From the GA: Federation Head Cautions Against ‘Either-Or’ Approach

“Israel’s security is synonymous with our own,” Rep. Eric Cantor, House GOP whip, told the gathering of Jewish federations in Washington. “Her enemies are our enemies.” JTA

“Israel’s security is synonymous with our own,” Rep. Eric Cantor, House GOP whip, told the gathering of Jewish federations in Washington. “Her enemies are our enemies.” JTA

by Gary Rosenblatt
Editor And Publisher

Washington, D.C. — Perhaps the clearest statement of The Jewish Federations of North America’s focus going forward at a time of economic upheaval and retrenchment came from Joe Kanfer, the lay chair of the umbrella group of 157 U.S. and Canadian federations.

Speaking here at the opening plenary of the General Assembly, the group’s annual meeting, Kanfer outlined four goals for the organization:

- a commitment to connecting young people to Israel (primarily by supporting Birthright Israel trips and follow-up programs);

- leveraging “the significant trend of volunteerism” among young people and incorporating Jewish values;

- addressing “the biggest issue of our time: affordability and access to Jewish life,” since “far too many Jews can’t afford” educational programs like day schools and camps;

- and

working to create a new culture of innovation in the federation system.

Kanfer argued against the “either-or mentality” of choosing which causes to address, asserting that “experimentation must be embraced” in addition to attending to the basic social service needs federations have long championed.

His comments appeared to respond to widespread criticism in recent years that The Jewish Federations of North America (until recently known as United Jewish Communities, or UJC) lacked a clear vision of its mission and a creative approach to attract younger donors.

The following day, the group’s new CEO, Jerry Silverman, in apparent acknowledgement of complaints about the organization, emphasized that “we have to earn your respect.”

He called for more cooperation among and with federations, noting that “problems won’t be met without collective action.”

Silverman ended his talk by saying “anything is possible,” a recurring phrase at the GA this year and a final note of several presentations, sometimes juxtaposed with Theodor Herzl’s far more lyrical “if you will it, it is no dream.”

Among the young people featured at the opening plenary were Joy Sisisky, a former Joint Distribution Committee fellow who left her home and job in New York to spend extended time working with Jews in the Ukraine and Ethiopia, and Benjamin Sternklar-Davis, a 12-year-old boy who along with his family dedicated a playground in his name in Sderot, in honor of his bar mitzvah.

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren, in his address, urged synagogues to hang banners, in addition to ones highlighting the plight of Darfur, that say “Support International Sanctions and Stop The Iranian Bomb.”

It seemed a subtle critique of Jewish institutions that appear more active on behalf of world causes than those directly impacting on Jews and Israel.

Assessing the state of Jewish philanthropy a year after the economic meltdown and Bernard Madoff scandal, philanthropist Charles Bronfman said, “we’re hurting but we’ll come back.”

In a discussion (moderated by this reporter) on “The Art of Giving,” the title of a new book he co-wrote with Jeffrey Solomon, president of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, Bronfman noted that Americans are the most generous people in the world and that Jews are the most generous segment of American society.

Solomon said that philanthropy is “growing exponentially” in the U.S. and around the world, “and there is no reason to believe it will stop.” He said that Israel ranks among the top five countries in the world in per capita philanthropy, a new trend within the Jewish state.

Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA.), the Republican whip in the House of Representatives, offered a cautionary view of Jewish affairs, saying “too many American Jews have grown desensitized” to the problems Israel faces, and by extension, American Jewry as well.

“When is it too late?” to stop the tide of anti-Jewish sentiment, he asked, noting that the United Nations accepts the Goldstone report on the Gaza conflict highly critical of Israel, Scandinavian newspapers assert Israeli soldiers trafficked in Palestinian organs and Turkish television broadcasts reports of Israeli soldiers killing Palestinian babies.

Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, said that “when we dally or fret” while Iran continues to develop a nuclear bomb, it may be too late to stop it. “Israel’s security is synonymous with our own,” he said. “Her enemies are our enemies.” He urged the Jewish community to “resist complacency” and continue the fight for Israel “before it is too late.”

Natan Sharansky, the chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel, seemed to be everywhere during the GA, speaking at numerous sessions, emphasizing the need for his organization to shift its mission from rescue to connecting diaspora Jews to Israel.

He acknowledged that it is more difficult to raise funds for an abstract goal like countering assimilation than it is for the dramatic liberation of persecuted Jews, but he said it was just as important.

Sharansky has been working to heal the tensions between major funders of Birthright Israel and the Jewish Agency’s Masa program, which promotes visits to Israel of at least one semester. The two groups met together on Sunday morning at a breakfast hosted at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.

At a press conference later with participants of Do The Write Thing, a World Zionist Organization program that brings several dozen college-student journalists to the GA each year, Sharansky expressed skepticism about J Street, the pro-peace-process lobby.

“They have to prove” their commitment to Israel, he said, adding that there is “a big gap between their statements” and some of their actions.

“I hope they don’t represent too many Jews.”

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel told the delegates at the closing plenary on Tuesday that peace between Israel and the Palestinians can only be achieved “through negotiations without preconditions.”

This point, considered critical to the pro-Israel community at a time when the Palestinian Authority is insisting on a complete Israeli settlement freeze before taking part in talks, appeared to go unnoticed during a speech seeking to reassure the Jewish community of the Obama administration’s “unbreakable bond” with Israel, in Emanuel’s words.

Though he was applauded warmly in pledging U.S. fealty to Israel and when he announced that he and his brother, Ari, a well-known Hollywood agent, were taking their sons to Israel this week for their bar mitzvahs, some of his Mideast statements were received with far less enthusiasm.

The White House official said he knew some American Jews were “upset” with the administration’s opposition to settlements, but he asserted that the position was consistent with that of previous U.S. governments.

The U.S. will play an “active and sustained role” in working toward Mideast peace, he said, adding that the private meeting between President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House Monday evening was “very positive.”

In light of talk of the possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority, Emanuel said the Israeli leader “understands the need to move this process ahead” and that anyone ready to give up on the notion of a two-state solution should “step back” and consider the long-term implications, which would represent a threat to Israeli democracy because of the demographics of the region.

E-mail: Gary@jewishweek.org

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