The numbers hardly compare to the massive rally a year ago at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., but Sunday’s Jewish unity event at the city’s Nationals Park baseball stadium came at a different moment, and according to organizers, served a different purpose.

The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations hosted “Stand Together: An Event of Unity, Strength and Resilience,” inviting some 220 partner organizations. The event was held as part of this week’s JFNA’s annual General Assembly, which takes place from Nov. 10-12.

While attendance figures weren’t officially available, a ballpark figure hovered at around 2,500 attendees, compared with the estimated 290,000 that took to the mall a year ago.

“It wasn’t our goal to come together in that same way. That was a moment in time that we all needed each other in an emergency situation,” Julie Platt, JFNA chair of the board of trustees, told JNS.

“This was about coming together as a precursor to the General Assembly and to remember where we are a year out, and to give people a sense of unification and a sense of calm that no one is walking away from this, and we’re all still here and still together,” she said.

William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, told JNS that “it’s been a tough time for all Jews around the world since Oct. 7. And we’ve decided to come together as a Jewish community to show our unity after the divisiveness and the troubling year we’ve had but also after the very difficult tension of the presidential election.

He said that despite the infighting that elections inevitably bring, “we’re past that, and we are still standing as a community, and we’re still standing unified as part of a strong U.S.-Israel relationship—as part of the unity of the Jewish community.”

‘I think we will work together’

The program, which was emceed by award-winning actress Tiffany Haddish, featured entertainment and speakers calling for unity in the aftermath of the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Those who took the dais included Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-Mich.), Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Herzog, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and U.S. Olympic gold medalist Amit Elor.

The Idan Raichel Project and John Ondrasik of Five for Fighting were among the notable musical performers.

“Events like this are important because they bring people out. Better numbers would have been stronger, but at least we have what we have,” Rabbi Levi Shemtov, executive vice president of American Friends of Lubavitch, told JNS.

“Last year’s event sent a shockwave of strength through the community. It’d be important to find something more people could come together with and hopefully take back a message of empowerment to come together because when we come together, we’re indestructible,” he said.

Leaving the event, Shemtov was harassed on the streets by passers-by asking about “Palestine” and shouting out Jews “steal and lie.”

At one point, a lengthy montage of recorded speeches by Congress members from both sides of the aisle played on one of the big screens beside the stage. Notably, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) was audibly booed throughout his address.

Schumer, who will lose his title upon the Republican takeover of the Senate in January, has been assailed within parts of the Jewish community for his criticisms of Israel’s prosecution of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip; his calling for the replacement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for being an “obstacle for peace”; and his recently uncovered messages to the leadership of Columbia University advising that they treat antisemitism on campus as a political problem from Republicans.

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.), co-chair of the House bipartisan task force for combating antisemitism, told JNS that while Democrats were “still in shock” at the election results, she feels confident that there will be enough firepower on both sides of the aisle in the next Congress to press forward on urgent issues related to Israel and the American Jewish community. That includes the Countering Antisemitism Act, which she is leading. The bill has yet to be brought to the floor by Republican leadership for a vote.

“Jewish members of Congress will continue to work together and continue to support Israel, to support the Jewish community,” Manning said. “And by the way, it’s not just the Jewish members. We have very broad support on the Democratic side and on the Republican side. I think we will work together.”

Daroff, whose organization was formed to attempt to speak with one voice to the U.S. government on matters of importance to the Jewish community, told JNS that it is too early to tell what President-elect Donald Trump’s administration might look like.

“One thing we learned from the first Trump administration is that personnel is policy and what will be incredibly important is who surrounds the president, who’s involved in the key areas that the Jewish community is engaged in, who’s able to really move that agenda forward,” Daroff said. “And so we’re seeing very early signs of that as a transition starts. And I think that will be a key.”

‘There is no other choice’

Eric Fingerhut, president and CEO of Jewish Federations of North America, said the challenges for the Jewish community go beyond the White House and Capitol Hill. 

“It’s a new school year on college campuses. There are still challenges on city councils and school boards,” Fingerhut told JNS. “There’s so much work we have to do. We are not at the end of this by a long shot.”

He asserted that “this year coming up is as hard and difficult and challenging as the year we just passed.”

Platt told JNS that seeing the pogrom against visiting Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last week brought into stark relief the need for the Jewish and pro-Israel community to get past their political differences quickly.

“Amsterdam reminded us, starkly,” said Platt. “All of the conversations about partisanship, about what this would feel like, about coming together. It was a sad reminder that we are in this together. There is no other choice.”

And, for Platt, low energy is not a choice. Asked whether the masses of empty seats on Sunday indicated fatigue within the community after a year of war and devastation, the burnout of constant advocacy for Israel and the hostages, and potential security concerns, Platt responded: “I’m grateful to say that fatigue isn’t a thing.” 

“I don’t find people fatiguing in their physical energy and in their generosity,” she told JNS. “I feel people are just as strong, just as energized, and just need us to help them show what it is that we are planning, what it is that we are hoping for in the year ahead.”

JFNA’s General Assembly drew a reported 2,000 registrants, all of whom were provided with a ticket and a meal voucher for the rally. Admission was free for all attendees.

Still, the atmosphere at Nationals Park—home to Washington’s baseball team—felt like the end of a long slog of a losing season, rather than the palpable energy of Opening Day, leaving organizers and attendees to wonder whether exhaustion has set in, and how long a recharge of the Jewish community might take.