St. Paul's Jewish Federation Announces Name Change … and Disagrees with Shakespeare

Check out their brand new logo!

Last night the United Jewish Fund and Council (UJFC) became the Jewish Federation of Greater St. Paul. I guess when it comes to Jewish Federations, it isn’t true that a “rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare’s meaning behind that famous Romeo and Juliet quote, of course, was that a rose would still be a rose, no matter what we called it. But a name change can be significant, so Shakespeare may have been wrong… at least in this ONE instance.
I mean, how many of you younger Twin Cities Jewfolk if I asked you “what’s the United Jewish Fund and Council” could explain what it is? Would you even know that it was based in the Twin Cities? Would you know what it does? Would you know how important it is to sustaining & strengthening our Jewish community?
Didn’t think so.
Thus the need to change the name.
By changing their name, the UJFC (a silly acronym anyway) is joining the rest of the country’s Jewish Federation system as one united voice.
As the Jewish Federation of Greater St. Paul said in their press release this morning, “the new name will align the organization’s brand with other Jewish federations across the country which are affiliated, as St. Paul is, with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).  Making this change will help create a stronger, more recognizable visual identity for the organization as a Jewish Federation and will help to emphasize its mission of helping Jews in need and strengthening the community, locally and abroad.”
But don’t worry. The Jewish Federation of Greater St. Paul will continue the amazing work that the UJFC has been doing under it’s former name. As former UJFC President Jon Parritz explains:
“While our name is changing, our mission is not. We are and always will be the organization in St. Paul that builds and sustains our Jewish community, educates our children, feeds the hungry, provides for our elderly, responds to emergencies and helps Jews in need in Israel and around the world.”
Want to learn more about the Jewish Federation of Greater St. Paul? Check out their website, http://jewishstpaul.org/, or get involved with their chapter of Young Leadership (Jewish adults, aged 22-45) for their monthly happy hour. The next is on June 14th at Salut Bar Americain in St. Paul & all the details are on Facebook.