, such as autism, asperger syndrome and learning disabilities. In 2008, The Mandel JCC of Cleveland was awarded $652,500 in grant funding to be used for individuals with disabilities. Cleveland-area children and adults with emotional, physical and developmental disabilities now have many opportunities to get involved in fitness, wellness and recreational activities. Whenever possible, activities are inclusive and children are able to fully participate, usually with the assistance of an aide.

As a rule, today JCCs are open to other ethnic groups as well, with a possible exception of strictly traditional Jewish activities. In fact, many JCCs sponsor local events. There are, however, many other activities which people can host at the JCC. For example, in Houston there are rooms to rent and Drivers Education classes.

Locations

The Washington, D.C. Jewish Community Center (DCJCC), built in 1933, is located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.

There are almost two dozen Jewish community centers in the New York metro area, providing a wide range of social, cultural, and educational services, ranging from lectures, concerts, theater performances, and dance recitals to health and fitness classes, job training workshops, and citizenship classes. Although the majority of JCCs are found on the East Coast, with 17 sites in Florida, JCCs operate in Omaha, Nebraska, Las Vegas, Austin, Texas, Seattle, Washington, San Francisco, California, and all over the Bay Area. JCCs all over the country sponsor film festivals and book fairs, bringing world-renowned writers and directors to smaller communities.

JCC in Manhattan

Their programs and activities vary by location. Particularly noteworthy is the JCC in West Bloomfield, Michigan,^[3] which is the largest JCC in North America, and possibly the world. The Holocaust Memorial Center, which attracts many visitors to its programs and exhibits, used to be a part of the JCC of West Bloomfield, but recently opened a building of their own. The West Bloomfield JCC houses two gymnasiums which can be made into three gyms using a movable wall, a workout area, an indoor full size and kiddie pool, an outdoor full size pool, a kosher restaurant, a Michigan Jewish war veterans museum, an in line hockey center, a library, ceramics/art rooms, a large auditorium type room (Handleman Hall), an art museum, an area dedicated to teaching and learning about tzedakah (charity) called Shalom Street, a performing arts theater in its basement, a preschool, offices for summer camps, the previously mentioned preschool, and other administrative offices and organizations. Beginning in the 2007-2008 school year, the top floor will be completely dedicated to The Jean and Samuel Frankel Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit,^[4] a Jewish High School which opened up in 2000. The JCC building is on the Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus along with multiple living quarters for the elderly and mentally disabled and an Alzheimer's treatment building.

The main swimming pool at the Jewish Community Center in Owings Mills, Maryland

One recent addition to the family of JCC's in North America is the The JCC in Manhattan. This eleven story building situated in Manhattan's Upper West Side neighborhood opened its doors in the winter of 2002. The JCC offers a diversity of programs, from parenting to fitness, and each year the organization produces Israel NonStop, a week long festival presenting the most interesting and innovative Israeli musicians, authors, theatrical groups and films.

The Mandel Jewish Community Center of Cleveland has been serving the greater Cleveland community for more than 60 years and provides programs of exceptional quality for families and individuals of all ages including pre-school and children’s programs, summer camps, fitness, wellness and recreation programming and arts and culture programs.

Incidents and security

In recent years, several incidents that have taken place at JCC locations across the United States and Canada, as well as the September 11 attacks, have prompted JCCs in all areas to increase security at their facilities. Some of these events have included:

• August 10, 1999, a white supremacist opened fire at a JCC location in Los Angeles, wounding five children [1]. All the children survived, but the shooter was later convicted of homicide in a separate incident.

Main article: Los Angeles Jewish Community Center shooting

• On July 29, 2006, one person was killed at a Jewish center in Seattle when an Islamic extremist opened fire in the location [2]. This shooting was in response to the offender's anger at the United States for the Iraq War and its support for the state of Israel.

Main article: Seattle Jewish Federation shooting

• In 1997, a woman in Toronto was charged with kidnap and other crimes in the unauthorized removal of her 5-year-old daughter from a JCC childcare center. The woman, a registered nurse who had previously lost custody of her child following a divorce, led police on a high-speed chase and crashed, causing minor injuries to both.

New security measures now being implemented include the mandatory display of photo ID upon entry to the building, background checks of prospective employees and members, and police officers or security guards being stationed on premises. Childcare areas now have their access restricted to those who have legitimate reason to enter, and removal of a child, which is tightly monitored, is permitted only by custodial parents and guardians and other authorized adults. In addition, many other new security features now reduce the likelihood of non-members gaining access to member-restricted areas.

See also

• Henry Cohen Community House

References

1. ^ http://www.jcca.org
2. ^ http://www.jcca.org/JWB/index.html
3. ^ JCC Metro Detroit | About the JCC
4. ^ Welcome To The Frankel Jewish Academy

External links

• Jewish Community Centers of North America
• Jewish Community Center of Indianapolis
• ym/ywha JCC tri-county Clifton, NJ
• David E. Kaufman, Jewish Community Center,Jewish Women Encyclopedia

v • d • e Jewish Community Center JCCs Baltimore • London • Miami  • Omaha  • San Francisco  • Toronto • Upper East Side, Manhattan • Vancouver • Winnipeg Other Camp Interlaken • Los Angeles shooting

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)