The Birmingham Jewish Federation has evolved from Birmingham's United Jewish Fund which was organized in 1936. The Jewish community adopted a central fund that year to raise money mainly to assist Jews overseas. That first year, the fund raised $24,000.

With the advent of the Nazi Holocaust and World War II, the fund began to grow significantly, relying, as it does today, on volunteers to raise money each year.

With the rebirth of the State of Israel in 1948, the amounts raised started to grow. In 1948, the Fund attained a record $450,000 and set a new standard for Jewish community fundraising. From 1948 until the early 1970s, the campaign grew steadily. In 1971, the United Jewish Fund became the Birmingham Jewish Federation.

The Birmingham Jewish Federation gradually became more than just a fundraising campaign -- it also became involved in community relations, volunteer development, planning and other functions, all of which continue today. The beginning of the Birmingham Jewish Day School, now the N.E. Miles Jewish Day School, resulted from the Federation's planning efforts.

In the 1980s, fundraising continued to grow and highlights included the inauguration of the Federation's "sister city" partnership with the Israeli community of Rosh Ha'ayin, the birth of the Birmingham Jewish Foundation, the transformation of the Federation's social services committee into a new, freestanding agency, Jewish Family Services (now Collat Jewish Family Services).

In the 1990s, the Federation embraced the challenge of helping to resettle nearly 1,000,000 Jews desiring to leave the Soviet Union, raising $4,000,000, for resettlement both here and in Israel. Also in the 1990s, a great focus was placed on strengthening our local agencies, capped by the Federation's role in helping the community complete a successful $10,000,000 capital campaign.

As the new century began, however, the Federation, in addition to all of its other responsibilities, again finds itself focusing on Israel -- helping Israel respond to terror, through advocacy, education and fundraising. The Federation continues to rely on a small professional staff and a wide network of volunteers who today are engaged in fundraising, Israel education and advocacy, strategic planning, ongoing learning seminars, and working to strengthen our local agencies as well as programs and projects in Israel.