National Center to Encourage Judaism

**Our Goal** Welcoming New People to Judaism Unlike virtually every other world religion, Jews traditionally do not proselytize nor does Judaism encourage conversion or even make it an easy process. However today, with increasing assimilation and intermarriage and many Jewish families delaying having children and having fewer of them, the percentage of people identifying as Jewish is shrinking rapidly. So, for Judaism to survive we believe it must step up efforts to educate non-Jews on how Judaism differs from other religions and how they can benefit from being Jewish. Learn more about our grants. Judaism will survive only by reaching out to non-Jews and Jews alike, by making every effort to “welcome the stranger into our midst”, and clearly communicating what Judaism has to offer. We need to be willing to “blow our own Shofar!” Our Grant Funding Goals: - Help people get the tools to build the type of Jewish home that has meaning for them. - Provide the resources for groups to promote their programs to a wider audience. - Enable people who are interested in exploring Judaism find a place in their local Jewish community. NCEJ funds programs worldwide that are geared towards people who do not identify as Jewish, to engage, educate, and help connect them with Judaism. **Our Mission** The National Center to Encourage Judaism (NCEJ) is a private foundation that funds efforts worldwide to attract more new people to Judaism. Our primary objective is to help Judaism grow by encouraging conversion and helping those in interfaith marriages see the benefits of raising their children as Jews. To meet this objective, NCEJ offers grants to synagogues and other Jewish nonprofits for programs geared primarily to those who do not identify as Jewish, such as Judaism 101, conversion classes, and similar courses. Additionally, we want to increase connections to local Jewish communities and give people the tools to help them build vibrant Jewish homes. See examples of marketing materials funded by NCEJ. Recently we have expanded our grant-giving and the types of programs we fund while keeping our mission the same. "The National Center to Encourage Judaism is committed to creating avenues for people to explore Judaism and find a home in the Jewish community." — JDC: JCC Budapest & JCC Riga **Our History** Our foundation began in 1981 as the National Center for Understanding Judaism by Ash and Gloria Gerecht of Silver Spring, MD, later changing its name to NCEJ in 1994. The Gerechts founded the organization to encourage synagogues to grow membership by reaching out to non-Jews in their community. For over 35 years, NCEJ has provided Jewish organizations throughout the U.S. and abroad with hundreds of grants, primarily to offset the cost of advertising “Introduction to Judaism” classes, holiday workshops, and other such programs. We also sent out the Jewish Proclaimer. This was a quarterly newsletter, to synagogues nationwide, showing how our grants were being used, and highlighting successful programs. The hope was to encourage more synagogues to offer these types of programs, thereby increasing engagement and eventually the number of Jews by Choice. The foundation has also funded a number of initiatives, including the Gerecht Family Institute for Outreach at Hebrew Union College in New York. This HUC program is designed to help future rabbis and cantors at HUC become more aware of the importance of encouraging both outreach and conversion to Judaism.