THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Just so you know:


~ The outgoing Board Chair wanted a "tribute event" dedicated to praising Caesar at the GA. You were spared as the leadership explained that the GA is about the future, not the past. Appropriately, a "by invitation only" dinner was held on the eve of the GA.

~ Organizations attempting to schedule meetings with The Chair of Global Operations: Israel and Overseas will learn that the Chair, who was a no show at the JAFI BOG meetings last week, won't be attending the GA either.

~ Now that The JFNA and its affiliated organizations in the "rescue the Yemenite Jews" operation have gone from outright fiasco to the front page of The Wall Street Journal, I expect to see a few Yemenite Jews on the stage of some Plenary. (Call the journalist who by-lined the WSJ story to ask if she received hate mail telling her she had "blood on her hands" for telling the story.) We have seen this "relocation" go from "top secret" to a national news story written with minimal diligence, the numbers go from an expected 120 or so to 62 with "...an undetermined number...expected to follow." Strangely, we have witnessed JAFI and JDC ignored in the process morph into "UJC/Federations have worked with our historic partner in aliyah and klitah, the Jewish Agency, to encourage the remaining Yemenite Jews to make aliyah to Israel." So, all's well that ends well or all's well that ends...



~ Preview the five Finalists for your/their 2009 Jewish Community Hero Award on You Tube. Then change your flight plans home to attend the Closing Plenary for the announcement of the Hero. I think you know my view: even after 500,000 votes (or thereabouts) the 2009 Jewish Community Heroes are those federation professionals who have worked so hard to hold their communities together through 2009 so that there will be a Jewish communal future. But, hey, that's just me.

Rwexler




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