AS A MATTER OF RIGHT

A brand new member of Congress demanded, as a price for her vote for Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, an end to “the old culture of waiting your turn.”  The need for instant gratification has become almost an obsession among some who clearly have never had to earn their place at the table themselves.

And, in Jewish communal life today that same attitude has gained momentum with the push to seat young leaders in the "room where it happens," on community Boards with nothing more to recommend them than their youth and enthusiasm. The question is: are those enough? Does service matter anymore in a culture of entitlement?

As one of you wrote:

"As a long time federation leader and a person who has attended numerous GA's where I have had a chance to interact with other lay leaders, a common thread that runs thru discussions I have had is that many individual federations can also be viewed as sending in the clowns.

 In efforts to bring in new young leadership too rapidly with little or no historical perspective (and often accompanied by new professional leadership with little or no historical perspective) these federations are facing a serious decline in campaign in real dollars as well as when comparing the value of the dollar today to the value 10-15 years ago as more established donors don't want to have anything to do with the new direction, or to surrender their support for traditional agencies in the local community and the overseas partners.

 While this is happening the new young leadership do not have the financial resources to replace the lost revenue. I believe this is a strong contributing factor to the explosion in donor advised funds, endowments, supporting foundations and other ways that have the effect of taking the decision making out of the hands of the clowns. The end result, I believe, is a contributing factor in the rapid decline in campaign dollars and donors to federations. Perhaps the next song ought to be a parody of the Peter Paul and Mary Song - 'Where Have All the Donors Gone?'"

This "phenomenon" is truly nothing new. Our friend, Jeff Solomon, and I collaborated on a white paper two decades ago that reflected on this push for instant gratification even then. We wrote Setting Standards for Volunteer Leadership and the Profession -- A Dialogue in the Journal of Jewish Communal Service in 2000. I believe it to be as relevant today as it was 18 years ago. But, that's just me.

And, back in the day...as a graduate of the Young Leadership Cabinet myself, I understood that "community service" in Chicago meant actually serving: thus I began to work in Campaign in our Lawyers Division and in the Year End (clean-up); and on the Federation Jewish Education and Missions Committees. Only after five years of these involvements was I elected to the Federation Board. By then I had been inculcated in the communal ethos.

I know of no community that is not interested in assuring interested furture leaders a communal leadership experience that they earn. Earn through service and commitment. Do you?````

Today, sadly, in too many places there is no ethos at all. So, perhaps it makes no difference if one learns anything about one's own community at all. And the results show it.

Rwexler