The Global Planning Table Committee met on September 12. All of a sudden JFNA believes it can preempt comment by sending out its own Summary of the meeting. I have redacted the already brief report from David Butler as follows:
First another repetition of the schedule and the Rube Goldberg-like structure. Yada, yada, yada.
Then, "(The Work Groups) began with very broad area assignments, and were asked to narrow the focus of planned work in each area. Their challenging task was to look within each area at the programs we are funding collectively as well as potential new areas of engagement, and to articulate high level goals and priorities for our collective work going forward.
Today, we heard from the first two groups and reports will be delivered by the remaining groups in late October. Once all four have had a chance to present their recommendations, we will share them with all of you and with the broader community through a series of consultations and input sessions designed to help us move closer to a set of action recommendations.
This is not a simple task, and our discussions have been highly engaging and even challenging at times. We are fortunate to have such motivated and passionate leaders working collaboratively to refine our collective mission and determine how and where we can work together to have the greatest impact around our Jewish world."
Then, more yada, yada, yada and Happy New Year.
In other words...nothing happened...or, maybe something did but they're not sharing anything with you. But, I have always believed it is good form for a bunch of Jewish leaders to get together and work toward....what, exactly? The GPT could very well be the most colossal waste of lay and professional time and communal dollars short of the TribeFests than any other "organized" (and I use that word advisedly) activity in Jewish communal history.
More's the pity.
Rwexler
Posts
3 comments:
Hey, old man, you left out a critical element of the GPT meeting -- Butler's 1/2 hour apparently scripted warning that those who breach the total, absolute, unequivocal confidentiality of these meetings will be summarily dismissed from, I guess, Jewish life.
Guess that means me.
That's just part of it.
It appeared to me and many others that each of the Work Group Reports we worked on was rewritten somewhere in the bowels of JFNA -- almost totally. Why are we asked to come to out of town meetings, waste hours/days of time that is precious to us, only to have our discussions and work ignored, substituted by the wisdom of those who have not a clue of the issues we are addressing in our communities?
Confidentiality be damned -- they want to be able to ignore us hidden under a blanket of secrecy.
Sexret meetings, secret rewrites...it's all a bit clandestine and a secret waste of a secret amount of money.
Post a Comment