That Doron Krakow, longtime resident of Tenafly, has actively been engaged in and contributed much to Jewish communal life, is certainly shown by his numerous accomplishments. He is the former president and CEO of JCC Association of North America and spent over 30 years working in the organized Jewish community. He has served as the national director of Young Judaea, senior vice president for Israel and overseas at JFNA, and head of American Associates Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. His career has always focused on strengthening the Jewish people, with Israel central to his life and his family.
Krakow was born into a Zionist home. His parents had been active in Betar in the U.S. in the 1940s, and his father fought with the Irgun in Israel’s War of Independence. “I would say that Zionism and Israel were the soundtrack of my childhood and each of the members of my family became steadfastly dedicated to Israel and the Zionist movement,” he said. “[My wife] and I have raised our sons with a similar level of commitment. All three grew up through the Young Judaea youth movement. All three completed a gap year in Israel after high school on the Young Judaea Year Course. And all three have subsequently returned to Israel on any number of occasions.”
Krakow began his professional career working for IBM in corporate finance. He took a one-year leave of absence when he was invited to serve as the interim national director of his youth movement, Young Judaea. But one year became two, two became five, and, Krakow said, “before I knew it I had spent 10 years at the helm. During that time we built the largest Israel programs operation in North America prior to the advent of Birthright Israel.
“In 2017 I was recruited to be the new president and CEO of JCC Association of North America,” he continued. “Though I had no prior experience working in a JCC, I came to understand that the 172 JCCs across the continent welcome more than one million Jews per week through their doors, in person, the largest and most diverse engagement of Jews on the continent. It struck me that if we were going to move the needle on strengthening Jewish community and on the North American Jewish community’s commitment to Israel and the Jewish people, there would be no more compelling place to try to do so than with the JCC movement. I had been in that role for six-and-a-half years when the October 7 attack occurred.”
Furthering his connection with Israel, Krakow and his wife, Janet, recently made aliyah via Nefesh B’Nefesh, Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael and JNF-USA. Krakow’s aliyah journey was intertwined with his son Aaron’s similar journey. Aaron made aliyah through Garin Tzabar in 2018. Garin Tzabar, founded in 1991, is a flagship program of the Tzofim/Israel Scouts, which supports young Jewish adults making aliyah, while providing a meaningful group experience as they pursue their service in the IDF as lone soldiers.
“Aaron served with distinction in the tzanchanim [paratroopers], completing his primary service as a command medic,” Krakow said. “Aaron got married in 2021 to Zoe, who had come to Israel from the U.S. to do a post-graduate internship through the Menachem Begin Heritage Center at the Ministry of Finance and then made aliyah herself in 2019. On August 23, 2023 they became first-time parents, welcoming a son, David, named for my father.
“Janet and I, now first-time grandparents, had come to Israel ahead of David’s arrival and remained through the High Holidays to lend the new parents a hand. We flew back to the U.S. on October 6 and awoke early on the morning of the 7th to the terrifying news. With Jerusalem also under attack, Aaron took his family to friends in Motza where he believed they would be safer. Not long thereafter he was recalled to active duty and by early the next morning he and his unit were in the fight inside Kfar Aza. I took the first flight that I could get, midday on the 8th, having promised my son that I would remain with Zoe and the baby until his return, so that he could focus his attention on the job in front of him. This commitment kept me in Israel through the end of January, when his unit was finally rotated out of Gaza.
“Along the way, Janet and I decided that the time had come for us to formally hitch our wagon to the people of Israel, and we began the aliyah process, not yet clear how that would play out. When Aaron came home, I returned to the U.S., intent on resuming my career here. I had served since 2017 as the leader of the JCC movement, and having worked from Israel in the intervening months, while observing the deteriorating circumstances of Jews in North America, I was determined to lean into the work that would be required for our field to rise and meet the moment.
“But I quickly understood that I had left a good part of myself in Israel. I had seen up close the devastation of the communities and the people who had borne the brunt of the horrific assault on October 7 as well as the evolving impact the war was having on countless families. I also knew that when Aaron was inevitably recalled again, I would need to be back in Israel, as close to him and to his family as I could possibly be, both for their sakes and for my own.
“On the job I was reminded that for JCCs, the broad and diverse agendas for which they bear responsibility extend well beyond what I saw as critical, near-term priorities and that continuing to serve and lead them as I had would require me to commit myself to a far broader agenda as well,” Krakow continued. “But it had become clear to me that I needed to be working on the crisis full-time. I needed to play a direct part in the recovery and resilience efforts in Israel, work that would continue to grow in proportion and scope as the war unfolded.
“In short, I understood after only a few weeks that it was time for me to return to Israel and to begin a new chapter. So, together with the leadership of my board, which had been extraordinarily supportive throughout this period, and with the support of the senior members of my staff, we orchestrated a quick transition, and I concluded my tenure at the end of March. In early June, Janet and I returned to Israel and on the 26th of that month, we made it official at Misrad HaPnim, the Interior Ministry.”
Since Krakow’s return to Israel, he has been exploring professional opportunities and looking for the right place to make the most meaningful contribution. He has not yet settled on a full-time position, he said, “but I am engaged in several important projects on a pro bono basis, one with Kibbutz Nir Oz and the other with the Niv Nirel Center, a brand new comprehensive outpatient trauma center devoted to Israelis suffering from PTSD and established in memory of two of the young people killed in the attack on Kfar Aza on October 7.”
In early August, Janet and Doron Krakow came back to the U. S. ahead of their oldest son Yoni’s wedding. They will be returning to Israel before the end of September.
About his aliyah journey, Krakow told The Jewish Link: “Aliyah has been something I have thought about my entire adult life. It was the path I nearly pursued after I graduated from high school and it was a topic central to the questions Janet and I faced before we decided to get married. We were not ready to make a commitment to move at that time, but we agreed that when the opportunity presented itself we would go together to spend between six months and a year there to allow us to explore what life in Israel would be like, something we did in 1997.
“But life has a way of taking on a momentum of its own and we made our home and raised our children in the New York area. I am proud and gratified to have had the opportunity to devote my career to service on behalf of the Jewish people and in pursuit of ever stronger ties between the North American Jewish community and Israel. I have made the trip perhaps 200 times and imagine that, cumulatively, before October 7, I had spent somewhere between two and three years of my life there.
“But it wasn’t until recently that it became clear that the time had finally come, that our kids in Israel and our growing family there, would require more attention and support than we could provide from such a distance. It was also increasingly clear that Israel is on the front lines of the battle for the Jewish future and this may be the most important time in our lives to lend a shoulder to the wheel. The recovery that lies ahead, when this war is finally over, will require enormous energy, resources and perseverance. Whatever small part we might be able to play, we will do so with pride, determination and unwavering commitment. Israel is now our home. Am Yisrael Chai!”
Susan R. Eisenstein is a longtime Jewish educator, passionate about creating special, innovative activities for her students. She is also passionate about writing about Jewish topics and about Israel. She has two master’s degrees and a doctorate in education from Columbia University.
