Jewish Community Centers of Chicago
Jewish Community Center logo
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| Predecessor | Hebrew Young Men's Literary Association Young Men's Hebrew Association (YMHA) Jewish Welfare Board |
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| Founded | 1854 |
| Founded at | Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Purpose | promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, Israel-related programming, and Jewish education |
| Headquarters | 520 Eighth Avenue New York City |
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Region
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North America |
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CEO
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Doron Krakow |
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Parent organization
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JCC Association |
| Website | www |
A Jewish Community Center or Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, Israel-related programming, and Jewish education. However, they are open to everyone in the community.
The JCC Association is the continental umbrella organization for the Jewish Community Center movement, which includes more than 350 JCCs, YM-YWHAs, and camp sites in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to 180 local JCCs in the Former Soviet Union, 70 in Latin America, 50 in Europe, and close to 500 smaller centres in Israel.
The Hebrew Young Men's Literary Association was first set up in 1854 in Baltimore, Maryland to provide help for Jewish immigrants.
The first YMHA (Young Men's Hebrew Association) was founded in New York City in 1874, its first president being Lewis May. The first official headquarters were the Harvard Rooms, located at 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue. A YWHA (Young Women's Hebrew Association) was first established as an annex to the YMHA in 1888. The New York YMHA and YWHA now operate together as the 92nd Street Y. (Another New York YM-YWHA, unrelated to the 92nd Street location, is called the 14th Street Y, located in the Gramercy/East Village neighborhood.)
The first independent YWHA was set up in 1902. In 1917 these organizations were combined into a Jewish Welfare Board, and were later renamed Jewish Community Centers (or JCCs), though some retain the YWHA or YMHA designation. In the New York City area, many retained the designation (or simply the term "Y" like the 92nd Street Y still does today) into the 1990s.
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Wikipedia