Starting a new community is not easy, but it is something that Nachshon Rodrigues Pereira has learnt a lot about, and he has a successful model for how to do it. Nachshon is 32 years old, lives in Amsterdam and three and a half years ago founded a new synagogue called Bendigamos, which is the youngest and fastest-growing Jewish community in the Netherlands. Based in Amsterdam and with deep roots in the Spanish-Portuguese tradition, Nachshon and a small group of friends decided to reach out to those who had left the traditional synagogues, but were looking for connection and community.

Despite recent headlines, and ongoing challenges faced by Jews and Jewish communities in Europe, Jewish life is thriving in many places, fulfilling to those who are engaged, and a phenomenon very much of the present.

Read the full article by Dani Serlin, Yesod Director, published on eJewish Philanthropy to see what we’ve learned from the hundreds of professionals we’ve engaged to date and the areas we can help them flourish and make our communities stronger.