Going into the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, President Obama was the big story. He was to speak at the G.A. on Nov. 10, but had to opt out at the last minute to take part in the Nov. 10 memorial service for the 13 victims of last week's mass shooting at Fort Hood.
Without the star "get," as the JTA news service called it, what would the big G.A. story be?
For Leni Reiss and Mary Stone Tessler, two Valley residents at the gathering in Washington, D.C., the story was a speech by Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel.
Reiss, a former Jewish News managing editor, was at the G.A. as the American Jewish Press Association's liaison to Do the Write Thing, a program for collegians who work on their campus Jewish and/or secular newspapers. Sharansky was set to speak to her small group of Do the Write Thing students, and she invited Tessler to attend. (Sharansky was on hand to speak to the entire G.A.)
"I had told the students that if there was one person alive today that I could call a hero, it would be Sharansky," Reiss told Jewish News. "Then, they got to meet this hero and take their picture with him in this very small room."
"In camp, when I was maybe 14 or 15, we called collect every day to get Anatoly Shcharansky (as he was known before he made aliyah) released," Tessler told Jewish News, about the effort to persuade Soviet authorities to free the then-imprisoned refusenik leader. "So to hear him speak was amazing."
The Scottsdale resident said that one way or another, his message about the importance of strengthening Jewish identity and reconnecting Jews in America with Israel was discussed throughout the G.A.
Many at the G.A. acknowledged a "disconnect" between American Jews and Israel, she said. "That love of Israel is not there like it used to be, that need to support Israel is not there like it used to be."
So, Tessler said, the task is to get American Jews "to experience, learn and be a part of something bigger than themselves and to create a bond with Israel."
A member of the National Young Leadership Cabinet of the federation system, Tessler was attending her first G.A.
"It was a more intimate G.A. than usual," said Reiss, a veteran G.A.-goer. She added that people heard very early in the G.A. that Obama would not be coming, and while there was some disappointment, she said, "There was a general sense that he had to do what he had to do."
Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix did not send a staff member to the G.A. this year.
"Given the current economic condition and budget constraints, we didn't feel that it was the best use of communal dollars at this time," wrote Shirley Norris, marketing, communications and operations director of the federation, in an e-mail. "In a typical year, Adam (Schwartz, federation president and CEO) and possibly one other staff member might attend."
Obama's aborted visit to the conference of more than 3,000 lay and professional leaders of the multibillion-dollar charity system would have been his first appearance at a Jewish event since moving into the White House. Getting him to commit to speak reinforced efforts to make participants feel that theirs was still the Jewish community's most important charitable network.
Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, went in Obama's stead.
"It was OK," Tessler said of Emanuel's speech, "but it was incredible to hear (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Bibi Netanyahu."
Although the G.A. had lost its presidential superstar, along with some of the initial buzz surrounding the conference, it became clear over the course of the three-day parley that there was still a big story about a fresh new leader: Jerry Silverman.
This G.A. was the first for Silverman since he took over in September as CEO of Jewish Federations.
Tessler observed, "At the G.A., you have the opportunity to meet national federation staff, and we really got to know Jerry Silverman. He is amazing, and for every question that was posed to him, he had a solid answer."
Most impressive, she said, was his response to a question about what he would like people to remember about him when his term at the federation system's helm is over. "He said, 'I don't want them talking about me. I don't want them to remember me. I want them to remember what their federation did for their community.'"
A federation outsider, Silverman came to the organization after a much-heralded stint as the CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Camp, where he raised the philanthropic profile of Jewish camps, helping to bring in tens of millions of dollars per year. And his influence already was being felt at the GA - at least the excitement about his hiring.
