Participants at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation of Greater Monmouth County celebrated the year's accomplishments and heeded a guest speaker's warning that future Jewish commitment will demand a renewed emphasis on Jewish "peoplehood."

Federation president Bob St. Lifer thanked supporters at the June 20 event, held at the federation's headquarters in Deal, for helping the federation achieve many of its goals.

Those attainments include endowments that grew to over $5,943,000, a Main Event women's fund-raiser that raised over $310,000 from 180 participants, and a Walk for Israel that drew more than 1,000 people.

The guest speaker was Max Kleinman, executive vice president of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, which, as the largest federation in the state, serves Essex and Morris counties.

Kleinman warned that klal Yisrael, or Jewish peoplehood, is eroding among younger members of the Jewish community, but awareness and education may reverse the trend.

"Klal Yisrael has always been inextricably linked to our religious faith and identity as an ethnic group," said Kleinman. "Certainly, the Holocaust taught us that our fate as Jews is the same, irrespective of our faith or lack thereof. Jews are unique, in the words of Martin Buber, because we have been 'both a nation and a religious community.'"

And yet among many young people, six decades after the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel, do not readily identify with the country or global Jewish concerns.

The reinforcement of peoplehood, then, will require an affirmative commitment by Jewish religious movements to emphasize the collectivity of the Jewish people and to encourage their involvement in the larger Jewish community, Kleinman said.

"And there are existing opportunities that inspire klal Yisrael, such as birthright israel" — cost-free trips to Israel offered to young Jews — "celebration of the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the Soviet Jewry movement, and the 20th anniversary of the Washington, DC, rally that helped open the gates for Jews to leave the Soviet Union," he said. "Our celebration of these events reinforces the notion that, collectively, we can literally achieve miracles."

The 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel presents another opportunity to showcase Israel's achievements in medicine, technology, business, and culture, Kleinman said.

"We should ensure that Israel in 2008 is at the center of our Jewish peoplehood efforts," he said. "And we must galvanize our efforts, just as we have done for Darfur, in confronting the Iranian issue as the ominous issue of our time. Our Jewish communities must unite to effectively engage this important agenda, building upon coalitions woven for Darfur and other social action agenda items."

Jewish federations, families, agencies, synagogues, and organizations must help impart the message, he added.

"The glory of Jewish peoplehood cannot be imposed from above, but must be taught, person by person," said Kleinman. "Clearly, we all have a role to play. While we should never be uniform, we must be united in confronting the essential challenges facing the Jewish people conceptually and in deeds."