The pro-Israel community continues to grow, particularly in the South. The Birmingham Jewish Federation, in partnership with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other institutions, such as the Israeli Consulate, continues to reach out to friends who aren't Jewish to partner with them in supporting Israel.

In March 2010, as part of this ongoing outreach effort, The BJF's Director of Community Relations Joyce Spielberger accompanied 25 Alabama college students, most of whom were not Jewish, to AIPAC's national policy conference in Washington DC.

It was at that conference that she became acquainted with the work of the Vanguard Leadership Group, an honor society and leadership development program for top minority students at Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College.

PASSION & ENERGY

A significant number of members of the Vanguard Leadership Group were in attendance at the conference and Joyce was amazed by the passion and energy they committed to the exact same challenges our BJF and Jewish community were also confronting at the time. As a group, these young leaders from the African-American community had already confronted the threat of a nuclear Iran and the biased portrayal of Israel in the media. They had taken these issues on -- head on.

As an outgrowth of our connecting with this group, The BJF's Jewish Community Relations Coalition will bring to Birmingham two founding members of the Vanguard Leadership Group from Atlanta, Darius Jones and Jarrod Jordan. They will speak at a breakfast program, Tues., Nov. 8th, at 7:30 am in the Levite Jewish Community Center board room. As college students, Darius and Jarrod created Vanguard Leadership Group to respond to, in their words, "an urgent need in the Black community; the demand for a new generation of leaders to emerge, possessed of a more expansive and inclusive world view."

Their topic will be "Leveraging a Resurgent Relationship: Impacting the Future Together," as they discuss their pioneering work and how the African-American and Jewish communities can channel the natural synergies that exist between our two communities to work together as effective pro-Israel activists.

Darius currently works as AIPAC'S Southeast Regional Outreach Director. In this position, he is responsible for identifying, educating and empowering existing and emerging leaders from the African-American community to become advocates for a strong US/Israel relationship. As his bio states, Darius has a "passionate commitment to bringing the best and brightest individuals from the African-American and Jewish communities together in order to improve this nation and the world we all share."

Jarrod is the Executive Director of the Vanguard Leadership Group. In the fall of 2008, he led an effort by the group to urge the City of Atlanta to divest any monies in their pension fund from companies doing business in the energy sectors in Iran and Sudan. It is believed that Atlanta is the first major municipality in the US to take such a stand against both regimes.

The Nov. 8th breakfast program is open to the community. Please RSVP to BJF Projects Assistant Samantha Dubrinsky at samd@bjf.org or 205.803.1511.

OTHER APPEARANCES

In addition, Darius and Jarrod will be speaking at Temple Emanu-El at 5:30 pm on Monday, Nov. 7th to The Birmingham Jewish Foundation's Teen Tzedakah group and area college students. This program also is open to the community. They also will speak to You Belong in Birmingham participants at a Connect and Network (CAN) luncheon on Tuesday, underwritten by The Birmingham Jewish Foundation's Candy and Ed Meyerson Fund.

Tuesday evening, The BJF has helped arranged for them to speak at a campus-wide program at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The program will be hosted by Alabama Friends of Israel. The BJF helps fund this organization.

Everyday in so many ways, The BJF and its Jewish Community Relations Coalition reach out to friends and allies throughout our region, bringing people of different faiths and backgrounds together around common causes including US support for Israel. As always, we thank those who contribute to our BJF Annual Campaign. Your dollars provide the staffing, funding and organizational structure that allow us to do this important work.

Photo is of Darius Jones, left, and Jarrod Jordan each accepting the Jonathan Barkan Israel Advocacy Award at the AIPAC Southeast Conference in 2009. The award is given annually to an individual in Atlanta, under the age of 40, who has demonstrated extraordinary commitment to Israel.