48
Friday, November 30, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISK NEWS-
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RE
THE RAN
His pace may slow imperceptibly after
Marty Citrin's tenure at the helm of the
Council of Jewish Federations.
BY ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
M arty Citrin took a big step
Nov. 18 — a step down!
Citrin passed the gavel
of North America's central
Jewish communal agency — the
Council of Jewish Federations -- to
Baltimore's Shoshana Cardin after
completing three years as president of
the CJF.
It has been a hectic, sometimes
turbulent, three years for Citrin.
Being one of the central figures for the
massive annual General Assembly of
the CJF is a major responsibility in
itself. The General Assembly annually
draws more than 2,000 Jewish leaders
from throughout the United States
and Canada for five days of workshops,
programs and speeches about the con-
dition of Jewry both here and abroad.
More central to Citrin was the
day-to-day responsibility. By his own
estimate, the CJF presidency took 30
percent of his time during the last
three years.
"I can't remember a single day —
except the Jewish holidays — when
Carmi Schwartz and I didn't confer on
the telephone," Citrin said in an inter-
view with The Jewish News last week,
a few days after the 53rd General As-
sembly of the CJF had concluded in
Toronto. Schwartz is executive vice
president of CJF, based in New York.
Citrin also estimates that he vis-
ited 30 Jewish federations in North
America during his tenure, and made
15-18 trips to Israel for Jewish Agency
meetings.
But the meetings, the trips, the
commitment of personal time are not
as important to Citrin as the CJF
agenda and the total Jewish commu-
nity the agency is trying to help.
"CJF is really - a federation of
Jewish federations," he explains. "Be-
ing a constituent organization of that
kind, it has to be sensitive to what
federations want and need. It is not a
service delivery organization."
In Toronto, Citrin told the 2,000-
plus delegates that there must be more
emphasis on "the collective interests of
the North American Jewish commu-
nity. This will mean a new look at
things like pooling our resources,
creating new linkages, gearing up to
react to crisis, streamlining and
reallocating our human and financial
resources on the basis of national and
international priorities to a greater
extent than ever before."
Citrin made it clear that the old
way of doing business — zealously
guarding "local autonomy in setting
priorities and objectives" — is no
longer adequate to meet current and
developing problems and oppor-
tunities.
We cannot deal with the enemies
of our people and the enemies of our
nation of Israel, or with the in-
gathering of our Jewish exiles, or the
uplifting of our disadvantaged, or the
spiritual and cultural enrichment of
our people — each federation unto it-
self." The former local federation au-
tonomy in setting priorities and objec-
tives has become obsolete, he said.
No responsible federation leader
would say that his or her own federa-
tion could begin to deal adequately
with building meaningful relation-
ships with Israel and effective com-
munity relations . . . totally within the
borders of that community and with-
out support, assistance and involve-
ment with other federations through-
out North America and other Jews
throughout our countries and conti-
nents and indeed the world."
He emphasized that he was not
calling for an end to "our pluralistic
society, or the merger of all Jewish
institutions and organizations, but
rather a recognition and understand-
ing of this subtle, yet critical change in
the dynamic of how we must work to-
gether in the future as opposed to how
we have worked together in the past."
Reflecting on those issues at his
Romulus office, near Metro Airport,
Citrin commented on the "emerging,
closer relations" between federations
in the U.S. and Canada and the Jewish
Agency for Israel. "I hope I played a
role in making that happen. This is not
just a question of where your heart is.
This is functional relationships, being
involved in decision-making."
He said the new relationship be-
tween Diaspora and Israel began with
Project Renewal, the massive commu-
nity upgrading program in Israel that
links planning and funding to indi-
vidual communities overseas. But I
think it is going beyond that," Citrin
said, and I saw one specific conclusion
during my term — the establishment
of the CJF office in Israel."
Another subtle change was
triggered by the Lebanon War. "Dur-
ing and after that period, the federa-
tions were brought toward the center
of community relations in speaking for
Israel. The federations became the ad-
dress where the news media went for a
response. More and more, the federa-
tions are seen as the central address of
the Jewish community."
Citrin sees the Jewish federations
being thrust into this role and he does
not see a conflict with the existing
communal relations agencies. "It
should not be the CJF's role to be in the
community relations business," he
said. "Others do it well and it is not a
job that CJF should be 'taking over.'
But CJF may have to be the facilitator,
to make it happen better."
The reception area for Citrin's
office and that of his brother Toby is
dominated by a picture of their father,
Jacob, founder of Citrin Oil. The
offices are now titled Total Petroleum,
Citrin Oil and Ways and Means, a new
company the Citrins have founded to
design and manufacture products for
persons to use with just one hand.
Marty Citrin's childhood bout with
polio has led to this latest venture.
Citrin credits his father with his
involvement in Jewish activities.
Jacob was treasurer of Detroit's
Jewish Welfare Federation at the time
of his death. Marty was asked to serve
on the management committee in the
1960s which negotiated the first labor
contract with Federation's employees.
To negotiate with the union, I had to
learn how Federation operates," Cit-
rin recalls. "I got an overview of Fed-
eration's structure and functional re-
lationships. I became a big supporter."
That support led up the Federa-