Online campaign wants to know what being Jewish means to you

The Jewish Federation of Pinellas & Pasco Counties has joined the humorous online campaign, “What’s Your ‘ish?,” that encourages Jews to share what being Jew(#ish) means to them while raising awareness of the work of Jewish federations.

The whatsyourish.com website, launched in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), is aimed at young adults who most often use social networking.

Participants are invited to post their comments in any of three places — the website, Facebook and Twitter – and to tag their ish with the hash-tag symbol (#ish.). By using this tag, individual entries become part of the collection of comments and contribute to the ongoing conversation at whatsyourish. com.

Guest celebrities also will be sharing what being Jewish means to them via videos throughout the campaign.

For every #ish response, JFNA will credit 25 cents to a $50,000 #ish Fund for charity. The fund will cover the core thematic needs supported by the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign, including poverty, elder care, Jewish identity, Israel solidarity and more.

Participants are being invited to vote on how they would allocate the #ish Fund.

“The #ish campaign is a fun, innovative way for both younger and older Jewish people to learn about the life-saving work of the Jewish Federation.” said Diane Sherman, 2011 Women’s Philanthropy chair for the Jewish Federation of Pinellas & Pasco Counties.

Along with the Jewish Federation locally, dozens of other federations and partner organizations are actively participating in the #ish initiative.

“What’s Your #ish? really allows all of us to express ourselves in a creative way while learning about our local Jewish Federation,” said Toni Rinde, Pinellas & Pasco Federation marketing chair. “It’s a campaign that promotes an authentic conversation by using online tools this group already uses.”

The #ish campaign is ongoing through the end of September.