BUSINESS AS USUAL

In early April JFNA and its brand new "partner," the ADL, announced a "joint venture" between the JFNA-Conference of Presidents Secure Community Network "...to enhance the safety, security and resiliency of religious communities." This sounds like an excellent idea with the announced leadership of two former Secretaries of the Department of Homeland Security as Co-Chairs.

What went unmentioned (of course) in the accolades and self-congratulatory messages was the financial history of the Secure Community Network (the "SCN") since 2004. For at its birth, the federations which voted to establish this critical entity sought one certain commitment. I remember the JFNA Board meeting discussion as if it were yesterday.

The federations agreed to fund the SCN through JFNA on the express condition that JFNA would fold the SCN Budget into its own after two years. This demand was made by John Ruskay, then the CEO of the New York UJA-Federation. The response -- "of course, we will." And, then, as baked into JFNA's culture as you would expect, after JFNA absorbed the small Budget, it suddenly could no longer do so. The Conference of Presidents certainly wasn't going to find the funds to do so, so the SCN was, like all of the National Agencies, cast off to go search for funds itself.

The SCN, among the highest priorities of the federation system was and has remained underfunded. JFNA was happy to grab the kavod, but that was it.

Now, the SCN has named these two renowned lay leaders as Co-Chairs, it has retained a superb and aggressive chief development officers (where will funds come to pay him?), and an expert staff. Sadly, JFNA once again dropped the ball, distracted by shiny objects...all objects.

If you return with me to 2006, just two years after JFNA commited to absorb the SCN Budget into its own, no one rose to challenge JFNA's refusal to do so. Security, one of the highest priorities of the system, became a budget irritant to JFNA which perpetuated its faux ownership while walking away fro its funding obligations. 

And, now, JFNA enters into a partnership with ADL. Good luck to ADL. And, what happened to that "partnership" with the Conference of Presidents? Who the hell knows?

Just another negative paradigm for JFNA, which never looks back as it never looks forward.

Rwexler