The question must be asked, are these the right people, are these right groups to lead possibly the most important effort, combating the most invidious attack on Israel's economic existence and Israel's position among the family of nations? And, while among the organizations that did not attend the Adelson-Boteach Vegas "Summit" -- the system's own Israel Action Network, the system's Hillel, and the always silent JFNA (if any possible controversy might attach to any position it might take, it stands mute, as you may have observed), among others -- will the federation system, if it even exists anymore, have any role? And, if not, why not?
Of course, any activity in which mega-donor Sheldon Adelson decides to put his substantial economic weight behind is shadowed by his political views -- domestic or with regard to Israel -- right or wrong (or more right), whether one agrees with them or not. I can think of no "contribution" that Adelson has made -- political or charitable -- in which he has not demanded "control." This has been true with his annual Republican "summit" demanding fealty to his positions on Israel; true with his incredible contributions to Taglit-Israel, he demanded the termination of the then CEO and installed his "man" (a terrific leader); true in his home community where the community has sacrificed two excellent federation CEOs to Adelson's demands -- and probably true elsewhere as well. Or will Adelson use the BDS issue to further strengthen the involvement of his (yes, I chose the possessive intentionally) Israeli American Council in domestic Jewish affairs? The announcement last week that the professional leader of the Campus Maccabees will be the head of Christians United for Israel seems to answer the question of whether this campus effort will somehow reflect its founder's/funder's political views -- not in a good way, no matter this chosen professional's leadership skills.
Who knows who attended this Adelson "summit?" What we do know is that the recipe for on-campus chaos has been brewed while our central organizations...who knows where the hell they are. Then there's the Jewish National Fund chewing up yardage on the federations' side of the field wherever one looks. As The Jewish Week reported:
"The Jewish National Fund (JNF), better known for planting trees in Israel, announced Monday the creation of a $100 million Israel advocacy center intended to help Jewish high school and college students advocate for Israel and fight BDS. The center was launched through an estate gift by the late John and Dora Boruchin, California real-estate developers and Holocaust survivors."JNF will not be standing on the sidelines...but how will they coordinate their $100 million program with the Adelson effort, if at all? Don't know do we?
And, JFNA. You remember as I do that late last Summer, Jerry "We-Are-All-Over-This-BDS-Thing" Silverman was patting himself on the back once again (does his arm ever tire??) this time as JFNA, we were told, was the convener of all of the players in the campus anti-BDS effort. Then, as usual, as the applause died out, it turned out that JFNA actually did and was doing nothing. Maybe they meant that the IAN was doing so but the IAN is woefully underfunded given the challenges it faces 24/7. And the Jewish Agency is dispatching twice the number of its Israel Fellows to campuses across the country. Soon, I can picture a campus scenario where the Adelson Maccabees are recruiting JAFI Fellows who are recruiting JNF staffers to join the anti-BDS efforts while Jewish students watch in amazement at the confusion these efforts can create.
Meanwhile, once again, and as usual, our organization (which is hardly ours) is caught with its head in the sand while others fall all over each other funding and doing what we should be. Oh, that Adelson-Boteach Campus Maccabee "Initiative" by invitation only event? IAN and the Israel on Campus Coalition "decided not to attend."
Will anyone at JFNA's IAN even attempt to coordinate with JNF's new incredibly well-funded effort or the Adelson Initiative the funding for which is far less, for example, than the tens of millions Sheldon and Miriam Adelson contributed to keep Newt Gingrich in the Presidential race in 2011? Or will our system's efforts, so woefully underfunded as to be potentially meaningless, become just another non-event for the federation system? It's chaos.
Our shame never stops.
Rwexler
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23 comments:
"What Adelson has done to campaign financing he is now doing to Israel activism: bypassing the established organizations, bestowing millions upon his favorites, and bending the communal agenda to fit his perspective and his will." This isn't going to help students, Israel or the community.
http://forward.com/opinion/editorial/309821/how-sheldon-adelson-could-really-fight-bds/
I'm not sure it's fair to blame JFNA for JNF not wanting to cooperate. Or coordinate. Seems like JNF is just wanting to do its own thing.
Why do our federations have to jump to rhe will of Adelson? You say we're caught with our heads in the sand ... Did you want a bunch of federations doing some ridiculous PR efforts? Or some grandiose scheme to rival that of JNF? I see federations working hard on the grassroots to build coalitions and capacity. You don't need fancy national initiatives for that. Just decent hard-working community institutions.
No argument with your analysis today...
In a related matter you and your readers may want to take note of the three vacuous responses of JFNA/Federation lay leaders in Misha Galperin's forum found in today's e-jewish philanthropy. They are best characterized as a say nothing hodgepodge of verbiage, arrogance, and elitism that never gets beyond the marketing jargon of a bad annual meeting speech. Be curious as to other's take, as well as yours Richard.
And in another related matter, you and your readers may want to read Eric Yoffie's excellent article in today's Haaretz. Did our federations (most of them) jump too fast to reject the Iran deal?
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.668022
"the Los Angeles Federation made a wholly unnecessary but completely reparable mistake by urging its members to defeat the Iran deal. In doing so, it misrepresented the people it purports to represent, alienated a good chunk of them, and clouded, rather than clarified, the Iran deal debate. ... There is a real debate going on over this issue. If the Federation wants to lead on this issue, wonderful—but first, listen."
It's not too late. Excellent commentary by Rob Eshman. Very relevant for our federations.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/rob_eshman/article/federation_take_it_back
Does any sensible thinking person imagine a situation in which "America's rabbi" would become a non-partisan, willing to reach out and cooperate? What our colleagues have seen in this gathering is a complete lack of humility.
The campuses aren't centrally organized. Why are you demanding a centrally organized response? UCLA is different from NYU - do you think we need a single bureaucracy to rule us all?
No, let's have a separate bureaucracy for every campus. Have you ever heard of something called "coordination?" Do you object to coordination at a minimum or do you support what Richard suggests may be "chaos?" And, if you agree there should be coordination, who/what should lead it?
So in the end all the story's come together: federation irrelevance; the cooptation by the radical right of anti BDS efforts on campus; the demonization of Jews and Jewish groups, one of another; and few voices championing dialogue, civility and reconciliation. So very sad.
FedWorld July 28 2015 NewsFlash
JFNA's roadmap to fundraising has been paved. Agron is Back! Yes, Vicki Agron is back on the team and disco is en vogue. Agron will be flanked by Max Kleinman, retired CEO of MetroWest and Bob Aronson, the same from Detroit. What a team!! Jerry, you got vision! It's been heard that Jeronamoe is in the process of bringing back Elton Kerness and David Agronin. Stanley Horowitz was unavailable. What's old is new. Now that's a Fedovation! Hashem help us
Richard:
Your blog is an important resource for our discussions and you deserve credit for giving us this space. We should discuss this:
"Thus, in the days after the Iran deal, American Jewish leaders didn’t wait for polls of American Jews. Nor is there any public evidence that the eight Federations that came out against the deal surveyed Jews in their cities first. So how did Jewish leaders make their decision? When I asked an influential Jewish communal official, he said simply: “They consulted their boards.” In other words, they consulted their large donors."
There is much that Beinart gets wrong here. And yet there is a point that we can't ignore either: "Whether or not you support the Iran nuclear agreement, it has laid bare a profound gulf between American Jews and the organizations that purport to represent them."
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.668571
There's a piece about Philadelphia today that's even more striking.
Is it really 8? Surely more?
But yes, in my community there was no community discussion or board discussion.
To those who have expressed their concerns with community process (or the apparent lack thereof): I will attempt to jumpstart a discussion on these pages -- on or about mid-August.
Philadelphia link please
It was also reported in the Forward that the vote of the Boston Federation to oppose the treaty was "unanimous". Our congrats should go to comrade leader Barry for keeping liberal Boston Jewry in line.
This is the Philadelphia story:
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.668607
In my community -- and perhaps in yours too -- there are those who attack voices of decency by calling them self-hating Jews. They would stifle dissent, destroy debate, and cripple our federations on the alter of AIPAC and its misguided passions.
Fortunately there are voices of calm leadership. We need them in the federation community too.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/should_federation_take_sides_a_rabbinic_letter_of_support_for_the_iran_agre
I think it's bigger than LA. We are ill-served by AIPAC pushing us into the Republican Party. Even if AIPAC wins, and the administration loses the vote(s), the consequences for Jewish organizations will be dire.
I agree. I personally don't support this Administration. But we need tolerance and respect and dialogue in the federation system. Not imposition of one party rule.
I think the point of these articles is that AIPAC already has won.
AIPAC wins regardless of the vote in Congress. This year, and next, will see record fundraising results as a result of picking this fight. And that's very important to Mr. Kohr.
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