by Rabbi Louis Feldstein
Truth be told I don’t know Andrew Rehfeld, the law professor long active as a volunteer in the St. Louis Jewish community, who was just named the chief executive officer and president of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis. He may in fact be an incredibly talented and skilled individual with a great personality. He may be a deeply committed Jew and Zionist who truly believes in the purpose and need for Federation. He may be the next coming. He may be lots of things, but he is also the most recent sign and symbol of a deeply troubling trend.
Over the past several years more and more of the top local Federation and agency positions have been filled with people whose career trajectory traveled the road of volunteerism – not professional communal service. Is this because more and more committed Jewish professionals have decided they know too much about these jobs and have determined they are just not worth the trouble or headache? Or is it instead a reflection of a far more nefarious perspective – the continued devaluation of the expertise, wisdom and experience that comes from a lifelong commitment to professional Jewish communal service.
If I was the head of any of the academic programs that train communal professionals, or for that matter the programs that offer MBA’s in Nonprofit management I would be worried … very, very worried.
While few of us would ever consider going for medical treatment from a non trained professional, or being represented in court by someone whose training comes from regularly watching Law and Order, there appears to be an overwhelming belief that just because someone was a volunteer in the Jewish communal arena they have what it takes to be a successful professional. The record, in fact appears to be mixed, but the trend continues and raises challenging and perplexing questions.
If one doesn’t need to be trained to be a Jewish communal professional, then why keep such programs alive?
If quality training is imperative then who is training these new hires on the nuances of changing from volunteer to professional?
If “anyone” can do these jobs then are they truly positions of prestige and expertise that warrant such salaries?
These are just a few of the questions that demand consideration and debate.
Change can be good, and perhaps this is a change for the good. Our system clearly needs new thinking and innovative strategies and this may be the kind of seismic shift that propels us forward. If it is not, however, what will be both the short and long term impact to our communal institutions and our communities?
It is time to at least start to seriously study and debate the impact of this direction. It is neither too early nor too late. Now is the time. But, with that said, I wish Mr. Lehfeld only success and may he go from strength to strength. I know he will need it.
Louis Feldstein is the Founder and CEO of Dynamic Change Solutions, LLC a change management consulting practice focused on nonprofit and faith based organizations, academic institutions and mission driven businesses. He can be reached at lou@dynamicchangesolutions.com.
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During a discussion with a nonprofit in town, the CEO (nto executive director) commented that he wasn’t sure if he wanted a “traditional development professional” to fill the job of VP for Advancement, or if he would look for someone from the “corporate world” for the job.
WHY?
What does the corporate world do to prepare one to succeed in philanthropy? Remember, it is the corporate world that imploded in 2008, while the nonprofit world stuck it out and picked up the pieces, getting even less donor revenue from same corporations that were sending their former employees to them for social and other services.
In the Jewish world, there always has been a devaluation of the Jewish Communal professional’s prfession. We were not seen as “real” professionals, not performing a worthy service, and little more than administrative assistants for the volunteers who “do the real work.”
My foot!
One compliend how he was on a trip to look for a gym floor for the school where I worked, and wondered why he was way out there in the boonies, when he’s not even an employee?
Well, you don’t hire enough people to do teh job, so we do three.
You don’t pay us enough, so we manage with second-hand cars and pasta.
You dont’ let us do our jobs, sometimes requiring us to act as your valets, while compalaining that the work of the agency is left undone and that “somebody” should make it appear more like the $500 per hour law firms where you work or do business.
My foot! (lowest piece of anatomy).
I won’t lob shells back. Just appreciate that if we didn’t do the work, management, administration and fund raising for your Jewish communal agencies, you’d have much less enrichment at a much higher cost.
I do know Andrew Rehfeld, although I knew him as Andy, who was a songleader at Kutz Camp back in 1986. Rabbi Louis Feldstein raises some interesting questions to consider, but he has pinned his case to the wrong example. I tend to disagree with his larger point as well.
Truth be told, I haven’t seen Andy in many years, but knowing what I knew about him at that time and a quick glance at his CV are enough to convince me that not much has changed. Andy’s brother Ed worked for many years as a professional in the Jewish community in Washington DC. His mother Ruth, z’l, was a long-time Jewish communal professional at Baltimore’s Associated (equivalent of Federation). (Her background was in community activism, not the Jewish community, but back in 1975 that did not seem to pose a problem). A quick look at Andy’s CV shows that he has been active leader in the Jewish community, including chairing a rabbinic search committee for Hillel. While Andy hasn’t been working as a professional in the Jewish community, I think that it is tough to make a case that hiring him is an example of a “devaluation of the expertise, wisdom and experience that comes from a lifelong commitment to professional Jewish communal service.”
Certainly, there are many high quality people who make a lifelong profession of Jewish communal service. (On my good days, I would like to think that I am one of them!) But there are also many high quality people who make mid-life career shifts – Jerry Silverman, the head of Jewish Federations of North America being a great example of one. Its hard to argue that Jerry (whose first career was in business marketing, most famously in the development of the Dockers brand) doesn’t value lifelong commitment to professional Jewish communal service or that JFNA has suffered under his leadership. On the contrary, after years of turmoil and division, Jerry seems to finally be succeeding in helping JFNA realize its vision of a stronger organization following the merger of Federation and UJA 13 years ago.
In searching for Jewish communal leaders, our primary concern should be strong leadership skills and a commitment to serving the Jewish community. Whether those leadership skills are developed in the Jewish communal world, in academia, in business or in other non-profits should be of much lesser concern to us. Certainly, strong Jewish communal professionals should be valued and given opportunities to advance their careers to the highest levels. But that should not preclude the possibility of hiring strong leaders whose skills were developed outside of the Jewish professional world, as long as they have a demonstrated commitment to the Jewish community.
?100% DO NOT AGREE with this guys assessment – can you say totally off base? Why does he assume that a long career in volunteering would not provide someone with the adequate training to function in a professional capacity? What about all the training that JFNA does with its lay leaders on donor solicitation and fundraising? Is he saying that is wasted? I have an undergraduate degree in International Business and a Masters in Non-Profit Management. I can tell you that my business background has helped me incredibly in my current position as the President & CEO of Ruth Rales Jewish Family Service, and that my first hand experience working for the Jewish Federation prepared me far better than my Masters. This guy has it WRONG.