by Michael J. Weil I came to New Orleans just over four years ago from Israel to help lead the Jewish community’s recovery and rebuilding. I came across a highly resilient community but one battling with survival and mostly unable to see a vision of a positive long term future. I recalled that the word in Chinese for “disaster” also means “opportunity” and assisted the community in starting to think in that way. A disaster is indeed an opportunity for a community to think afresh, to realize old dreams and think about new ones, and a time to remove old taboos and organizational barriers. We put together a strategic planning process that led to an ambitious rebuilding and renewal plan. One if its spearheads was the Newcomers Program that has to date brought close to 1400 mostly young … Continue Reading
An Alternative to the GA … at the GA
by Tilly R. Shames I don’t have any particular artistic talent. I can’t sing in tune. I can barely draw a straight line. As my sporadic tweeting will attest, I also don’t have much technological savvy. And I certainly can’t combine the two to bring any artistic talent to the masses by utilizing technology. Moreover, I don’t have the skills or knowledge to bring my passion for and knowledge of Judaism to the world through the intersection of art and technology. But thankfully there are people who can, and even better, there are forums like the Jewish Futures Conference that bring these talented individuals out and expose them to a field of Jewish leaders, including educators, professionals, entrepreneurs, students and volunteers. As I decompress and unpack the cacophony of … Continue Reading
Yes We Can: The GA and the Great Jewish Mash-up
Now's the time for all good men to get together with one another; we got to iron out our problems and iron out our quarrels and try to live as brothers. –Lyrics to “Yes We Can” by Allen Toussaint Last Monday night in New Orleans, well after the midnight hour in a nondescript bar in uptown, one of the great local house bands, Papa Grows Funk, started belting out the words of the Lee Dorsey classic and post-Katrina anthem while a room of dancing, sweating and smiling listeners grooved along. Certainly not an unusual sight for a city that has made its reputation by singing and surviving, but what made this room different from the standard Mardi Gras/JazzFest/Spring Break crowd was who was in the room and why they were there. Jewish professionals, young leaders from across the US, social … Continue Reading
Beyond Maimonides’ 8 Levels of Giving
by Rabbi Elie Kaunfer How much charity should I give and whom should I give it to? These are two questions I spent some time thinking about at this year’s General Assembly in New Orleans. They seem basic enough, but they are incredibly complex. Consider the question of how much should I give? The Bible commands a tithe for the poor, and this has extended to modern times. But what, exactly, am I tithing? Is this 10% of my income or assets? Before or after taxes? Net of losses? It gets complex very quickly. Of course, Jewish tradition has much to say about these questions, and the answers aren’t always clear. For instance, take this question: Should I focus my giving on 1-2 recipients, or should I spread my limited dollars among many causes? Maimonides offers one approach: “If a … Continue Reading
The GA’s Love Fest for Israel
Big embrace in the Big Easy by David Breakstone Participants in this week’s General Assembly in New Orleans were greeted upon their arrival by a gigantic banner declaring, “Our Big Embrace in the Big Easy.” It made me a little nervous. I wasn’t sure who was supposed to be hugging whom, and if anyone had been assigned to hug me. I didn’t have to wait long to find out. The opening plenary featured US Vice President Joe Biden, who delivered a carefully crafted and effusively sympathetic message of support on behalf of the Obama administration for the only democracy in the Middle East. He pledged the United State’s steadfast and unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, purposely defining it as a Jewish state. Predictably, he also spoke passionately about America’s … Continue Reading
Doing the Write Thing at the GA
by David Breakstone Any conference involving 3500 people is bound to have some resemblance to a circus, and any good circus has got to have a great sideshow. That’s what Do the Write Thing (DTWT) was this week to the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. Thirty student journalists were brought together by the Hagshama Division of the Department for Diaspora Activities of the World Zionist Organization and the American Zionist Movement in order that they might be initiated simultaneously into the worlds of professional journalism and the organized Jewish community. Apparently it worked. “DTWT was the equivalent of a splash of ice cold water in the face, coupled with a rooster crowing into a megaphone. It was a double wake-up call, both to the vast opportunity in … Continue Reading
The Future is Our Teacher
I have glimpsed the future and it is now by David Breakstone “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” An appropriate choice of words for a Chief Ideas Officer, which is what Jonathan Woocher is at the Jewish Education Service of North America. And he aptly borrowed this quote from Alan Kay, computer scientist and visionary, to conclude the Monday morning session on Jewish Futures that he was involved in initiating at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. It was a fitting conclusion to a series of exhilarating presentations by eight creative, original and accomplished Jewish innovators of the next generation. In their 20’s and 30’s, they opened a window for the rest of us onto a fantasy land of Jewish community, learning and organizational … Continue Reading
Sharansky: Our Loyalty is to Our People
Remarks by Natan Sharansky delivered at the New Orleans GA. Good Morning Mr. Prime Minister Kathy Manning, Michael Gelman and Jerry Silverman, Ladies and Gentlemen Our history consists of a combination of external and internal challenges. We always fought enemies externally and at the same time we fought among ourselves. Thousands of years ago when the powerful Roman army encircled Jerusalem we inside Jerusalem were debating about who is a better Jew. Thousands of years later, when our enemies are trying to deligitimize the Jewish State we still continue this very same debate. I must say that even though the debate among us sometimes becomes very strident it is not always counterproductive!! Take the example of Soviet Jewry - which in retrospect looks like one homogeneous … Continue Reading
Jay Feinberg Named Jewish Community Hero
Jay Feinberg, from Boca Raton, Florida was awarded the 2010 Jewish Community Hero Award. The award marked the culmination of the second annual Jewish Community Heroes contest, in which more than 300,000 votes were cast online to recognize the selflessness and courage of those who are helping their communities through volunteer service. Jay’s own struggle to find a bone marrow match, after being diagnosed with leukemia, inspired him to found the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, which is the only registry in the world founded and directed by a transplant recipient. Jay has made it his life's work to save people in need of transplants by increasing the representation of Jewish people in the worldwide bone marrow registry, in order to overcome the devastating effects of the Holocaust which … Continue Reading
Doing Tikkun Olam in New Orleans
GA Participants Head to the Lower 9th for Service Project by Josh Nathan-Kazis Volunteers attending the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America cleared overgrowth in the Lower 9th Ward. In a much-ballyhooed first, around half of those attending the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America participated in volunteer service projects around New Orleans this afternoon. And though questions are often raised about the effectiveness of day-long service programs like this one, activists from non-Jewish partner organizations at one of the project sites said that they thought the work had positive impact - albeit not exactly the impact the participants thought they were having. Linda Jackson, an area resident and member of the Lower 9th Ward … Continue Reading
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