An in-depth interview in today's Jerusalem Post with Yossi: 'We know for sure from the last quarter-century that an energized Jewish people energizes a federation system. What no one has figured out yet is how to reverse this formula: for an inspired federation system to energize the Jewish people. That connection hasn't yet been made, articulated, sold and implemented," says Yossi Abramowitz. To manage the current financial crisis and solve the deeper problems in Jewish life, the UJC must take a hard look at some underlying structural realities. While he insists on remaining positive throughout the discussion - "it's about taking a good system and making it great" - Abramowitz articulates concern about the future of the federation system. It is a system that depends increasingly on the … Continue Reading
Jewish Philanthropy in Israel’s Press
Timed to coincide with the various events these two weeks, the Israeli press has had a significant uptick in North American Jewish philanthropy related stories. Here are some links - just a few of the news stories and opinion pieces - appearing in The Jerusalem Post these past few days: Pledges are up, but checks are being delayed Donation pledges from North American Jews for next year are up, but many who promised to give money this year are asking to delay handing over their checks, the leaders of North America's umbrella Jewish organization said Sunday. Charity dollars are holy dollars (an opinion piece by Gil Troy) The General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities is meeting in Jerusalem with the world reeling from the economic meltdown. More than 2,500 powerhouse leaders … Continue Reading
The Week That Is
The global organized Jewish world has descended on Israel. Lay leaders, professionals, philanthropists and others, have come for a long list of academic conferences, board meetings, field trips, networking and more. Timed around this year's UJC General Assembly (GA) and the conclusion of events honoring Israel's 60th anniversary, thousands of guests are learning, schmoozing and just having fun as they fan out through-out the country. We're covering many of these events, focusing heavily on the 'tachlis' of the NowGeneration, communal innovation and professional development within the Jewish world. We're hearing and learning a great deal we will share with you. But, from early last week we noticed a significant uptick in 'out-of-office' replies. So we decided to hold off on some of what we have to … Continue Reading
Over 3,000 American Jews to Convene in Jerusalem
We know some of our readers are not familiar with the GA, which returns to Jerusalem tonight after five years. Here's a brief introduction. In the first major American Jewish conference following the historic election of President-elect Barack Obama, 3,000 American Jews will convene in Jerusalem November 16 - 19, to discuss the impact of the American presidential election and pending election in Israel on the global Jewish community, the state of philanthropic giving within the Jewish charitable network, the world economic crisis and America and world Jewry's continued partnership with the State of Israel. United Jewish Communities (UJC), the North American umbrella organization for the Jewish federation system, will host over 3,000 Jewish participants from North America and Israel for the … Continue Reading
Nachman Shai – Where Are You?
Media relations at the upcoming GA are off to a roaring start. A briefing to discuss the what and why of the upcoming GA was scheduled for 4 pm today. UJC Senior Vice President and Director General of UJC Israel, Nachman Shai was to be the speaker. At 4:05 pm, he called to say he was to busy to show up - and made no offer to the waiting participants to reschedule. I sure hope this is not an indication of media relations over the next week. With the multitude of concurrent programs, everyone's time is pretty valuable. … Continue Reading
Young, Jewish and Working For Change
Just in time for the GA, the UJC has unveiled the results of a groundbreaking study on Jewish service program participants. Highlighting this growing field, the study also found that service programs foster a commitment to social justice; the sense that volunteering is an important Jewish value; contributes to a sense of community and allows new communal relationships that allow young Jews to create new forms of Jewish expression while simultaneously developing the next generation of leaders and donors. from the study introduction: "Tikkun olam, the historic Hebrew phrase for ‘repairing’ or ‘perfecting’ the world lies at the heart of the Jewish service movement. Understood as much as a concept of social justice as an imperative to serve, the tradition extends beyond the obligations to … Continue Reading
Economic Crisis Puts Squeeze on GA
from the front page of today's Jerusalem Post: The United Jewish Communities' (UJC) annual General Assembly, to be held here next week, could end up being the smallest gathering since the organization - considered the backbone of North American Jewry - started holding its central conference in the Jewish state 10 years ago, The Jerusalem Post has learned. According to sources close to the GA who preferred to remain anonymous, conference organizers had hoped that close to 5,000 people from the US would attend the event, set to take place at Jerusalem's International Convention Center. However, said the source, only about half that number have so far confirmed attendance. … Continue Reading
The GA is Coming to Town
They say timing is everything. But one wonders, is it the upcoming UJC General Assembly, next week's Jerusalem Mayoralty elections or Nachman Shai's announcement he plans to enter politics, that was the catalyst for his scathing comments in today's Jerusalem Post for the municipalities lack of cooperation in planning the event: "the Jerusalem Municipality hardly helped us, not like Tel Aviv, which told us we could have whatever assistance we needed. When such an important conference comes to Jerusalem, City Hall should be bending over backwards. The people attending this event are bringing in lots of money by staying in hotels, eating in restaurants and shopping. What is this city doing for them?" Here's the complete story: Shai slams Jerusalem for doing little to help host the … Continue Reading
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