MORE STUFF

And so it continues in Lake Woebegone:

1. The Jewish Agency Board considered and then adopted a resolution that will reduce the number of Board meetings to two per year. I don't think there was any pretense here -- the faux lay involvement that is built-in to the JAFI Board's stated purposes will now become more non-existent. Congratulations!! (I'm syrprised that JFNA didn't pioneer this reductio ad absurdum but they have eliminated lay engagement in practice....never fear.)

2. In a recent self-promoting Op-Ed, https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/zoa-will-never-be-the-jews-of-silence/, the Zionist Organization of America's CEO and Chair announced that the ZOA (viz, Morton Klein) will "never be the Jews of silence." Surprise. Surprise. Having been found guilty of violating the rules of conduct by an impressive array of Conference of Presidents leaders (none of them among those vilified), Klein used the occasion to (a) again attack members of the Conference and (b), no surprise, attack the Conference of Presidents. As George M. Cohan said: "I don't care what you say about me as long as you say something about me, and as long as you get my name right."

3. You've been the incredibly successful CEO of American Friends of Tel Aviv University, increasing its annual fund raising exponentially, bringing in more dollars and more donors. Friends of yours implore you to leave AFTAU and succeed Josh Fogelson as CEO of JAID (the Jewish Agency International Development, JAFI'S fund raising arm). You've been promised the sun, the stars and the sky -- just as Josh and all of his predecessors were promised the same. They may not have mentioned that all of those who would be your predecessors -- each and every one of the five -- were effectively frustrated in the accomplishment of their goals (even those who were successful)...frustrated by those at the top of the organization. But, of course, you knew that.

4. Did you read JFNA's strong statement, echoing AIPAC's and the AJC's condemning Netanyahu's coalition building with the surviving remnant of Meir Kahane's racist party? If you did that's miraculous because JFNA has said NOTHING...nothing at all. Circling the drain, JFNA remains in its shell. We have come to expect nothing more.

5. In the category of "Wishful Thinking 1.01," there was this from the JFNA waste of print, FedWorld, on Januray 24:

"Charitable giving is expected to grow over the next two years, but a variety of factors, including the overall economic climate and recent changes to federal tax laws, could affect this prediction>"

 Duh.

6. One of my friends, a long-time successful Federation CEO in a number of communities observed: "They paid Bridgespan Consulting Group hundreds of thousands and all JFNA got was a 'Dashboard.' You'd think that with all they paid they would have gotten the whole car?"

7. Then there is New York UJA-Federation which raised the following critical question to the millions of Jews in the New York area:

 "Sweet, salty. Even a bit dry. You could say New Yorkers are a flavorful bunch. And that's what makes our community unique. So what's your bagel personality?"

How do you respond to this? Will NY-UJA soon be pursuing #ish?

So, best of luck.

Rwexler