October 28, 2025
Two years ago, when Hamas murdered 1,200 and kidnapped 251 Israelis and foreign nationals, the reality for leaders of Jewish organizations around the United States suddenly transformed. They now had to manage day-to-day business, meet their missions and navigate the impact of the trauma of the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on their staff, including the steady stream of media coverage and increased antisemitism.
In the weeks immediately following Oct. 7, 2023, many organizational leaders held workplace discussions for staff to express their anger, fear and sorrow, often designating these as safe spaces for processing the trauma. While these conversations were initiated with good intentions, some professionals found themselves vulnerable to the political expectations of senior leaders and colleagues. In some cases, staff who spoke candidly on social media and in communal spaces about perspectives on the war that diverged from their team members and leadership encountered social repercussions in the workplace, ultimately weakening staff culture.
Up close to true terror, in those early weeks and months it was trauma, not best-in-class conflict management skills, which often drove Jewish nonprofit team dialogues. Since the start of the war, Jewish nonprofit professionals have been convened and trained. We have listened intently to keynote discussions. Sometimes we have been told to attend events, what to think, how to feel, even what we can say out loud. An enormous amount of communal and cultural pressure is placed upon the shoulders of Jewish professionals. As a result of these factors, in both the public and private sphere, our organizations, leaders and colleagues continue to work under tension, disagreement and pain.
Colleagues have shared with me that with the passage of more than two years and the opportunity for reflection, many wish for a post-Oct. 7 “do-over” regarding some leadership decisions. Even in organizations led by the most intentional and compassionate leaders, the workplace is never a completely “safe space” because it is always infused with power dynamics. It is an enormous risk to ask colleagues what they really think and feel about issues most close to our souls, just as it is an enormous risk sometimes to answer those questions honestly. It’s not the ranking leaders but the staff who are exposed to the greatest level of professional and social risk when speaking their truth.
In a recent article in eJewishPhilanthropy, I shared my approach to supporting my team during these unprecedented times. As the CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative, I chose not to invite an open staff discussion about the Israel-Hamas War. I knew that a diversity of perspectives exists on my team, as it does in the Jewish community at large and the general population. Openly sharing views about the war could have vastly different personal and professional outcomes for staff who express concern or critique of Israel. Instead, I made sure that we remained laser-focused on our work and took care of ourselves and our community.
Respecting our work and having an ethos of care bind my entire team. It’s why we all chose to be professionals under the same organizational roof. When we did discuss the rippling impacts of the Oct. 7 attacks, I leveraged skills and tools to best enable constructive dialogue, regardless of individual viewpoints. Staff needed time to process and reflect on what was occurring internationally, domestically, professionally and among family and friends. In line with best practices, the JoCI dedicated space and resources toward this end outside of work, as we do year-round for any personal or global trauma a team member experiences: encouraging staff to take penalty-free time away from work for self-care, and for the long, often emotional and pointed conversations that help process feelings; and leveraging the wisdom of Jewish holidays like Tu B’Shvat to close the office and support staff connection with nature and community.
Here are three things I did to strengthen this preexisting support infrastructure, all of which can be adapted to diverse and dynamic leadership contexts:
First, I asked my staff what they needed — or needed me to understand — to get through the unbearable time. I conveyed respect for and acknowledgement of the scope and scale of what they were expected to carry — all while they work tirelessly in service to the field and, in some cases, represent the Jewish People. We have asked staff to assume enormous burdens as part of a job. Health insurance-supported therapy and ample sick, personal and organizational down time are essential for staff to reflect on and process all they experience beyond the formal scope of their roles.
Second, fully-funded professional and personal development opportunities to grow, reflect, study and train have been highly valued by staff, board, board committees, grantees and leaders. Spertus Institute and their expertise in Jewish leadership, Resetting the Table and their trainings on facilitating compassionate dialogue, and text study with Jewish Learning Collaborative gave leaders the strategies, courage, confidence, mentorship and connections to strengthen partnerships and deepen relationships across divides.
Third, it is vital that staff have the space, freedom and safety to not have to prove where, and to what degree, their loyalties lie. Jewish professionals can hold a range of political perspectives — even multiple conflicting ones simultaneously. Some in our own community adopted the “Israel affection” litmus test, the opposite of which many Jewish colleagues are forced to pass in non-Jewish workplaces. Others adopted an “empathy litmus test,” pitting one people’s suffering against another. We must resist adopting divisive strategies as a way to create a false sense of safety, security and cohesion.
By implementing the staff-centered actions above, rather than focusing on identifying individual opinions held by staff, we tend to the core needs of our whole team. Our employee satisfaction survey tells us that after Oct. 7, 2023, the Jews of Color Initiative team is stronger — more unified in our collective identity and feeling a greater sense of professional pride. Group retreats and professional growth experiences provided powerful opportunities for staff connection, organizational belonging and personal achievement — vital for strengthening the sense of self, team and community during such an unsettling time.
It is a blessing that Jewish communal professionals choose this field. We have to ensure that work can be just work and energy focused on the mission and never “gotcha” scenarios. Our incredible colleagues enable the Jewish People to thrive, and our role as leaders is to help sustain their professional efforts and their commitment to Jewish community.
This piece was originally published in eJewishPhilanthropy.