What We Are Building Together

As the Jewish New Year approaches, I can’t help but think about where I was this time last year.

I was just beginning to explore the possibility of leading Shalom Orlando. From the beginning, it felt deeply personal. This is my hometown community. After spending more than 15 years living in Israel, Orlando is the place my family and I returned to after the October 7 attacks. It is where my husband and I are raising our two children, building our lives together, and learning in a very real way just how much community matters.

That was a big part of why I accepted the position of CEO.

Nearly nine months later, this role means something different to me.

I have watched our Jewish community come together in ways that make me incredibly hopeful. Our events are growing. More people want to get involved, connect, volunteer, and make a difference. This summer, Camp J grew by more than 20 percent, but what stayed with me most was watching children ask to come back another week. They had friends here. They were known here. They belonged here.

That feeling of belonging is at the heart of the vision we are building for Jewish Orlando in 2030.

Our vision is bigger than building a stronger JCC. It is about helping build a stronger, more connected Jewish Orlando. A community with more pathways in, more reasons to stay connected, and more opportunities to find meaning, friendship, joy, learning, support, and purpose at every stage of life.

We want Shalom Orlando to be a community in which people want to be actively involved. One where young families plant roots, children grow up surrounded by Jewish life, young adults find their people, older adults remain connected and engaged, and newcomers feel at home.

And that brings me to our name: Shalom Orlando.

Shalom is one of the first words we use to welcome someone. That is what I want Shalom Orlando to represent, not simply a building or an organization, but an open door into Jewish community. A place where you are welcomed. Where you are known. Where you can find your people and know that you belong.

The High Holidays ask us each year to think not only about who we have been, but about who we want to become. I find myself asking that same question about our community.

What kind of Jewish Orlando do we want to become by 2030? My hope is that we answer that question together.

Shana Tova,

– Marni Mandell, CEO of Shalom Orlando