By Chris Beecher
Contributing Reporter
On the morning of February 7, 2024, the banquet hall of the Mayerson JCC was packed with roughly 280 attendees for the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati’s second annual Impact Breakfast. The aroma of fresh coffee and bagels filled the room as city-wide supporters situated themselves to hear testimony from Ana Sazonov, a Ukrainian-born Jew who has experienced the impact of two wars — the Ukrainian and Israeli wars — over the last two years.
Pam Geller, Chief Impact Officer for the Federation, describes the purpose of the Impact Breakfast as a way “to display the value and ongoing work of the Federation for the Jewish community.” She further explained the intent of the Federation’s work to be “more welcoming and inclusive for those who do not know us.”
For this year’s breakfast, the keynote speaker was Ana Sazonov, one of Hadassah’s 18 Jewish women who are shaping the future of Zionism. Ana told the story of how she grew up in a small town in Northwest Ukraine. She described her great-grandmother as a “perfect Jew” who married a non-Jewish man. To protect his family from antisemitism, he changed the status of their family from Jewish to Ukrainian. Ana made aliyah to Israel at age six after her grandfather and father convinced Jewish representatives in Israel to let them relocate their family there. During her time in Israel, she embraced and renewed her Jewish identity. As she explored this identity, she served in the Israeli Defense Forces for two years, as most young Israelis do. Thereafter, she traveled the world until she landed in Atlanta, Georgia, and became an Israel Fellow for Hillel International. She then moved on to complete her MBA in Boston, followed by her move to Columbia, South Carolina, where she served as the Executive Director for the Jewish Federation. Then the unthinkable happened.
On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ana’s birth country of Ukraine. The invasion generated a visceral response in her; she was crying and confused. She took to social media to share her story. Shortly after this, she started a crisis fund to support people on the ground in Ukraine who were being affected by the war. She struggled to discern how she could make an impact for good. She flew to Poland and started a volunteer-based mission at the border of Ukraine in conjunction with the Jewish Federation. She was there because she treasured the value of tikkun olam — she wanted to heal the world. In her recollections of some of the people she helped, she recounted the story of Nadezda, a 79-year-old Ukrainian Jewish woman. Ana helped Nadezda get out of Ukraine and into Israel, where she was able to celebrate Passover with her family. Ana felt like she was making a difference for the Jewish community of Ukraine. Still, darker days were on the horizon.
On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists unexpectedly invaded the southern region of Israel, the Gaza envelope, wreaking havoc on residents of Kibbutzim and attendees of an open-air music festival. Well over a thousand Israelis were murdered, while others were cruelly abused, abducted, and taken into the Gaza Strip. “It felt like a bullet to my stomach,” said Ana, “my other homeland is now at war.” In the face of this great tragedy, and despite the emotional and physical exhaustion such work would bring, Ana resolutely began to work with friends and colleagues to raise funds and provide help to Israeli families impacted by the attacks and subsequent war. “There is a long way ahead of us,” Ana admitted, “but together we can make a change.” Ending her address on a hopeful note, Ana declared that “the past two years have shown me: this is the power of the Federation, this is the power of community, this is the power of peoplehood!”
As I sat down with Ana after the event, I asked her what results she hoped to see from her time in Cincinnati. She hopes that this event will raise support and encourage deeper involvement in the Jewish Federation and Jewish life. When I asked her what she would say to non-Jewish people who see what is going on and want to know how they can help, she encouraged financial support, as well as reaching out to state and federal representatives asking them to work for the safety of the Jewish people. She also encouraged ongoing solidarity: “Don’t be shy, put up a flag, call out antisemitism and educate yourself and others on what it is and how to resist it.”
Although Ana’s story was the highlight of the Impact Breakfast, other speakers emphasized the work of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. The Board Chair, Josh Blatt, commended the Federation’s role in support of the Jewish community during this time of crisis in Israel, raising $4.5 million dollars for relief to Jewish communities. In large part, this fundraising was the work of the Federation’s campaign team, led by Bobby Fisher. Bobby has been involved with the Federation for over 40 years and says he works to “bring together various segments of the Jewish community for a common purpose.” As campaign chair for the Federation, he aims to raise awareness of what the Federation does and to spur involvement.
In my time with Chief Development Officer David Harris, he described how the Federation was able to quickly respond to the crisis in Israel. “We raised additional funds for enhanced security in Israel,” said David. “On November 14th,” he continued, “the Federation sent four buses and a full plane to the March for Israel in Washington, D.C.” Additionally, David reported that they were able to meet with Cincinnati City Council members within the first few weeks after the attack. They convened with local educators and answered questions like “What is antisemitism?” or “What is legitimate criticism of Israel?”
In her brief time before Ana’s ascent to the podium, Federation CEO Danielle Minson described Oct. 7 as “the worst day in Jewish history since the Holocaust.” After calling for a moment of silence, she talked about how, despite the rise in antisemitism since Oct. 7, more Jews are proudly “bearing the public marks of Judaism like never before.” She praised the enormous support the Federation has received since the beginning of the war in Israel and how funds are being allocated to help Jewish families and communities. With a rallying cry filled with hope and expectation, Danielle closed her time with, “this is the mission of our generation, and this is how we respond!”
