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UJA, CJF combine forces in new office
LISA HOSTEIN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
NEW YORK - They have barely finished moving in together, and already they are making plans to stand under the chuppah.
The United Jewish Appeal and the Council of Jewish Federations, which together make up American Jewry's central fund-raising establishment, physically combined forces this week in a Manhattan office complex, cementing a partnership that began to take shape several months ago. The move to the trendy Chelsea neighborhood marks a significant step in the consolidation of resources at a time of change in the Jewish world and when Jewish needs - locally, nationally and abroad - surpass available Jewish communal funds.
"The partnership was not created for neatness, but to do things better," said Martin Kraar, executive vice president of CJF and a driving force behind the consolidation. "We need to do more with less," he said.
But the real culmination of what has often been a contentious process, pitting local federations against national agencies, is expected to occur in less than a year, when the UJA and CJF move from partnership to a full merger.
For 50 years, the United Jewish Appeal has been a well-known institution that, in concert with local federations, raises money for Israel and other overseas needs. The CJF serves as an umbrella organization for some 200 local federations, providing services and guidance for fund-raising and leadership development. The cultures of the two organizations were so different that there was a time not so long ago when leaders of the institutions balked at the public use of the term "merger."
Now, in a sign of how quickly the process has moved - driven in part by large-city local federations that are demanding a more efficient and responsive national system - these same organizational officials are preparing for a key meeting next week in Chicago, which is being billed as "The Road to Merger." More than 100 individuals from around the country, representing the partnership, national agencies and local federations, are slated to come together July 7-8 to hammer out a wide array of issues - including the mission of the new entity, how it will be funded and how it will be run.
CJF and UJA have agreed in principle to a complete merger. The organizations announced plans to complete the technical aspects of the merger by the end of 1998 and to finalize all other issues no later than the end of March 1999. Whether all the key players will ultimately sign the marriage contract is not yet certain. Most insiders are expressing cautious optimism that it will happen, but as one key figure said, echoing the sentiment of many: "Until some important issues are resolved, there has to be some doubt it will happen."
The purpose of the new national organizational structure is, according to documents, "to create a national environment for raising greater financial resources, to satisfy needs at home and abroad, and for serving communities better and in a seamless manner." Many details still need to be worked out. The new entity has neither a name nor an executive to head it. Questions of governance and direction have yet to be resolved. And some in the community worry that more attention is being paid to the details than to overall vision and goals.
To the skeptics, those involved plead for patience. "It's going to take a couple of years for all of this to work itself out," said Steven Nasatir, president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. "People need to be patient and invest in the outcome."
Richard Pearlstone, the immediate past president of UJA, summed up a commonly voiced vision for the future by focusing on two key issues: Jewish continuity and Jewish responsibility. "We are still talking about 'tikkun olam' and Jews helping Jews," said Pearlstone, using the Hebrew expression for making the world a better place. Pearlstone will co-chair a committee charged with finding a new chief executive for the new entity.
Said Dr. Conrad Giles, president of CJF and the other co-chair of the joint partnership, "If all we end up with is a refined, new efficient bureaucracy, without a sense of mission and clearly articulated purpose, we will have failed."
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