Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County history

1980: The first independent “South County” campaign raises more than $900,000, as the burgeoning Jewish population rises to 37,000.

1982: Lion of Judah Women’s program begins in South Palm Beach County.

1983: The Adolph & Rose Levis Jewish Community Center is established and becomes the Federation’s third funded local agency.

1984: The Federation moves to its first free-standing “home,” the new, six-acre Baer Campus on Spanish River Boulevard in Boca Raton, as the Jewish population rises to 62,000.

1987: JARC (Jewish Association for Residential Care) becomes the fourth Federation-funded local agency and opens its first group home for adults with developmental disabilities — the Barry Clayman House.

1989: Jewish Family Service is dedicated as Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service by Norman Rales in honor of his late wife.

1994: The Lion of Judah Endowment Program is created to recognize women who have established a minimum endowment of $100,000. (Our Federation has long counted the largest number of Lion of Judah Endowments in the nation.)

1995: The Federation acquires 55 additional acres of land to the north of the existing Siemens Campus.

1996: Results of a Federation-commissioned study confirm a burgeoning Jewish population of 116,000, with a particularly rapid rising growth rate among seniors.

Partnership 2000 (later renamed Partnership 2Gether) begins to build relationships with Sister City Kiryat Bialik, a growing community north of Haifa, through educational, professional, teen and women’s exchanges.

2003: JFSPBC is named one of the top 15 Jewish Federations in the United States by the prestigious Chronicle of Philanthropy newspaper.

2005: Results from the area’s first major Jewish population study in a decade shows a population of over 131,000 Jews (doubling its size in 20 years) in South Palm Beach County.

2006: Hurricane Wilma causes $1 million in damages to the Federation campus and results in greatly increased needs within the community.

2007: Toby Weinman Palchik names the Federation's Center for Jewish Philanthropy with a $1 million gift.

2008: Dorothy Seaman names our Federation’s Women's Philanthropy Department with a $1 million gift.

2009: JFSPBC’s comprehensive Senior Study documents considerable unmet needs of local seniors, and recommends ways to address to address gaps in services.

2010: The Ketubah Society is launched to recognize the generosity of those whose cumulative gifts to the Federation total $1 million or more.

2011: With a gift from the Pechter Family Foundation, Jack and Marilyn Pechter name our Federation's Local Safety Net Services Giving Center in honor of Jack's parents Sarah and Max.

2012: Jewish Community Foundation's new Create a Jewish Legacy campaign quickly engages 15 inaugural local synagogues, schools and agency partners to strengthen the future of our Jewish community.

2013: The Business & Professional (B&P) Division is reestablished, quickly becoming the place to be for premium learning and networking among residents in a wide array of fields.

2014: Building begins on Sinai Residences of Boca Raton, a state-of-the-art Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC) on 22 acres of previously unused Federation land.

2015: The Ted and Barbara Wolk Spa and Fitness Center at Sinai Residences of Boca Raton is named with the Wolks’ $1 million gift.

2016: Sinai Residences of Boca Raton opens on the Federation’s north campus with 650,000 square feet of state-of-the-art senior living.

2017: The state-of-the-art luxury Continuing Care Retirement Community on the Federation campus is named the Toby and Leon Cooperman Sinai Residences of Boca Raton, recognizing the couple’s transformative generosity to the community including their recent $10 million endowment.

2018: A delegation including six diverse local rabbis travels to Israel to accept the prestigious international Jerusalem Unity Prize on behalf of Federation and the Jewish community at President Reuven Rivlin’s residence.

2019: Federation celebrates 40 years of Growing.

2020: Federation raises nearly $1 million in emergency funds to address unprecedented community needs in the COVID-19 crisis.