By Andrew Adler
Community Editor
After completing two years and six months helming the Jewish Community of Louisville’s board, David Kaplan is handing off the position of board chair to Beth Salamon, the current vice-chair and chair-elect.
The JCL comprises the Jewish Federation of Louisville and the Trager Family JCC. Among other responsibilities, its chair provides leadership to the board, helps guide strategic planning, and represents the JCL to the greater community.
Kaplan has chaired the Federation’s Annual Campaign, co-chaired the committee that facilitated the 2009 merger between the Federation and JCC, chaired the board of the Jewish Heritage Fund, and as JCL chair helped the organization navigate amid the fraught post-October 7 landscape.
Now that he’s finishing out a term that officially ends Jan. 1, does he have a defining takeaway?
“Just gratitude to have been part of a couple of decades of community building, and seeing the results,” said Kaplan, who has been juggling his board responsibilities alongside his job as chief of staff to Louisville mayor (and fellow Harvard Law School alumnus) Craig Greenberg.
“I feel we’re on a very strong footing,” he emphasizes, coupled with “a sense of satisfaction having gone through the whole system.”
Kaplan acknowledges the multi-faceted, absorbing nature of chairing the JCL board. A prime example of interest is the 2022 Brandeis University Study of Jewish Louisville, which identified considerably more Jews living here than previously thought, many of whom yearn to become more Jewishly involved.
Still, he’s made important headway – with a particular emphasis on keeping the JCL financially secure.
“One of the things I’ve wanted to do, that I think is in progress, is steer toward a sustainable strategy that’s rational and diversified,” he says. “You know, 80 percent of annual campaign dollars are given by 20 percent of the donors.”
Kaplan adds that core challenges came into even sharper focus in the wake of October 7.
“What I was able to do is be a voice of reason and stability in a very difficult time,” Kaplan says, adding that as board chair he’s sought to encourage his fellow board members to solve problems via analysis and consensus. Here and in the broader community, he says it’s a matter of uniting “despite our differences of opinion on what’s going on with the war in Israel, coming together against antisemitism, and for the long-term survival of our community.”
Indeed, in board meetings “we rarely have a contested vote,” Kaplan says. “People are curious, they engage, and they prepare. We feel like we’re on the same page, even though people differ on the political spectrum to some degree. What I’ve enjoyed most is getting agreement, as long as it was a good process, people have good discussions, and we get to a decision.”
Over the past six months Kaplan has worked in parallel with Salamon – who’s finishing her own term chairing the Jewish Community Relations Council — and Sara Klein Wagner, President and CEO of the Federation and the Trager Family JCC.
“The three of us would meet every Monday” via Zoom, he says. “So Beth’s been a joint participant with me in decision making and discussions.”
It’s been a transition based on familiarity, mutual respect, and realizing that it’s okay to have different approaches to the position.
“I know Beth pretty well,” Kaplan says. “I think she’ll bring some of her own things to the table.” At the same time, he believes “there’s going to be strong continuity, because we have some similarities. “She’s also an attorney. She approaches problems in the same kind of way: analytically, breaking things down, trying to get agreement, trying to build consensus and not being impulsive about decision making. We’re both strongly pro-Israel — I think mainstream for the Jewish community. We’re both very concerned about antisemitism, but not alarmist.”
Closer to home, “I think we’re both pro-growth for the Trager Family JCC but wanting to be careful and making sure we don’t bite off more than we can chew.”
What are his proudest achievements?
“One, continuing the work of ensuring the long-term financial sustainability of the Trager Family JCC and the Federation. Two, assisting with the formation of the governor’s antisemitism task force and representing the JCL on that body. Three, working to the unify the Jewish community in the wake of October 7 around the Israel emergency relief campaign. Four, laying the groundwork for Phase Two of the Trager Family JCC’s expansion project to create an even more wonderful summer camp experience, and other valuable enhancements to the Jewish Heritage Fund campus.”
Kaplan added an especially resonant memory: “I chaired the JCRC for a number of years in the early 2000s, during the Second Intifada.”
As he recalled, “It was a very difficult time. There was literally a truck being driven around town towing a model of an alleged ‘apartheid wall’ that was intended to criticize the erection of the security barrier to deter suicide bombings.”
So “we did two things,” he says. “We found allies where we could, which was the beginning of our relationship with evangelical churches, who are supportive of Israel. Even more importantly, we initiated interfaith dialogues at St. Michael’s church with the Palestinian community. We invited speakers who steered away from incendiary rhetoric and discussed how to get to a two-state solution. It was productive. I wish that were possible now.”
Meanwhile, Salamon is ready to plunge right in.
“I know I’m a volunteer, but I’ve sort of made it my profession right now,” she says. “I get so much out of it and enjoy the work. For a long time, I was learning – and I’m still learning – but I feel I’m getting to the point where I feel confident to take on these roles.”
A native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania who attended the University of Maryland at College Park before earning a law degree from Temple University in Philadelphia, Salamon moved to Louisville in 2005 with her husband, physician Michael Salamon.
She became JCRC chair in 2019, in what initially was supposed to be a two-year commitment. “But Covid happened in 2020 and 2021, so I never felt that I got to do the things as chair I would have liked to have done. And just as we were heading out of the Covid time, (director) Matt Goldberg left, and the new Matt (Golden) came in.”
As overall JCL chair, Salamon’s portfolio will embrace the Federation and he Trager Family JCC. The latter “for me is going to be fun to learn even more about,” she says, “because it’s such an integral part of the community – an exciting part of this new role. And then, obviously, fundraising is an important and different aspect, where I’ll be working closely with Sara (Klein Wagner, President and CEO of the Federation and the Trager Family JCC).
“I love walking into the Trager Family JCC, seeing preschoolers all the way to seniors,” Salamon says. “It’s a broader swath of the community that I’ll be interacting with.”
Indeed, “Even though I’ve lived here for 20 years, I didn’t grow up here — there are whole generations of families to get to know. So I will continue to meet people and learn about their lives and their needs. I’m looking forward to how we can bring more people into the community and meet them where they are.”
And while rising antisemitism is a continuing concern, “we don’t want it to define who we are as a people,” Salamon says. “There’s a lovely, beautiful thing about being Jewish – it’s a vibrant, wonderful culture. So as much as we want to make sure we fight against the bad, we also want to celebrate all the good and wonderful things about being Jewish. I think that’s why we’re seeing the surge of people wanting to reconnect with their Judaism, because they’re feeling more vulnerable.
“Even post-Covid, people are looking for community, being in person with people,” Salamon emphasizes. “It’s an opportunity as much as it’s something we need to be.”
Still, “we always need to be on the lookout” for antisemitism, no matter how “it rears its ugly head,” she cautions. “
“That’s where the JCRC has been an amazing part of the Federation’s overall mission, working on different ways to combat it – meeting people in the community, going to schools, all those kinds of things.
Considerable potential lies ahead, Salamon believes. “This (Jewish Heritage Fund) campus has proven what we can do. I’m excited to see how much further we can go”
Certain imperatives are inescapable, no matter who chairs the JCL board.
“One of the things I would want to communicate on my way out of this role,” Kaplan says, “is that we need to be strong and outspoken against antisemitism. I think there’s a consensus that there’s a risk out there, that we need to protect our institutions and our children, particularly against violent threats.
“Where I don’t know if there’s a consensus,” Kaplan says, “is that we need to be outspoken publicly when we see antisemitism as a community. Over the years I think we’ve become accustomed to working behind the scenes. We need to realize that we’re in a new moment now, that we need to call out antisemitism whenever we see it. We need to push ourselves to do that.”
“Our community is fortunate to have exceptional leaders taking the time and energy to make our community stronger,” Wagner says. “From day one of David’s term, he showed a commitment to serving all of Jewish Louisville. He played an integral role in strengthening our board, promoting the Annual Campaign and representing the Jewish community.
“While David’s professional life has required a major commitment of its own,” Wagner stressed, “he’s stayed focused on the most pressing needs in our community, including his role in hiring SAFE Louisville Regional Security Advisor Stuart Lowrey and responding to the atrocities of October 7th. A true leader, David has served the community with wisdom and understanding.
“Beth will bring her own style and passions to the role,” Wagner says. “I have enjoyed working closely with Beth in recent years. She’s an advocate for the most pressing needs in our community. As a leader, I am confident that Beth’s energy — her zerizut — will serve us all well.”