Jewish Group Shifts Mission to Networking

A local Jewish fund-raising organization has changed its name and its mission: To reflect an increased emphasis on building western Ventura County’s Jewish community, the United Jewish Appeal of Western Ventura County has become the UJA Federation of Ventura County.

The title better identifies the 10-year-old nonprofit agency as not just a fund-raising group but also as a networking organization trying to coordinate programs with other west county Jewish groups, new Executive Director Eitan Ginsburg said.

Ginsburg said the west county’s Jewish community has grown significantly, pointing out that new congregations have formed in Camarillo and Ojai. More Jewish families are moving into the area, and those already in the area are increasingly affiliating with a Jewish organization, he said.

As a result of the growth, funds raised by the federation have doubled to more than $200,000 a year, Ginsburg said. About half of the funds are used to support west county Jewish groups and events, while the rest is sent to Israel and Jewish communities overseas.

Cindy Wolfsohn, a board member of the new Jewish congregation in Camarillo, said that as word about that group spread, members discovered many longtime Jewish residents who had not socialized and worshiped together.

“I call us the closet Jews,” she said. “We’ve been around but haven’t had a place in Camarillo where we can meet and worship and educate our children.”

Rabbi Michael Berk of Temple Beth Torah in Ventura agreed that the western county is seeing some growth in its Jewish population. But even more, he said, there has been a jump in the numbers of longtime residents identifying themselves with Jewish groups.

In the three years he has served as the temple’s rabbi, Berk said, there has been a small but consistent net growth by about 50 to 60 members.

Ginsburg said his agency is focusing more money and efforts on the local community. “We’re trying to strengthen the Jewish community,” Ginsburg said. “We want people to affiliate. A lot of Jews don’t affiliate with any synagogue, organization. They’re there, they know they’re Jewish, but they don’t identify themselves to the community.”

The new Ojai congregation--the Jewish Community of the Oaks--offers both social gatherings and religious services. Its president, David R. Feigin, said he has met dozens of Jews who have moved to the Ojai Valley, especially from Los Angeles, through his work as a realtor. Many of those Jews had been yearning for more chances to gather, he said.

“There are about 20 churches, I believe, in the Ojai area, and there was no place for Jewish people to get together,” he said.