The Government of Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel all opposed a further Jewish communal or governmental presence in Ethiopia as they geared up to complete the aliya of Ethiopians certied as Jewish to Israel by the end of 2008. Yet, ignoring the advice of the GOI, JDC and JAFI on the ground in Gondar, UJC has proceeded, with the anti-establishment NACOEJ (the North American Conference of Ethiopian Jewry) UJC, which had supported the Government's and its organizations earlier decision to end operations in that country of poverty and strife, determined it would raise funds among the federations to build a school -- a decision described by one of Rieger's senior professionals as "...an unassailably (sic) good thing to do." Let's fact check this.
All parties agreed, including UJC, that when the remaining 1,800 Ethiopians of Jewish origin would be brought to Israel, operations in Ethiopa would cease. Rieger, impacted by a beautiful Jewish liberal ethos, decided that a school for some of the 8,500 remaining Falash Mura who claim Jewish heritage but were not certified by the GOI, JAFI or JDC should have a school. That was the "process." Then, with annual federation allocations to JAFI and JDC core needs dropping like a stone, and no UJC advocacy for them in the communities, Rieger reached out to his junta of Large City Federation Executives to support his "school plan." This school was not a priority of the participating federations or in UJC's plan.
The MetroWest federation popped for $200.000 or more, Chicago and Cleveland for $50,000 each, and so on down the line. While more enlightened federations declined the "opportunity," the school moves ahead. So what if UJC is out of step with the Government of Israel, with its own experts on the ground, with the JDC and JAFI, it is funding a school because it could and without regard for the reality that all Ethiopian Jew will have been brought home to Israel by year's end.
Does the left hand know what the right hand is doing? Does it care? Is this any way for our national system to behave?
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8 comments:
I think this has gone far enough. This does no good for the American Jewish Community or anyone for that matter. I was taught long ago not to air your dirty linen in public. I urge you to stop and see if these issues cannot be resolved behind closed doors.
Although we all have the right to express ourselves, the blog has degenerated into a personal attack on one individual and that is not right, nor is it the Jewish thing to do.
The original comments about the system we a form of constructive criticism; the latter attacks have no constructive value! Each and every one of us have supporters and those who are not so supportive.
Please, let us be civil to each other. If you are that dissatisfied, maybe it is time to
move on to another agency.
yes, civility and personal attacks are narishkeit but criticism of managerial style and organizational policy in an organization that must adhere to a level of public accountability does not cross the line (yet). In any event, the existence of this blog is only a symptom of the absence of other perhaps more appropriate forums for constructive dialogue.
I diagree with the other comments. As someone who devotes a bunch of time and money as a volunteer in the Jewish community, I find the boys and girls' comments fascinating, and, unfortunately,mostly true. As long as UJC continues to suck $45,000,000 a year out of the federation system simply for their own overhead, some greater level of transparancy is going to be needed, or the so-called national system will self destruct. This blog may not have all its facts right (although every fact I have checked has been right), but it is a useful (if not the only) window into the trainwreck that is our national sysyem.
I'm someone who has worked closely with UJC and its predecessor, CJF, for more than 30 years (hate to admit that), and somewhat less closely with UJA before the merger. Those who know me know that I've probably spent more time observing UJC up close, and occasionally from the inside, than anyone in our system, without ever being on their payroll. I'm by no means an apologist or a champion of everything they've done. In fact, I can offer a pretty strong critique of a lot that's happened over the past decade.
Nonetheless, I have to say that while I am certainly supportive of both the use of blogging as a way of having candid discussions about issues of concern, and "whistle-blowing" in general, I find the interpretations of events offered by "boys and girls" not to jibe with my own experience. There's a lot to go into -- more than should go in a single post. So, I'll confine myself to a few comments here:
1. UJC was created with a very difficult tri-part mandate: a) to bring together three organizations with different missions and cultures; b) to give federations greater control over their national umbrella(s) -- and, in turn, get more from them; and c) to create a platform that would enable federations collectively to engage more effectively the emerging independent Jewish philanthropists. It's not surprising that UJC has had difficulty in living up to hopes and expectations. It's sad -- and bad for the Jewish community -- that it has taken so long for UJC to really come to grips with some of the challenges it faced from its birth. But, I can tell you that what existed before was worse for the community, and (though I respect them greatly as colleagues), I think that Bubis and Windmueller were off-base in their book.
2. I read the current situation at UJC -- at least as far as its strategic direction goes (I don't work there, so I can't comment on management issues) -- almost exactly oppositely from what seems to be the view of the main blogger(s) here.
The reality is that if UJC does not change dramatically, it will wither and die. Putting more resources into the annual campaign is precisely NOT the direction in which to go in an era when donor-driven funding is increasingly the norm. The Trust for Jewish Philanthropy was the right idea, but perhaps premature and lacking in full organizational support. The steps UJC is now taking by promoting integrated FRD and community development / planning (BTW, in my conversations with fed execs, this is getting high marks) and the development of several "flagship" initiatives for the federation system that address major challenges and opportunities in Jewish life are exactly what should be done (and should have been done much sooner). I have great respect for the professionals who have left (and are leaving) UJC -- some of them are personal friends. But, professionals move on and organizations get renewed. The reorganization that is taking place at UJC is needed and will be beneficial if it leads to greater focus and stronger integration.
3. Is there dirty laundry to wash at UJC? Sure there is. Personally, I think UJC was too slow to change in its early years and has been weak on vision and purpose, and sometimes on execution. Sadly, it's paying the price for that and for "presiding" over a fractious, somewhat anxious, and often unforgiving set of "owners." It has a long way to go to be the organization it should be and that we need. But, from what I read here, "UJC boys/girls" would take it in the wrong direction.
If a positive discussion gets going on issues UJC and the federations are facing, I'll be happy to chime in further.
Apropos Ethiopian Jews, here's a slightly old *but not outdated* entry from my own blog.
http://guitargirlsdigitaldiary.blogspot.com/2005/12/who-owns-falashas-now-theres-new-book.html
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