Investing in Tomorrow’s Leaders: The Rabbi Jonathan Blake Endowment Fund

In the summer of 1995, a 21-year-old named Jonathan Blake arrived in Israel for the first time. He had never set foot in the country before. Just two weeks out of college, he was about to begin his first year of rabbinical school at Hebrew Union College's campus in the heart of Jerusalem.

Thirty years later, Rabbi Jonathan Blake is one of the most respected Reform rabbis in America-Senior Rabbi of Westchester Reform Temple (WRT) in Scarsdale, New York, spiritual leader to more than 1,000 households, and a mentor to dozens of Hebrew Union College interns and clergy.

And now, in honor of his 25th year in the rabbinate, his name graces the Rabbi Jonathan Blake Endowment Fund, dedicated to supporting students in the College's Year-In-Israel (YII) program, providing tuition assistance so that emerging Jewish leaders can devote themselves fully to their first year of study in Jerusalem.

A Year That Changed Everything

Hebrew Union College is the only progressive Jewish seminary that requires all North American rabbinical and cantorial students to spend a full academic year at its Jerusalem campus. During the YII program, students strengthen their Hebrew, study with exceptional Israel-based faculty, immerse themselves in Jewish culture in Israel and abroad, and experience the rhythms of Jewish life and the Jewish calendar firsthand. It is a program designed to cultivate Ahavat Yisrael, love of Israel and its people.

For Rabbi Blake, the YII was not simply a required academic year-it was the foundation of his identity as a Jewish leader.

"I think that without my Year-In- Israel experience, I would be spiritually and intellectually and morally impoverished as a Jewish person and as a rabbi," he reflected recently. "Hebrew Union College really was my ambassador in creating a relationship with the Jewish state that has been strengthened over much time."

He arrived in Jerusalem as the Oslo peace process was still alive with hope, bearing witness in his first months to both the optimism and the fragility of that moment. He mourned the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in November 1995 and stood in solidarity with the Israeli people through a wave of terror attacks the following winter and spring. Those formative experiences deepened his commitment to Israel-a commitment that has only intensified in the time since October 7, 2023.

Why Now, and Why This

When Rabbi Blake and the team at Hebrew Union College began discussing how to mark his 25th anniversary since ordination, the choice of what to link his name to was not difficult. "Doing this while the war in Gaza was continuing and amidst the ongoing surge in global antisemitism made a pretty compelling case on its face for linking the campaign to the College's Year-In-Israel program," he explained.

"For me, and I think for generations of rabbis, both before and after me, the Year-In-Israel program has proved instrumental in helping to forge a Zionist identity-an identity as a Jew and as a rabbi that holds a central and cherished place for Israel."

That sense of urgency is also grounded in a sober assessment of the future. Rabbi Blake believes that the YII program is not merely a formative experience-it is a strategic necessity. "At this critical time for Jewish leaders to have a strong and foundational understanding of and connection to the Jewish state," he said, "supporters of the endowment can have a hand in strengthening emerging rabbis' relationship with Israel." And he argues that connection to Israel must go hand in hand with the broader project of sustaining non-Orthodox Judaism: "There is no future for Judaism and the Jewish People without the Jewish State; and the Jewish State ought to reflect the remarkable diversity of the global Jewish community."

The Need Is Real

The endowment addresses a concrete and growing challenge. Students in YII do not hold jobs during their year in Jerusalem, and the program has relied heavily on annual fundraising and unrestricted dollars, making it difficult to plan for faculty investments and program growth. The costs for the year, including tuition, fees, and living expenses, total close to $70,000. For many students, the financial burden is significant, layered on top of growing undergraduate loan debt.

The Rabbi Jonathan Blake Endowment Fund, which raised more than $600,000 in its first year, is designed to change that equation permanently, providing a reliable, lasting source of support that allows students to focus on their academic and spiritual development, and that gives the program the stability to continue attracting the best and brightest future leaders.

A Community That Showed Up

The campaign was made possible in large part by a dedicated host committee-members of WRT who stepped forward not just out of affection and admiration for their rabbi, but also out of genuine conviction about the cause. Larry and Celia Brown, Marcy Harris, and Samantha Saperstein were among those who helped bring the effort to their fellow congregants, introducing friends and community members to Hebrew Union College's mission at a moment when that mission feels more vital than ever.

Marcy Harris, a past president of WRT who has served in multiple lay leadership roles and is currently a member of the College's Board of Governors, was the first to approach Rabbi Blake with the idea. Watching graduation ceremonies over the years, and seeing the conferring of doctorates to those who are celebrating their 25th anniversary, made her leap immediately to what a good fundraising opportunity this posed.

She is part of a long tradition at Westchester Reform Temple of lay leaders whose service to the congregation becomes a launchpad for sustained engagement with the broader Reform movement-including Hebrew Union College itself. "We have had a generations-long tradition of WRT lay leaders supporting Hebrew Union College," Rabbi Blake noted. "WRT is kind of their gateway to deepening their Jewish volunteer leadership in a way that supports the whole movement, not just this one special congregation."

As Harris puts it, "For years at WRT, we'd see new clergy come through and we'd get to know them, connect with them, and just when we thought it couldn't get any better, it would. And at a certain point, I said, 'where do all these amazing young clergy come from?' And it was Hebrew Union College."

The Browns came to the host committee from a slightly different path. Larry Brown emphasized that this was about a rabbi they respected and loved. "Jonathan says jump. The only question I have is how high or how far. And if we have an opportunity to help someone we adore, in something that is important to him, we're pretty much all in." Celia added that "doing good and seeing someone who you care deeply about building his legacy is its own reward."

A Great Start-and a Continuing Commitment

Rabbi Blake is characteristically clear-eyed about what the campaign has achieved-and what remains to be done. "I would describe the campaign we undertook last year as a great start," he said. "But we're nowhere near done with this."

His hope is that the endowment will serve as more than a fund-it will be an ongoing invitation. He envisions the Blake Fund as a place where congregants, friends, and family can direct meaningful gifts in lieu of birthday presents; where inspired colleagues might be moved to create similar campaigns honoring their own milestones; and where the broader community of WRT can deepen its relationship with an institution that Rabbi Blake describes as "a rudder in an often rudderless Jewish world."

He is particularly gratified that the campaign has introduced dozens of congregants to Hebrew Union College in a new and meaningful way. "Previously, the College had only been a point of reference on my resume or in sermonic storytelling," he said. "Pulling back the curtain on the institution itself and its mission-critical work right now-I think we have to keep doing that."

At its heart, Rabbi Blake frames the endowment as a bet on the future-on the students who will carry the torch of progressive Judaism forward, who will serve communities through challenges none of us can yet foresee, and who will do so with a deep, firsthand knowledge of and love for the Jewish state. "Non-investment in Jewish leadership in the future," he said plainly, "is an investment in our failure."

For a rabbi who arrived in Jerusalem thirty years ago with a suitcase, a great deal of curiosity, and no prior experience of Israel-and who has spent the decades since building one of the most vibrant Reform congregations in the country-the endowment is both a tribute and a promise: that the transformative journey he took in 1995 will remain available to the Jewish leaders of tomorrow.

To discuss a gift to the Rabbi Jonathan Blake Endowment Fund at Hebrew Union College, contact James Gurland, Director of Advancement, at [email protected] or (973) 873-8583.

See more photos from Rabbi Blake and his Year-In-Israel cohort from 1995.