Karen Perlman remembers it well: hiding at the top of the stairs watching her parents, Ron and Barbara Kaufman, host a “parlor meeting” for the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation.
At the time, Karen and her two siblings were more interested in the two guests flirting at the refreshment table and the potential for leftovers than the dollars pledged. But something about the party (a then-common way to get people committed to donating to the federation’s annual campaign) stayed with her.
Today, following in her parents’ footsteps, Perlman is heavily involved with the federation. She currently serves as secretary of the board of directors, among other activities.
Jeff Zlot also learned to appreciate the federation from a young age. It didn’t take a specific conversation — Jewish community involvement was simply a given.
“Both my mom and dad were active in the Jewish community and they led by example,” Zlot recalls.
“There wasn’t a formal introduction. It was just part of what went on in the family,” explains his father, Harold.
In fact, if Jewish community involvement is in the blood, both families can lay claim to having the genes. Harold and his wife Mary, and Ron and Barbara say they all grew up in households where the tzedakah box was part of the décor and Jewish community participation was omnipresent.
In Tucson, where Ron grew up, his dad chaired the United Jewish Appeal campaign, as did Harold’s dad in Vallejo. In turn, the two took on a variety of challenges as federation leaders, and both served as president of the organization. And now the involvement genes are alive and well in their progeny.
After graduating from college, Perlman connected with the federation’s Young Adults Division, and soon joined the board. When her career path took her to other cities, “federation was always my connection,” she says.
Back in the Bay Area and married with children, Perlman is a member of the national federation system’s Young Leadership Cabinet, and has developed a network of like-minded people around the country, relationships she cherishes.
“It’s more than friendship,” she says. “It’s a special bond among people with shared values and a shared commitment to the long-term survival of our Jewish community.”
And, she adds, “When our kids go off to college, I know there will a place for them to go for the holidays.”
When Zlot discovered an interest in giving back some 15 years ago, he looked to the federation and Fed Fellows, a leadership training program for young adults.
The program included in-depth information about the federation system and its beneficiary agencies, and a chance to participate as an observer on an agency board. “It was a great platform to learn about the opportunities that were available,” he remembers.
Zlot, who is now an at-large member of the federation board, was instrumental in creating a vehicle through the federation’s endowment fund to welcome and engage interfaith families in the Jewish community. “It’s incumbent upon us to see that they feel included,” he says.
Today he is vice chair of the Business Leadership Council, a group that offers topical programs, networking and mentorship for young Jews in the business world.
The group, he says, has “created a buzz in the community. It’s a terrific way to get people active and involved.”
Zlot and Perlman are part of a cadre of next-generation leaders, the younger adults who have stepped up to fill the roles that their parents once filled. But, Zlot says, this is not their fathers’ federation. At least, not exactly.
“Our parents’ generation felt it was their obligation. We can’t make that assumption any more,” Zlot says. “There are so many ways to be involved philanthropically. We need to make sure our message resonates with young people today.”
For Perlman, ensuring Jewish survival is one aspect of her work with the federation — she and her husband, Brian, both are active with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and Brian serves on the federation’s Israel and Overseas Committee. But it’s also important to focus on capacity building and funding strategically, she adds.
“Right now, we’re celebrating our first 100 years, and the federation is in the midst of redefining who we’ll be for the next century,” Perlman says. “It’s kind of poetic.”