Campus Partners

Learning. Culture. History. Service. Worship. All at One Address. That address is 5200 Old Mill Road.

The Rifkin Campus at 5200 brings together under one roof Congregation Achduth Vesholom, the Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne, the Fort Wayne Jewish Cemetery Association, and PFW's Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, as well as strengthens the Temple's long-term association with Temple Head Start, a program of Brightpoint (formerly Community Action of Northeast Indiana).

Congregation Achduth Vesholom, Indiana's oldest Jewish congregation, has been located on Old Mill Road since 1961. For some 20 years, Temple Head Start has offered preschool classes during the week in Achduth Vesholom's Religious School wing. In early 2014, we began transitioning to our new Campus and began welcoming additional partners.

Fort Wayne Jewish Cemetery Association

The Fort Wayne Jewish Cemetery Association is the volunteer administration that oversees the Fort Wayne Jewish Cemetery, which is located at 6224 Decatur Rd., Fort Wayne, IN 46807 at the intersection of Decatur Rd. and Hystone Ave. (41.025772,-85.123268)

The Fort Wayne Jewish Cemetery was founded in 1912 by Eastern European Jews as the Orthodox Jewish Cemetery of Fort Wayne. It is now open to all Jews and is not affiliated with either local congregation. (The other Jewish burial space in Fort Wayne can be found at Lindenwood Cemetery. Plots there can be purchased only by members of Congregation Achduth Vesholom. Find out more.)

Requests for information may be made to President Dan Zweig at fwjewishcemetery@gmail.com or to:

Fort Wayne Jewish Cemetery Association
c/o Rifkin Campus at 5200
5200 Old Mill Rd.
Fort Wayne, IN 46807

Gravesites are available for purchase and must be accompanied by a perpetual care fee. Check with the Jewish Cemetery Association for current prices. Donations for the upkeep of the cemetery are appreciated.

Burial lists are not yet computerized.

Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne

We welcomed the Jewish Federation of Fort Wayne to its new home at the Rifkin Campus at 5200 in June 2014. At the Federation's annual meeting, a mezuzzah hanging ceremony was led by rabbis from Achduth Vesholom and Congregation B'nai Jacob to celebrate the occasion.

The Federation represents the Jewish community interests in Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio. The Federation works to perpetuate and sustain Jewish life through programs and services to the Jewish community and works to ensure a thriving Jewish community.

Since 1921, the Jewish Federation has provided educational and cultural programs, helped to fight racism, and provided funds to help Jews and other people in peril here and throughout the world through a philanthropic fund drive.

The Federation provides funding assistance to encourage local Jewish youths to learn in Israel, sponsors a community-wide Holocaust Remembrance Day, hosts a People of the Book lecture, engages Fort Wayne youths each summer with Camp Joe Levine, brings in guest speakers on Israel and other topics, assists the needy through Thoughtful Thursdays and in emergency situations, and bring together the Jewish community for social events.

PFW's Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Purdue Fort Wayne's Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies became the newest resident of the Rifkin Campus at 5200 in Fall 2016. The Institute then hired Dr. Patricia Rodda, its first part-time outreach coordinator, to staff the satellite location to help reach area K-12 teachers interested in teaching about the Holocaust and genocide with available resources. Dr. Rodda left in 2018 to accept a teaching position, and IHGS currently is searching for someone to replace her.

IHGS, which was established in 2009, promotes public awareness of the Holocaust and other genocides worldwide; encourages and supports scholarship, research, and teaching at IPFW about the Holocaust and genocide; and promotes public participation in efforts both to confront contemporary genocides as it occurs and to engage in global genocide prevention efforts. It is one of PFW’s Centers of Excellence. For more information, contact Dr. Steve Carr, director of IHGS, at ihgs@pfw.edu or (260) 481-6545.

Brightpoint Head Start

For about 20 years, Brightpoint (formerly Community Action of Northeast Indiana) has offered Head Start classes on weekdays in the Temple’s Religious School wing.

Head Start is a federal program that provides preschool services and social services for parents of children ages 3-5 years old. All the families live below the poverty level. Preschool children receive health, mental health, nutrition, dental, vision, and hearing services.

In October 2010, the Fort Wayne Jewish community partnered to create Thoughtful Thursdays to assist the 70 students who attend Brightpoint Head Start at the Rifkin Campus and their families with food and educational items.