The organization’s purpose is to take on local issues without the pressures of fundraising.
By Noah Bookstein
Original Air Date: May 13, 2026
Host: A group of Jewish community activists launched an organization on the Suncoast that they say is more free to take on local issues. Noah Bookstein tried to find out how the Suncoast Jewish Alliance is not just another Jewish Federation.
Noah Bookstein: For the Suncoast Jewish Alliance, started in 2024, the concept of tikkun olam—repairing the world—goes beyond prayer. It is also a reason to show up at a school board meeting. Alliance President Norman Olshansky has been involved in local nonprofits, including the Jewish Federation and the Van Wezel foundation.
Norman Olshansky
Norman Olshansky: We have been at county commission meetings. We’ve been at school board meetings. We have been down to Alligator Alley. We have been involved in demonstrations in support of oppressed communities.
There was a recent vote of the school board to do prayers at school board meetings—which, on the surface, you would think, “Who would be against that?” except their focus has been on a particular type of prayer that is not all inclusive. If you’re going to pray at a school or say anything—which really isn’t necessary—but if you want to, it should be non-denominational. It should be all-inclusive. It should make everybody there feel the spirit of what prayer is intended to have and to make people comfortable about talking about the issues at hand. But unfortunately, they’ve brought in people who don’t have that sensitivity to those who are not of their own faith.
NB: While the Alliance doesn’t make candidate endorsements, they do take a stand on issues when they see something wrong.
NO: Governor DeSantis made an appointment to the board of University of Northwest Florida, and the person that he nominated was a known antisemite. We spoke out against that, and ultimately that nomination was withdrawn. Again—I say it so often—silence is complicity.
NB: Their willingness to speak out is rooted in three core Jewish values, drawn from the tradition’s texts and stories:
- Tzedek—the pursuit of justice,
- Tikkun olam—repairing the world
- and Derech Eretz—treating people with dignity and respect.
NO: The Jewish religion and culture has a long history of teaching social justice, fairness, equality, and it’s basically the core values of a lot of religions. The difference is we have a long experience in being refugees ourselves—of being wanderers, so to speak, in the desert—as well as throughout many generations where Jews have been victims and have been expulsed from many of the countries in which they lived.
We feel that there needs to be a voice in the Jewish community standing up for the Jewish values and ethics that guide us in our everyday lives.
NB: Unlike larger Jewish organizations, the Alliance isn’t constrained by the pressures of fundraising. Membership is just $18 a year. While members may have backgrounds in the Jewish Federation, the Alliance is distinct and fills a different need.
NO: The Federation, for example, does a lot of things behind the scenes and are excellent in that realm, but it’s hard for them to speak out publicly, especially on any subject that could be deemed as controversial. They are, first and foremost, a fundraising organization, and you don’t want to alienate major donors. We don’t have any mega-donors that would be expressing positions that would be contrary to what we’re doing.
NB: That freedom to speak out allows them to address controversial issues directly and to engage the community in the work of depolarization, which they see as part of their mission too.
NO: We have Republicans and Democrats as members, and there are a lot of Republicans who have a social conscience and who are concerned about the issues we’re concerned about and who are willing to support an organization like ours and do get involved. There are bad actors on all sides of the aisle. Fortunately, they are in the extreme. They basically are a small group that make a lot of noise, but they have a lot of influence because of that noise. So we have to be there to let people know what’s really behind these statements and what the danger is in allowing these types of things to continue in our community. We are offering an opportunity for people who want to do more than just feel bad about something that’s going on but to do something about it. We do a lot of educational programs. We teach a lot about how to handle issues. We are in the newspaper, frequently with editorials of opinion—letters to the editor—and, again, we are involved in many different local nonprofits and organizations that share our values.
NB: The spirit of civil conversation takes shape in one of the Alliance’s signature programs, living room conversations.
NO: We get people together at people’s homes, and we have a presenter. Our next presenter is someone who’s very active in Support Our Schools and the SEA Alliance, so we’ll learn: Why should we be concerned? Most of us do not have kids in public schools. Some of us, like myself, have grandchildren. But why should it be important to be concerned about the public schools? And then we’ll follow those discussions with a potluck dinner. A lot of it is getting to know each other—getting to know differences of opinion. We encourage people to express differences of opinion. We do so, however, in a very civil manner and in a way that we may disagree, but we don’t become disagreeable.
NB: With that spirit, the Suncoast Jewish Alliance also aims to address the needs of a community unsettled by increasing antisemitism.
NO: The concern about antisemitism is very high here, even in Sarasota. A lot of people don’t realize we’ve had to have security at every Jewish event. You can’t go to a synagogue these days without an armed guard at the synagogue. Unfortunately, that’s the environment we live in, and it’s a sad tragedy, especially given the long-term history of the United States as accepting people of various religions. It’s gotten out of hand.
NB: The Alliance gathers with groups that share similar values for interfaith dialog, community coalitions and organizational partnerships.
NO: Our ability to get our phone calls answered when we call legislators, our ability to be invited to be speakers or run workshops at various events in the community—to me, those are all indications of our success. We’ve come a long way, and yet we have a long way to go.
NB: Reporting for WSLR News, Noah Bookstein.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.