Dear friends,

What does it mean to be a Jewish organization? 

It’s a question we ask leaders across the field — and one that we grapple with ourselves at Leading Edge. How can we advance talent and culture in ways the broader workforce would recognize, while remaining uniquely Jewish? How do Jewish thought, tradition, and Jewish communal needs shape our mission, our strategy, and our decisions?

Hanukkah sheds light on this question, though that light can refract in multiple ways. 

One could see Hanukkah as a call to stand apart. The holiday recalls a fight against forced assimilation, a refusal to worship foreign gods, and a miracle grounded in strict standards of ritual purity. In this light, Hanukkah emphasizes separation and dedication (the word “hanukkah” literally means “dedication”) — a turning inward and upward toward our own tradition and the Divine.

But that’s only part of the story. Judaism never rejected Hellenistic culture entirely; our Sages borrowed Greek language and ideas — the Rabbinic Supreme Court was called the “Sanhedrin,” a word that comes from the Greek “synedrion” (council); and the Passover Seder was modeled on the Greek symposium. Our tradition’s relationship with the wider world has always been more nuanced and complex than simple resistance. 

One way to integrate these strands is to focus on who decides. Antiochus sought to impose culture at the point of a spear; the Maccabees insisted that Jewish engagement with the broader world must be on our own terms. We can draw from the best around us through a Jewish lens — freely, intentionally, and in service of our highest values. In this sense, Hanukkah celebrates freedom.

And there is more. Hanukkah commands us to “publicize the miracle,” to place our lights where others can see them. It asks us not only to preserve tradition or defend conscience, but to share our light with the world. 

So what does all this illuminate about Jewish organizational identity? There isn’t just one answer for every Jewish organization. A human-services agency serving mostly non-Jewish clients will look different from a day school or synagogue. Many organizations sit somewhere in between — from JCCs serving the full community to Leading Edge, which works solely with Jewish nonprofits even as nearly 40% of the sector’s employees aren’t Jewish.

Wherever we sit on that spectrum, Hanukkah reminds us: 

We can be dedicated to Jewish roots, values or purpose. 

We can choose freely and deliberately what that “Jewish” looks like in the context. 

And we can let our lights shine outward — to our cities, our states, our countries, the global Jewish community and the world. 

Leaders especially must ask this question and shape answers that align each organization with its deepest values and highest mission. We don’t need to choose exclusively between Athens and Jerusalem, or between communal strength and broader engagement. Hanukkah — the festival of dedication, freedom, and light — illuminates them all. 

Chag sameach,

Gali Cooks
President & CEO
Leading Edge