20,000 Jewish communal professionals lost jobs

“Blindsided.”

That’s how Melissa Engelberg felt after being laid off in April due to COVID-19 cutbacks.

“I was shocked, I was sad and I was worried,” said Engelberg, who lost her job as director of grants and programs at the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. “I understood the reason — the times are just so unprecedented — but this was my dream job and I had never lost a job before.”

Engelberg let colleagues and friends know she was seeking a new position. Soon afterward, two people alerted her to Rise, a new initiative to help the roughly 20,000 Jewish community professionals who h...