A LETTER TO THE CHAIR -- INCOMING

Dear Richard,

I recognize this letter to you upon your assuming the lay leadership of JFNA is presumptuous...but that's me!! I wish you well and every success. You come to this position with a perspective denied to your predecessor -- an experience with JFNA that Michael Siegal lacked; I know that you will use that experience well.

I recently read the following: A great American leader "...said that the only safe ship in a storm is leadership. In a crisis, leaders need to know what they stand for, and they need the guidance that comes from being clear about their own values." Knowing you from your accomplished leadership and learning from you of your leadership values, forgive me but I, all of us, expect great leadership from you from Day 1 of your Terms. You know what you stand for; and you know what JFNA can/must be...but isn't. I have walked proudly in your shoes. Before I assumed my years of Chairmanship, I watched my predecessors in one instance mismanage the lay-professional relationship. I learned the wrong way and determined that I would lead the right way. Please lead us in the right way. Over the last decade I have seen one ill-advised hiring decision after another...and I have observed the consequences of those decisions for an organization that must succeed. And, nothing is done.

Richard, effecting change at JFNA should not be the Sisyphean task that it has appeared to be. It's not impossible; it's merely that some have made it appear so. Among UJA leadership way back when we had a commitment; we would debate all things, and then we would unite behind our Chair. Under Siegal, leaders might debate -- but always behind closed doors ("breach the pact of Confidentiality and you are dead to us") -- but then it became clear that the Chair lacked the necessary support to, e.g., do anything of substance. So, Michael abandoned his own values and did nothing.

The so-called "JFNA Advisory Council" appears to be the Jewish organizational equivalent of the Congressional "Freedom Caucus" -- they have arrogated the power of JFNA governance to themselves and then have done nothing with it other than to frustrate change. With great respect, Richard, I would urge you, should you choose to perpetuate the "Advisory Council" that has replaced, for all intents and purposes, the now dead never to be revived, JFNA Executive Committee, to interview each member prior to their appointment or reappointment and assure that they commit to support the changes you know have to be made for JFNA to succeed. Then proceed.

There are many fantasists among JFNA lay and professional leadership -- preferring to believe that all is well rather than face up to the reality of daily failure. These fantasists have not only learned nothing from the mistakes of the past; they were determined to repeat them. And have. You can put a stop to this practice, first by bringing your sense of reality to JFNA and, then, acting to change that reality for the better and forever.

Sadly, you are going to quickly find, if you have not already, that JFNA is a place where mediocrity has become the aspiration; where excellence -- the standard that you will insist upon -- is not in the lexicon of JFNA's current professional leaders -- because they do not understand how to achieve it. At the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, working with a bright, energetic, aggressive  and visionary CEO, together you began to implement the transformational changes necessary to communal growth and creative engagement. From what I understand some of those changes were painful, wrenching, but they were done in the interests of the community, its present and future. Now is your opportunity to begin that process on a continental level. I ask you to look at the waste of the last 5+ years, at the sclerotic organization that you will now lead...and take the steps necessary to make change possible and to do so quickly, as you did in Los Angeles. There is no time to wait.

Can't wait to see you lead you us forward.

Sincerely,

Richard

Rwexler