Jewish Jumpstart (Jumpstart Labs)

Background

Founded in 2008, Jewish Jumpstart, also known as Jumpstart Labs and Jumpstart JSLabs, is a left-of-center grant making organization that gives to organizations working to advocate for the Jewish community. It advocates for shifting Jewish people’s faith into a brand of nondenominational Judaism that encourages social activism. ³

In Jewish Jumpstart CEO and cofounder Joshua Avedon’s graduate thesis, he recommends affiliate synagogues draft and adopt a manifesto for a common, accepted ideological basis for the Jewish community he seeks to develop. He also states he seeks to “reinvent Judaism” through Jewish activism. Under his concept of reinvention, Avedon argues IKAR, another organization he cofounded with the same mission as Jewish Jumpstart, could combine multiple religions and ideologies to form a new religious group. ⁴

Jewish Jumpstart’s website also states that to be eligible for fiscal sponsorship, groups must share its values. ² Among these values include having a “Jewish focus” with an entrepreneurial goal, having a liberal view on Judaism, and to be accepting of people of all beliefs. ¹

Leadership

Joshua Avedon is a cofounder and the CEO of Jewish Jumpstart. He is a left-of-center Jewish activist, having also cofounded IKAR, a self-described nondenominational Jewish activist group, and serves as an advisor to various other Jewish groups. ⁵

In his master’s thesis, Avedon argues that the most effective way to increase commitment to Judaism by “less Jewishly educated Jews” is through “un-synagogue[s],” disconnecting Jewish religious practice from traditional synagogues. He also describes his background, stating he comes from “a distinguished line of atheists, socialists and even some anarchists.” ⁴

Funding

According to its 2019 tax returns, Jewish Jumpstart gave more than $945,000 in grants. Its largest grant was $413,000 to JLens, a left-of-center Jewish investment coalition that rates businesses on their alignment with Jewish values. ⁶ Among JLen’s stated criteria are environmentalist goals and opposition to Second Amendment rights. ⁷

Jewish Jumpstart also gave $162,000 to Emergency Supply Donor Group (ESDG), which describes itself as a fiscally sponsored project of Jewish Jumpstart. ⁶ ESDG was founded in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to donate PPE equipment to medical workers. ^{8 9} Jewish Jumpstart also gave $107,000 to Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development, a Jerusalem-based advocacy group that advocates for religious leaders to promote environmentalism. ¹⁰