ADVOCACY LITE

After almost a decade of neglect of its moral responsibility to serve as an advocate for federation collective responsibility, it appears as if The Jewish Federations of North America is about to dip its toes in the shallowest of waters of that advocacy. Is it another chapter in "too little, too late" or nothing at all, or actually something? Draw your own conclusions.

From inside The Jewish Feds of NA, I have learned how our national organization contemplates its engagement in this effort asof right now. At a meeting with some professional leaders of JAFI and JDC convened at the Washington General Assembly (a follow-up to the "secret September 23 meeting" of the same organizations), JFNA had clearly delegated responsibility for a "plan" to its Development lay and professional leadership. But the "plan" that this arm of The Jewish Federations of North America has developed to date suggests that its leaders don't really want their fingerprints to be found in its implementation.

What has emerged to date is a JFNA "stealth" advocacy plan. Here is what I have pieced together:

The advocacy burden is expected to be carried forward by individuals within each federation who will serve as "liaisons" to advocate locally. The Jewish Federations of North America's role will be to train and "educate" these leaders through materials and missions. And, as to advocacy, that appears to be it. JFNA won't be getting its hands dirty with what is and has been one of its key responsibilities. It's "advocacy lite." Has any one with any experience in overseas advocacy been involved in this "planning effort?" No.

As I see it, JFNA remains reluctant to dirty its hands in meeting what is its moral responsibility. The "plan" (and how demeaning to the concept of "planning") seems to sense that "advocacy" is a potential source of conflict with the federations so JFNA shies away from the moral course, suggesting, at least at present, that advocacy will best be done from the inside. JAFI and JDC (and anyone with any experience) leaders have already learned that that just hasn't worked -- the best that can be achieved through this methodology is to hold the allocation at current levels -- not a bad thing, but not the best thing -- and even that is doubtful.

So, what could be done? Why not revisit the UJC Global Accountability effort with a serious commitment of JFNA professional attention. Let the Agency and Joint do the planning and programming with The Jewish Federations of North America assuming responsibility for scheduling and managing community visits. Using the power of the purse, JFNA leaders would mandate that JAFI/JDC work together in this effort and that they fund it according to the "split." Representatives of JFNA, the Agency and Joint would be assigned communities with which they would work over the course of the year -- not just, as was the case with the brief experiment in Global Accountability, once a year. JFNA must evidence a real commitment acknowledging in the process that it has a responsibility to lead this effort not merely inform it.

The lack of national advocacy has created a void -- one that absent a commitment from JFNA the beneficiaries of that advocacy will fill -- and that potentially destructive process has already begun. But, it's not too late...just getting there.

Rwexler