Super Bowl Sunday Reminds Us That Dynasties Build for the Long Game

This Sunday, two teams will walk onto a football field. One will lift the Super Bowl trophy. The other will not.

But championships, for all their glitter, are fleeting. Dynasties are something else entirely. Dynasties are built over time—through patience, discipline, and the refusal to sacrifice long-term values for short-term applause. They endure because they believe in who they are, where they’ve been, and where they’re going.

That, unmistakably, is the story of the Jewish people. It is the story of the land of Israel. And it is the story of a 125-year-old organization called Jewish National Fund-USA.

We have stayed the course.
And we will continue to do so.

When I played sports years ago, my teams were obsessed with winning—but not the kind of winning that comes from shortcuts. We studied weaknesses. We watched the tape. We confronted blind spots. But we never stopped believing in ourselves. We drew confidence from past victories and stayed focused on what it would take to win tomorrow.

Confidence is not arrogance. Confidence is fuel. It is what has kept the Jewish people strong for 3,500 years—and it is what will keep us strong for generations to come.

Our challenges today are real. They always have been. The Jewish experience hasn’t always been easy, yet it has been marked by far more victories than defeats. The reason our people have endured for millennia is our pursuit of life and making the world a better place. Israel is the manifestation of this.

We have to tell our remarkable story, one fueled by resilience, creativity, and renewal.
To my colleagues, counterparts, and peers: let’s never forget how to count our victories. We have become so accustomed to scanning for what’s broken that we overlook what is working. We obsess over headlines, commission studies to catalogue our weaknesses, and mistake self-doubt for realism.

That may be how some organizations choose to raise money; however, it’s not Jewish National Fund-USA‘s strategy for success.

We will add one million donors over the next ten years by focusing on the very real positives of our achievements and by projecting strength—by believing in our history, our results, our people, and our unbreakable connection to the land of Israel.

History proves this approach. The greatest surge in Jewish confidence and engagement in America came after 1967. The Six-Day War was not just a military victory; it was a psychological one. Jews around the world stood taller. We breathed deeper. We were united, strong, and unapologetic. That confidence fueled movements—from marching on Washington for Soviet Jewry to expanding Jewish life and leadership across the globe.
Strength begets engagement.

Engagement begets continuity.

That is why Jewish National Fund-USA took ownership of Alexander Muss High School in Israel. We understand a hard truth: once, 19,300 American teenagers went to Israel each year for programs lasting five weeks or more. Today, that number has fallen below 3,500. We refused to accept that decline as inevitable.

So we set a bold goal: 10,000 students a year. And we didn’t stop there. Jewish National Fund-USA committed $25 million to a special initiative called Dream Israel to provide significant tuition grants—not only for Alexander Muss High School in Israel, but also for the Reform movement’s URJ Heller High, the Conservative movement’s Tichon Ramah programs, and Orthodox initiatives like Yeshivat Avner. Every stream. Every background. Every Jewish child with a pathway to Israel.

Israel is the great uniter of our Jewish people. Building that connection in our next generation is the answer to fostering enduring Jewish continuity. We are confident, courageous, and committed to our vision.

The challenges before us are great—but so is the moment. And moments like this demand leaders, institutions, and communities that invest boldly in the future rather than panic about the present.

Dynasties don’t chase hype.
They build.
They believe.
They endure.

Jewish National Fund-USA is doing just that—and you can join us as we make the right investments today for a Jewish future that will thrive not just for the next 25 years, but millennia to come.

The long game has always been our game.