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Robin Schatz. (Courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia)<\/p>\nRobin Schatz. (Courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia)<\/p>\n
Robin Schatz leads the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia\u2019s public affairs at a time when the Jewish community arguably has more issues before local, state and federal governments than ever before.<\/p>\n
As the Jewish Community Relations Council of the federation\u2019s director of government affairs, Schatz, 74, organizes civic advocacy, maintains relationships with public officials and helps translate the Jewish community\u2019s concerns into state and local policy engagement.<\/p>\n
She has three priorities: combating antisemitism, bolstering security and protecting the social safety net.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of maintaining good relations with elected officials,\u201d the Overbrook Park resident said.<\/p>\n
Schatz, who belongs to Society Hill Synagogue, has worked for the federation for 22 years as its principal government affairs contact. Before she began in her position, JCRC didn\u2019t have a government affairs role. This federation is also the only in the country with a full-time government relations staff member.<\/p>\n
In Schatz\u2019s own framing, the goal is not simply lobbying: it is equipping community members to speak directly with elected representatives and make the personal stakes of policy issues visible. She said that volunteer advocacy lets legislators hear \u201cthe real people behind the issues,\u201d particularly on antisemitism and support for vulnerable populations.<\/p>\n
One of JCRC\u2019s largest areas of focus, especially in the past three years since Oct. 7, is security for synagogues and Jewish day schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve worked extensively with nonprofit security grants federally,\u201d Schatz said. \u201cMy colleague in Harrisburg, Hank Butler, and I said, \u2018We need to do something on the state level.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
So the two drafted legislation to create Pennsylvania\u2019s Nonprofit Security Grant Program, which distributed $10.7 million to the state\u2019s synagogues, churches and other institutions in 2026.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that this is a legacy for me and it\u2019s one of the things I\u2019m proudest of,\u201d she said of achieving the grant.<\/p>\n
Another accomplishment she is proud of has been her contribution to improving Holocaust education, which is currently not mandated in Pennsylvania. Despite it being merely a suggestion, 90% to 93% of Pennsylvania schools have incorporated education on the Holocaust and related topics into their curricula, according to a 2017 survey.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to get more legislation in place,\u201d Schatz said. \u201cWe\u2019re working toward that right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal of our legislation \u2026 was geared towards teachers, giving them the tools and resources,\u201d Schatz said.<\/p>\n
She has been working with Rep. Kristen Marcell to make this happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to make sure the Holocaust is being taught appropriately, not just putting a movie up and saying, \u2018Read Anne<\/p>\n
Frank,\u201d Schatz said. \u201cIn terms of hate crimes and antisemitism, we would like to see that brought into better educating the students.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also aims to codify a concrete working definition of antisemitism for use by local police departments, district attorneys and schools.<\/p>\n
Schatz expressed gratitude for the relationships she\u2019s formed over the past two decades.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m blessed to work with some really extraordinary people,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s been very encouraging to see those relationships with universities [and] elected officials really blossom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two of the JCRC\u2019s closest relationships are with Rep. Tarik Khan and Sen. Sharif Street, who are both Muslim.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel good that they listen to me, they come to me, they come to Jason [Holtzman, JCRC\u2019s chief] \u2014 we have an open door,\u201d Schatz said. \u201cThat\u2019s encouraging, and I feel that\u2019s my legacy too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schatz didn\u2019t start out in government affairs. She was initially a teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland, before moving to Philadelphia with her husband and working as a real estate agent.<\/p>\n
She became active in local politics when Gov. Ed Rendell ran for mayor in 1987. When Rendell ran again, he brought Schatz on board as director of constituent services.<\/p>\n
It was working on lifelong Philadelphian Sam Katz\u2019s mayoral campaign that Schatz represented the Jewish community to elected officials, deepening her love of government relations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like being able to help make the world a better place, and I see this as a way of doing that,\u201d Schatz said. \u201cI love my job most days, and there\u2019s just so much work to be done. The more welcoming we can be of other viewpoints and perspectives, the better we can be as a community.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sentiment is particularly resonant today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think especially in these days, where you see so much antisemitism and demonization of Israel and the Jewish community, I want to put a positive face on our community,\u201d Schatz said. \u201cI want to explain to people who we are as a people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schatz, whose grandson is being raised in an interfaith family \u2014 one Jewish parent and the other Christian \u2014 spoke to the importance of compassion.<\/p>\n
\u201cTreat people the way you want to be treated,\u201d she said. \u201cThe rest is just commentary.\u201d<\/p>\n
zbell@midatlanticmedia.com<\/p>\n
Jarrad Saffren contributed to reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robin Schatz. (Courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia) Robin Schatz leads the Jewish Federation of Greater…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1051717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5132],"tags":[5229,363937,32989,55842,55843,291039,8302,8629,1448,2830,3546,1311,156364,421238,227814,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-1051716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-america","tag-holocaust-education","tag-jewish-community","tag-jewish-community-relations-council","tag-jewish-federation-of-greater-philadelphia","tag-last-word","tag-lobbying","tag-local-politics","tag-pa","tag-pennsylvania","tag-people","tag-philadelphia","tag-public-affairs","tag-robin-schatz","tag-synagogue-security","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117237722789575962","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1051716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1051717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1051716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1051716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1051716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}