So you think you know a lot about our Federation? Take this quiz and find out. Answers at bottom.

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer

1. The Federation’s original name in 1910 was:
a. The Jewish Community Council
b. The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton
c. The Federation of Jewish Charities of Dayton
d. Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Dayton

2. Which of the following was not one of the Federation’s first beneficiaries:
a. Jewish Orphan Asylum, Cleveland
b. National Jewish Hospital for Consumptives, Denver
c. The Babetta Schwartz Sewing Guild
d. Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society

3. The Federation Ladies Auxiliary’s first fund-raising activity, in 1914, was the sale of:
a. Prayer shawls
b. Sabbath candles
c. Burial shrouds
d. Challah

4. In the 1920s and ‘30s, the Federation’s Jewish Community Center at 59 Green St. was run by:
a. Miriam Rosenthal
b. Jane Fisher
c. Harriet Sanders
d. Rae Burick

5. Which of the following activities was not offered at the Jewish Community Center at 59 Green St.:
a. Fishing
b. Scouting
c. Citizenship Training
d. Hebrew language

6. Who was the guest speaker at the United Jewish Campaign’s 1948 emergency drive:
a. Eddie Cantor
b. Franklin Roosevelt Jr.
c. Golda Meir
d. George Jessel

7. Which major overseas entity has Dayton’s United Jewish Campaign continuously funded since 1936:
a. Council of Jewish Federations
b. The Jewish Agency for Israel
c. Joint Distribution Committee
d. B’nai B’rith

8. The Federation purchased 54 acres of land in Trotwood for the site of a Jewish community center in what year:
a. 1955
b. 1956
c. 1960
d. 1961

9. In 1958, the Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council issued a statement on desegregation that:
a. Stated it supported the view of the Supreme Court
b. Agreed to support the consensus of the general community
c. Endorsed desegregation and fair housing
d. Urged patience and care in resolving the issue

10. If you lived in Dayton in the 1940s through ‘70s, the term “JCC” referred to
a. The Jewish Community Center
b. The Jewish Community Council
c. The Jewish Community Campaign
d. The Jewish Jaycees

11. The Federation’s first mission to Israel took place in:
a. 1955
b. 1958
c. 1960
d. 1963

12. For the 1967 Six-Day War, the Federation’s Emergency Campaign raised:
a. $750,000
b. $1.1 million
c. $900,000
d. $3 million

13. To ensure the success of that emergency campaign, the Federation postponed its campaign to build:
a. A Jewish Community Center
b. Covenant House
c. An indoor pool
d. A & B

14. The name of the 1990-91 campaign that brought to Dayton nearly 200 Jews from the former Soviet Union was:
a. Operation Magic Carpet
b. Operation Moses
c. Operation Exodus
d. Operation Solomon

15. The first woman to serve as president of the Federation was:
a. Miriam Rosenthal
b. Rae Burick
c. Barbara Sanderow
d. Sylvia Siegle

16. Through the Jewish Agency’s Partnership With Israel program, Dayton’s Federation has been paired since 1996 with:
a. The Western Galilee
b. Holon
c. Haifa
d. The Negev

17. The original name of The Dayton Jewish Observer was:
a. The Dayton Jewish Chronicle
b. The Dayton Jewish Voice
c. The Dayton Jewish Advocate
d. The Federation News

18. In what year did the Federation first report a trend for Jewish families to live in the suburbs south of Dayton:
a. 1983
b. 1986
c. 1975
d. 1991

19. The new name of the Federation Women’s Campaign is:
a. Women’s Giving
b. Lion of Judah
c. Women of Valor
d. Women’s Philanthropy for Tzedakah

Answers

1: c. The Federation has endured two name changes over the years, but that’s the original on the charter and in the first minutes.

2: d. The Federation’s most immediate needs were to take care of local Jews; orphans went to Cleveland, those with tuberculosis to Denver. Beginning in the 1926, the Federation started allocating funds to HIAS.

3: c. Mortality rates were much higher a century ago, particularly because of tuberculosis. Those whose families couldn’t afford to purchase a shroud received it free.

4: b. Jane Fisher ran the activities, which focused on Americanization of immigrants. Miriam Rosenthal served in the 1930s as executive secretary of the United Jewish Council, which ran the United Jewish Campaign as a separate entity from the Federation. Harriet Sanders and her husband, Nathan, were major donors to the Federation from the ‘20s through the ‘60s. Rae Burick, wife of Dayton Daily News sportswriter Si Burick, was an active volunteer with the Federation.

5: d. The synagogues were responsible for children’s Hebrew instruction; in the 1930s, they would combine their efforts, with funding from the United Jewish Council. For fishing, the kids dug a pond in the backyard of 59 Green St.

6: c. Golda Meir, then Golda Myerson, was the only woman in Israel’s provisional government. During Israel’s War of Independence, she crisscrossed the United States, raising money for the new Jewish state. Eddie Cantor and Franklin Roosevelt Jr. were speakers at other Campaign events. Dayton Campaign leaders met George Jessel at national UJA events.

7: c. Leading up to the Holocaust, most of Dayton’s overseas funding went to the JDC to rescue Europe’s Jews. Since 1952, 75 percent of most North American federations’ overseas funding has gone to the Jewish Agency (for resettlement of Jews), 25 percent to the Joint Distribution Committee (relief).

8: b. It would take 22 years until the JCC building opened.

9: c. The Federation’s support of desegregation and fair housing was unambiguous. Members of the Jewish community were also among the founders of the Dayton Urban League.

10: b. From 1944 to 1979, the Federation was called the Jewish Community Council or JCC.

11: c. Though Jews from Dayton took part in other missions, this was Dayton’s first.

12: b. At the time, it was the highest amount the Federation had ever raised for a campaign.

13: d. Though frustrating, it was seen as a necessary sacrifice.

14: c. Federations across North America collected $900 million, which brought almost 1 million Soviet Jews to Israel and 150,000 to the U.S.

15: c. Though hard to believe, the Federation didn’t elect its first woman president until 1999. This was followed by two more women as presidents. Sylvia Siegle served as Federation executive assistant from 1959-1978.

16: a. The Partnership has included medical, social and cultural exchanges. Holon was the Federation’s partner city in Project Renewal in the 1980s and ‘90s; Holon is also paired as a sister city with Dayton. Haifa and the Dayton Development Coalition recently entered a trade agreement to expand tech and aerospace business alliances.

17: c. The Jewish Advocate in Boston threatened to sue the Dayton Federation for trademark infringement. The same year, 1997, the Village Voice also threatened to sue the Dayton Voice (now the Dayton City Paper) for trademark infringement.

18: c. Nine percent, a total of 185 households.

19: d. Lion of Judah refers to women who commit to give a minimum of $5,000 to the annual United Jewish Campaign. All Jewish women in the Dayton area are considered members of Women’s Philanthropy for Tzedakah.