Tuesday, December 25, 2018

GET ON WITH THE TASK!!

The time is long past to get on with the task of cleaning up the mess that is JFNA. Long, long past. This is not the time for further introspection; not the time for further delay occasioned by a misbegotten consultant study (whose idea was that?); not the time to await the arrival of another CEO. This is the time for action.

As one of you wrote in response to the Post on Duty:
"You have hit the nail on the head!
Is it our duty to say "Aye" because that is what is expected of us or is it our duty to express our real opinion and say "Nay" if we think that the proposals on the table are not good for the organization?
The answer is obvious and the time has come for lay leadership to begin to lead rather than be led like a herd of sheep.
It is our DUTY to lead and not to go along with every proposal staff puts in front of us, even if they have managed to get other lay people to sign off on them.
In short, the time has come to change the organizational culture and the rules of engagement."
It would be nice to see some leadership, wouldn't it? I have absolute faith that the JFNA Board will follow Mark Wilf's lead; in fact, they are waiting for it. "Enough," as my friend, Charles  Bronfman, used to say, "Enough." Enough already.

On December 16 four courageous federation, JFNA and overseas leaders, on the cusp of a JFNA Executive Committee meeting forcefully said "enough" noting precisely and specifically that the JFNA Overseas Task Force Recommendations failed to meet any standard of reason, fact or opinion. ( There are rumors that, unlike "standard practice," where the JFNA Executive Committee would vote to approve anything put before them without regard for debate or dissents, at its December 10 meeting, the Executive did not vote at all. Awaiting clarification.)

It is up to JFNA Board members themselves, led by Wilf, to declare that the four dissenting leaders do not stand alone; that their dissent will not just be a one-off but will be the start of JFNA leaders standing up, pulling the organization along with them. 

After almost two decades of mediocrity, of failure, of backing away from their responsibilities it is past time for more of the same, it is time, long overdue, for action, for pulling the organization from the torpor of twenty years.

The odds of positive revolution are slim, but they exist.

On with the task.

Rwexler




4 comments:

Anonymous said...

YOU ARE 100% CORRECT ABOUT WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
We can only pray that Mark Wilf will rise to the occasion and show true leadership by taking this off the table.
If he doesn't, it will be up to the rest of us to do so by standing up to oppose it and by defeating it.
It doesn't need to be edited or modified - it needs to be totally rejected - period.
Once real lay leadership has "taken back" our organization, hopefully we will be able to save it from the downward spiral that it is currently in.

Anonymous said...

We need to find a way to get this message out to as wide a distribution as possible. This blog, unfortunately, doesn't have a wide enough reader base. How can we reach those that need to hear this urgent message so that they can mobilize and act on it accordingly?

Anonymous said...

Mazel Tov Richard on your new job with JNF. Thanks for sharing your good news

RWEX said...

Thanks. When the time is appropriate; of course, I will share all.