Growing up in the '70s in the small Illinois town of Rock Island, David Rubovits was raised with strong Jewish roots.
In a town with only 450 Jewish families, Rubovits had no complaints. Until high school. There, he faced frequent antisemitic taunts. "I was the kid getting pushed and shoved and told to 'give me your money, cuz you're Jewish," he said.
Before retiring in July, Rubovits, the outgoing JUF Chief Operating Officer, reflected on 37 years of experience in nonprofit management, program development, and organizational leadership--23 of them serving JUF and its agencies-and his winding journey to the Chicago Jewish community.
His toxic high school experience motivated him to choose a college, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with a large Jewish student population. After earning his bachelor's--and later his master's and doctorate--in psychology, he joined the fledgling field of pediatric behavioral medicine, which integrates behavioral and biomedical concepts to treat patients. He worked for 14 years in the field, in Houston and then Pittsburgh.
There, an unlikely group--an order of nuns--would help propel Rubovits to enter the Jewish communal world by teaching him about "mission-driven work." The Sisters of Mercy, who owned and operated the Catholic hospital where he worked, Their passion inspired Rubovits to pivot to human service nonprofits--and ultimately the Jewish nonprofit world.
That's when he discovered JUF's network in Chicago, where he met with two seasoned JUF professionals, the late Peter Friedman and the late Robert Bloom. A longtime JUF executive vice president, Friedman connected him to Bloom, the veteran executive director of the Jewish Children's Bureau.
In 2001, Bloom hired Rubovits to lead program development and evaluation at JCB. Then, in 2007, Rubovits helped facilitate JCB's merger with other agencies--creating what is now JCFS Chicago.
The following year, Rubovits joined JUF, where he helmed various areas of the Planning & Allocations Department, the Grants team, and several other projects. When the economy plunged, Rubovits helped build the programmatic side of JHELP--supporting and expanding the local system to respond to growing financial strain in the community.
In 2012, he rose to Senior Vice President of Planning & Allocations, guiding JUF's extensive local, national, and overseas system of agencies and programs. In that role, Rubovits led the consolidation of disparate parts of JUF's engagement work to create the Community Outreach & Education Department. "The single biggest thing we do is that giant push of dollars to agencies," he said. "Focusing strategically both on process, and on what we're trying to achieve, was a big deal."
Rubovits helped to facilitate many high-impact JUF initiatives, including two he's most proud of--expanding services for people with disabilities, and spearheading the 2020 Metropolitan Chicago Jewish Population Study.
That same year, JUF President Lonnie Nasatir elevated Rubovits to Chief Operations Officer, charging him with allocating resources for, and maximizing the efficacy of, JUF. Rubovits also led the successful transition to remote work during the pandemic.
"David guided us beautifully, despite very turbulent times--including both COVID and October 7
th
," Nasatir said. "We will miss his profound knowledge of our community and professional approach, his can-do attitude, and his attention to detail, as well as his kindness."
Today, things have come full circle for Rubovits, as the Jewish people navigate alarming levels of antisemitism, something he feels is "a little too" reminiscent of his small-town origin story. That's why, he said, the work of JUF matters. "I really believe in the power of the collective," he said. "When stuff goes sideways, we can do things here to tamp it down."
Rubovits' next chapter is still unwritten, but he plans to return to several hobbies and cultivate new interests, and spend more time with his wife and their 22-year-old twins. He advises his children with the same piece of wisdom he has heeded throughout his own journey: "Order your days--your lives--so that you're doing the things that matter the most to you."
Jenny Puchtel succeeds Rubovits as JUF's Chief Operating Officer.