You may be aware of the baseball thesis that if both teams are disgusted with an umpire's calls, the ump must be doing a great job. Now, the GA in Tel Aviv where everybody...that's everyone...has found fault with JFNA, the GA and/or the federations.
And, by everyone: the Minister of the Diaspora, by his non-attendance (due to the tired excuse of "scheduling conflicts") testifies to JFNA's irrelevancy in Israel; Women of the Wall whose criticism more directly to JFNA's abandonment of a cause they claimed to embrace to the extent that Silverman led a march with them at the last GA in Israel -- a March, you will recall,was hardly attended; a general recognition that the specious tagline of this GA -- "We Need to Talk" is all about JFNA having nothing to do with talking with let alone listening to Israelis (other than those on the left and even very few of them).
If the GA were truly an attempt at the expression of the unity of the Jewish People -- you know "there is more that unites us than divides us" -- no organization could have made a greater mess of things than has JFNA. I know that some of you think I will blame this on JFNA's version of Inspector Clouseau, the honorable Director General of JFNA-Israel, Becky Caspi, to whom responsibility for this GA was delegated by Renee Rothman herself. And, of course, you are correct -- but not Caspi alone, there is Rothman and, ultimately, that lamest of Lame Ducks, Jerry Silverman himself.
There was some good news...or bad news presented as good. First, attendance was announced to the press (which, as always, lapped it up like a cat and a bowl of milk) attendance of 2,500 ("divided equally between North American and Israeli") instead of the annual hyperbolic 3,000. Then, to give it a real Israeli flavor, the Board was honored with the presence of the Governor of New Jersey (don't ask!! This is not a joke.). I wish there were more.
The GA got off to a good start with the descendants of Max Fisher and Moshe Sharett speaking (very briefly) to their inheritance followed by a Russian-Israeli who spoke to her life experiences ending in life in a UIA-owned Amigour experience; songs and dance. Then, what might have been compelling speeches from Israelis and North Americans marred only by their reading. (Note to whomever: have you heard of teleprompters -- their use may have allowed a series of presenters on important and emotional topics to have made a greater impact on the audience.) At the end of this almost 2 hour Opening Plenary, I understand that the GA theme has morphed from We Need to Talk to Just Sit and Listen.
Promotional materials and videos for the GA made it clear that Tel Aviv would be where "we" would "discuss the issues that matter most." Uh uh. Those issues didn't have a chance.
It needn't have begun or ended this way.
JFNA's lay and professional leaders, acting behind their usual wall of secrecy, have decided that the organization must avoid controversy at all costs -- take no positions, make no waves...it is the sha sha JFNA...hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil...unless it's really, really safe: like "we support Motherhood" (and, maybe, not even that). Thus, in the midst of the Kotel egalitarian prayer space controversy, after the Prime Minister's specious "it's all well, trust me" video address to last year's GA, all that the Board Chair could say in response was "thanks for the clarification."
So, anyone who expected that JFNA leaders would entertain discussion of anything of substance at the recently concluded TA GA, hasn't been paying attention...at all. And, know this: what was for decades a GA planned by federation lay and professional leaders with those of CJF and, in its first years, JFNA, is now an "event" in the hands of professionals like Silverman, Rothman, Caspi -- none of whom ever led or worked in a federation. It shows.
Friends, it wasn't just the Minister of Diaspora Affairs who found no reason to adjust his "schedule" so as to attend the GA; federation lay leaders couldn't/wouldn't make it wither. The best estimates of lay attendance were that about 750 North American lay leaders registered for this annual event. What once was the greatest event on the annual Jewish calendar is now an event most avoid. It is great no more. Once JFNA professed its partnership with Women of the Wall, this year that organization's Chair, Leah Aaron, harshly critical, wrote: The Federation's General Assembly -- A Squandered Opportunity. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/22891
It's all so sad. JFNA is the institutional embodiment of Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
So, long.
Rwexler
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