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November 26, 2004/Kislev 13 5765, Vol. 57, No. 13
G.A. focuses on federation image
RACHEL POMERANCE
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
In the pink halls of the Cleveland Convention Center, a black Jew opened the annual conference of the North American Jewish federation system by belting out familiar Hebrew prayers with a gospel twist.
Under the banner "Imagine," the theme of the United Jewish Communities' 2004 General Assembly, Joshua Nelson's rousing rendition underscored the conference message of reworking an old song to a new tune - that is, reinventing the image of the federations.
But with the closing of the opening act came a focus on more mundane matters - the ins and outs of federation fund raising and ways to reach new donors and contributors.
In a sense, in this city of ultimate insiders - Cleveland has an impressive track record of spawning national federation leaders - came the ultimate insider's G.A.
Of course, there was the traditional reunion of handshakes and hugs, the occasional "Nu?" - the Yiddishist's "What's up?" - among colleagues, and networking about new ideas and programs.
But this G.A. was markedly different, and it was meant to be.
The United Jewish Communities, the umbrella group for the federation system, created a committee to envision a new G.A. that would focus on grooming Jewish leaders. A track was devoted to professional development with an emphasis on reaching a younger gen-eration, whose attention is tougher to garner amid a slew of competing charities.
Keynote speeches mainly were from business gurus and focused on how to retool federations. Except for a post-election analysis with James Carville and William Kristol, this G.A. lacked the slew of luminaries - such as senior U.S. officials or Israeli leaders - that have, in the past, helped to draw participants.
That may account for the fact that this was the smallest G.A. in years. UJC officials estimate that fewer than 3,000 people attended, while participation has ranged from 3,250 to 6,000 over the past six years.
Others said the choice of Cleveland didn't help. Indeed, many federation professionals said they struggled to recruit participants from their communities.
Seven people attended from the Phoenix area, down from 13 last year. But Adam Schwartz, executive vice presi-dent of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, was quick to point out that last year's numbers were due mainly to the mission that centered around the G.A. in Jerusalem.
"Most people went because of the mission component and the fact that it was in Israel," he said.
"Cleveland was not a big draw," said Leni Reiss, who has been attending the G.A. for the past 13 years as a liaison with the American Jewish Press Association.
"I was interested to see the change in this year's G.A.," Reiss said. "On the whole, the overall feeling was the G.A. needs some serious reconsidering." This year's was "not especially stimulating."
Still, many in attendance felt this year's G.A., coming five years after the UJC was formed from the merger of three national Jewish organi-zations, was right on target.
"I was very excited to hear about the new plans (for the UJC)," Schwartz said. "The UJC is hoping to move in a direction similar to that we would like to be doing here (in Phoenix)."
Schwartz noted it was helpful to learn about the UJC's plans as the local federation undergoes some changes of its own.
"It was 100 percent con-sistent with what we are doing here," he said.
"It was a wonderful opportunity and experience," said Rabbi Mark Bisman of Har Zion Congregation in Scottsdale. "It's a chance to be with lay and professional leadership from the North American Jewish Community. It's fun to meet them and hear the ideas for new projects."
Along with its own retooling effort, Schwartz hopes the changes will attract newer, younger donors and parti-cipants, but said this area has a "very strong young leader-ship department." He said the idea is more to let people know they can make an impact with philanthropy and to create a structure that is more engaging.
Bisman agreed it was a challenge for those inside the community to reach to those outside.
"I think throughout North America and in Phoenix as well, we're always looking for ways to draw in those younger people who are not already involved in the community," Bisman said.
"The whole initiative that we're talking about should help us engage with young people," Schwartz said.
"There was a lot of dialogue amongst people from different communities," Schwartz said. "I spent a lot of time meeting with people. It's good to be somewhere you can talk about ... strength of the system and the direction, and to challenge ourselves along those lines."
Some of the 300 Hillel stu-dents in attendance said they felt spoken to, not spoken with, said Avraham Infeld, president of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
But Allison Gusdorff, student board president at Hillel Jewish Student Center at Arizona State University, said she was encouraged to speak up.
"We were told that we were delegates, not just students, attending the G.A.," she said. "We were on the same level as people who've been there for 30 or 40 years."
Staff Writer Stephanie N. Henschel contributed to this article.
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