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Bill Pugliano
Ext
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Young adults from throughout the
United States are coming together as
our future Jewish leaders.
BY ESTHER ALLWEISS TSCHIRHART
Special to The Jewish News
Alan Yost, standing, and Peter Alter check the program, for the United Jewish
Appeal's National Young Leadership Conference.
B
ecause there are very few
"born" Jewish leaders, the
United Jewish Appeal
places a high priority on
raising them. That's why,
in the early 1960s, Rabbi Herbert
Friedman, then the executive direc-
tor of the national UJA, conceived
the Young Leadership Cabinet for
those between the ages of 25 and 40.
"Rabbi Friedman saw a need for
a vehicle through which to train and
educate a new generation of Jewish
leaders," said Stanley Frankel, a
former national Cabinet chairman
who is keeping his own promise of
leadership as a member of the
Jewish Welfare Federation of De-
troit's Executive committee. Federa-
tion, the local arm of the UJA, in-
cludes other Cabinet alumni among
its leadership ranks, including Fed-
eration president Joel Tauber, Peter
Alter, Joel Gershenson, Dr. Conrad
Giles, Sharon Hart, Mark Hauser,
David Hermelin, Lawrence Jackier,
Thomas Klein, Dr. Richard Krugel,
David Page, Michael Perlman, Jane
Sherman and Robert Slatkin. ,
UJA's charge to generate ever-
increasing dollars for Jewish social
services at home and abroad,
through each local community's Al-
lied Jewish Campaign, requires the
dedication of many volunteers. The
individuals invited to join the Young
Leadership Cabinet, or its counter-
part, the Young Women's Leadership
Cabinet (established in 1975 with
Detroiter Jane Sherman as its first
chairman) take part in a series of
meetings that serve to heighten
their sense of communal affiliation
and underscore their responsibilities
to their fellow Jews.
"The programs held during the
course of the year are designed on
an informational basis, to get people
involved with the whole Jewish ex-
perience, but particularly from a
Campaign experience, for the Allied
Jewish Campaign, to raise funds for
the State of Israel," said Alan Yost,
a spokesman for the Cabinet.
The ties to Israel grow stronger
once Cabinet members see at first
hand the work of UJA in that land.
Participation in a study mission to
Israel is a requirement for new
Cabinet members. "What's the best
way to raise money?" asked Cabinet
member Peter Alter. "Take people to
Israel, because when they see Israel
for themselves, nothing more can
turn them on then being there
themselves. It's the easiest job you
have (motivating leaders), once you
get to Israel."
In the course of their training,
as they become more committed, the
Cabinet members learn to share
their insights with other Jews
through the organized Jewish com-
munity, said Yost. Through their
leadership within the Federation
and the Campaign, Cabinet mem-
bers seek to inspire others to become
more community-minded and in-
terested in the problems and issues
that affect all American Jews.
Out of that concern, the Young
Leadership Cabinet created its
highly-successful United Jewish Ap-
peal National Young Leadership
Conference, which is held during
even-numbered years in Washing-
ton, D.C. The fifth edition of the con-
ference -- Sunday, March 2, through
Tuesday, March 4 — will bring an
expected 2,500 young men and
women from across the nation to the
Omni Shoreham Hotel. Over 90 De-
troiters already are part of that
group, and they are not required to
be Cabinet members to attend, said
Yost, who is local recruitment co-
chairman with Marcy Feldman.
Participants will have the
opportunity to explore the conference
theme, "The Future of the American
Jewish Community," at a wide
variety of panel discussions, work-
shop and study sessions with Ame-
rian and Israel government repre-
sentatives and other experts. The
topics will include "Extremism in Is-
raeli Politics," "Intermarriage and
Jewish Demographics" and "The
Media and the Holocaust: lessons
for Today." There will be addresses
by American political leaders, in-
cluding Senators Edward Kennedy,
Gary Hart and Robert Dole. Other
highlights will include a rally for
Soviet Jewry, an Israeli-style gala
buffet, and a freedom concert by
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