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MASA’s Lost Campaign: An Op-Ed

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The new MASA ad presumes that unless unaffiliated Diaspora youth come to Israel for a long term program they will be “lost.”

This advertisement harks back to an older campaign produced about 40 years ago, by the US Federation system on behalf of Jewish education. It was a series of posters and print ads which said “If you’re Jewish, chances are you grandchildren will not be” in a stark typeface that gradually faded from jet black to very light, almost unreadable, grey. It was a much better campaign with a less offensive, more targeted, message.

If you break down the MASA ad it seems that there are 2 main messages:

  1. Only MASA can save Diaspora kids from assimilation
  2. Israelis care about their Diaspora cousins

I presume message #1 includes Birthright Israel participants since the young people on the poster are wearing I Heart Israel T-shirts. This leads me to conclude that MASA wants us to see it as the better investment (or perhaps the only one). I wonder how this will be received by Birthright which is the most logical target population for long-term program recruitment.

If the ad means to encourage Israelis to go after their Diaspora cousins, it presumes they are interested in proselytizing to the “hulnikim.” I’m not sure how many would. And if they did, what argument would they use? Better to target the prospective audience directly (MASA did embark on such a campaign at the beginning of the year with its “Better Stimulus Plan” campaign, although I do not know how successful it was)

It seems more likely that the ad is designed to show MASA supporters that MASA is reaching out to the unaffiliated. This is vital to MASA’s existence since, over the years, MASA has been trying to overcome the perception that it is an ATM for students who would be going to Israel on long term programs anyhow – the Orthodox Yeshiva students, Conservative, Reform and Zionist youth group participants – who make up the overwhelming majority of MASA participants. If the ad is successful, the money will come in.

If the ad succeeds, it does not necessarily mean that MASA will succeed in saving the Jewish people. It does mean that MASA will succeed in saving itself. 

This op-ed was submitted by a source from within the JAFI-MASA world and represents the opinion of the author. The author did identify himself/herself to eJP and requested we post the remarks unsigned.

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Comments

  1. “If the ad succeeds”

    What is this writer’s definition of “success”?

    I’m surprised so little has been said about how the MASA commercial could be seen as aimed at Israeli olim from the FSU. They have large numbers of family and friends in the FSU who are potential MASA participants.

    Several of the “Lost” posters in the commercial were in Russian.

    Joel Katz
    Religion and State in Israel
    @religion_state

  2. I think what the writer means is if the ad succeeds in convincing MASA supporters to give money, which seems to be its primary goal.

  3. I feel that much of the outrage over the campaign has to do with the Diaspora taking offence at the implication of their fading Jewish-ness. Obviously, these days, donors like to see a wise return for their carefully selected charitable contributions. Some campaigns aren’t successful beyond the drawing board. But it seems the point of any add campaign is to get people talking. So what if it takes a little controversy to do so? I feel that Israelis in particular need to be worried about the movement of their Diaspora cousins, Birthright is only a beginning, it is not one-stop solution to assimilation.

  4. The “If You’re Jewish” campaign was run in the 1970’s by the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York. Fascinating that the writer remembers the campaign; clearly it made an impactful impression. Even then, there was a sense that one needed to be “in the face” to jolt people out of complacency and get them to confront difficult identity issues. That campaign was vilified as well but it engendered vigorous and meaningful debate.

  5. The ad is lacking sensitivity. The ad is not aimed at saving MASA. MASA is here to stay. The ad is aimed to increase awareness to a problem, which MASA is one of the best proven ways to tackle. The problem of assimilation is a well known problem. We have many problems, and this is one of them. Many think it is a major problem, and therefore all the attention and monies that MASA is receiving. Even the Israeli government agrees it is a big problem; hence the funds available from the government for MASA.

    Let’s move on beyonod the lack of sensitivity of the ad. If you read the ad, and if you bothered with responding to it, you are not falling into the “assimiliated Jews” criteria. You are a part of the solution, and not a part of the problem. Now we need to put our Jewish Brain to work, and we need to think what is the best way to tackle the problem.

    Without a doubt, long term program in Israel works. The issue is money. It is expensive. Let’s figure out what is the best way to reduce the costs of the long term program, and let’s figure out what is the best way to reach to all of our assimilated brothers whom we care about, and whom we do not want to lose.