The S.F.-based Koret Foundation and Taube Philanthropies have launched an initiative focused on Jewish peoplehood, committing more than $50 million to the effort so far. The initiative supports capital projects, general operating support and Jewish cultural programs in the Bay Area, Poland and Israel.

  Long-range goals of the initiative are to explore the concept of Jewish peoplehood, deepen adult Jewish engagement and create a broader approach to cultural programming. To that end, the initiative supports local institutions such as Hillel, Chabad, the Taube Koret Campus for Jewish Life in Palo Alto, the Peninsula JCC and the JCC of San Francisco, and their programs that encourage innovative expressions of Jewish life.

The initiative also builds on the Taube Foundation’s Jewish Heritage Initiative in Poland, which creates cultural programs for the resurgent Jewish population in Poland and celebrates 1,000 years of Jewish culture there.

“The historical legacy of the Jewish people has undeniably served as the cornerstone of Western civilization,” said Koret Foundation president and Taube Philanthropies chairman Tad Taube. “Our collaborative peoplehood initiative explores and promotes programs which define Jewish peoplehood in the context of [these] cultural and historical influences on Jewish, Western and global cultures.”