Building pluralism and community

Barak Hermann, 54, the incoming president and chief executive officer of the JCC Association of North America, never set foot in a Jewish community center until he was a senior at Stony Brook University.

And even then, it wasn’t to use the pool or gym or to attend a cultural event.

“Hillel was making calls for UJA Federation to raise money, so I came to a JCC to make phone calls,” Mr. Hermann said.

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Little did he know that soon he would embark on a JCC career that now spans more than 30 years.

He related that, as he approached graduation from Stony Brook with a social sciences degree and a minor in Judaic studies, he began plotting his professional path in life. Because Jewish summer camp had been an influential part of his formative years in East Meadow, on Long Island, he decided to reconnect with old friends from that scene. David Friedman, a former director of Camp Interlaken in Wisconsin, suggested that Mr. Hermann “check out the JCC world.”

So at 22, fresh out of college, he went to the JCC Association’s main office in New York and soon was interviewing for open positions at its Jewish community centers and Jewish community camps, which today number more than 170 in the United States and Canada.

For nearly nine years, Mr. Hermann worked as program and camp director and director of Eastern Long Island services at the Y JCC in Suffolk County, on eastern Long Island. In January 2003, he moved on to become chief operating officer of JCC MetroWest in West Orange, and in October 2007 he became the executive director at the JCC of Central New Jersey in Scotch Plains.

He and his wife, Cory, and their three sons lived in the Shongum Lake neighborhood of Randolph from 2002 to 2012.

“My experiences in New Jersey really taught me about governance, finance, programming, community engagement, and working with other organizations,” Mr. Hermann said. “That was really like my residency program for a decade. I loved, loved, loved my time working at two JCCs in New Jersey.”

From there, he accepted a position as CEO of the JCC of Greater Baltimore, the oldest JCC in North America. In 2022, he was recognized as one of Maryland’s most inspiring CEOs.

The Hermanns, now empty nesters, will continue living in Baltimore after he begins working at the JCC Association at the end of June. Mr. Hermann plans to travel quite a bit, not only to the New York office but also to visit JCCs across the continent.

“After being in the field 30 years, this is a different role,” he reflected. “Before we get into strategy, we have to build a culture across the movement. And you can’t build a culture without building relationships. I want to be in a relationship with every JCC.”

Throughout his career, Mr. Hermann has worked with boards and professional teams to develop and implement strategic plans that have led to innovative programs in Jewish camping, arts, culture, family engagement, and teen leadership, among other areas.

“The JCC mission is to create a community of Jewish peoplehood within the communities where they’re located, to inspire Jewish journeys, Jewish values, Jewish wisdom, and Jewish culture, and provide a safe place where people can be the best version of who they want to be Jewishly — and at the same time serve the larger community,” he said.

According to the association, North American JCCs serve more than 1.5 million people, Jews and non-Jews, in person and online every month.

Mr. Hermann, who has a master’s degree from Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work, is a Schusterman fellow and has completed executive  nonprofit programs through Harvard Business School and Columbia University.

The JCC Association’s acting president and CEO, Jennifer Mamlet, succeeded Mr. Hermann as executive director of the JCC of Central NJ in 2013, so she is well acquainted with what she described as his “unwavering dedication, strategic vision, and strong leadership.

“With more than 30 years in our movement, Barak has the perfect combination of experience, expertise, and relationships to lead effectively from day one, while positioning JCC Association for continued success,” Ms. Mamlet said. “His reputation for building trust and collaboration across our field makes him the ideal person to lead us forward.”

Mr. Hermann said he believes one of the biggest challenges for the JCC movement is to foster “emotional connections to global Jewish peoplehood.

“I believe deeply in unity but not uniformity,” he continued. “There’s a mosaic of Jewish culture, beliefs, traditions, music. But we must all see ourselves as part of a global community that truly cares for each other — even Jews who are different from us in terms of ideology, even Jews in Europe and South America, and of course in Israel.”

Mr. Hermann’s personal ties to Israel are part of his DNA. His maternal grandparents were part of the Third Aliyah wave of Eastern European immigration to Israel in 1923. They helped found the town of Nesher in the Haifa district, which initially housed employees of the first cement factory in Israel. Members of his family worked at Nesher Cement for more than 83 years, he said.

After serving in the Israeli navy, his late mother, Hayuta, came to America and married Bennett Hermann, a rabbi originally from Albany. The couple was active in Eisner Camp, a summer program of the Union for Reform Judaism, as were their four children.

“I grew up in a deeply Jewish home with a deep commitment to Zionism, ritual, prayer, and holidays,” Mr. Hermann said.

“For me, JCCs have an amazing opportunity to become microcosms of Israel in their own communities,” he added, explaining that JCCs can model Jewish values and culture in a pluralistic environment.

“Because of the diverse populations that JCCs serve, we have an opportunity to make every Jew feel part of the community and to build interfaith relations, which I see as a very serious antidote to combat antisemitism.”

Mr. Hermann estimates that the majority of North American JCCs are open on Shabbat, an issue that has stirred some controversy over the past few decades. He sees the differing policies as a healthy sign of diversity.

“I believe that every community has to determine what’s right for their culture and right for their needs,” he said. “Shabbos needs to be valued for what it was meant to be when God gave us that commandment to have a day of rest. How we choose to do our day of rest — I really believe that everyone needs to decide that for themselves, that everyone can make their own Shabbos. And so, every JCC thinks differently about how they serve their community.”

He added, “One of the things I love about Baltimore is that it truly is a place that respects all kinds of Jews. We have two JCC campuses. One is closed on Shabbos, and one is open.” He would like to see this sort of approach applied more broadly in the JCC movement.

David S. Wax, board chair of the JCC Association, said that under Mr. Hermann’s leadership, “JCC Association will continue to strengthen its key programmatic offerings, including the JCC Maccabi Games, JWB Jewish Chaplains Council, and JCC Talent initiatives. … As we pursue new models of collaboration and sustainable growth, Barak’s leadership will be instrumental in creating continental impact, strengthening our mission, and ensuring the JCC movement thrives for generations to come.”