Facing
Our Own
Mortality
.
Issues of assimilation
and the Jewish family
dominated the G.A.
PHIL JACOBS
Managing Editor
L
ast year, the Council of
Jewish Federation's
General Assembly
discussed the dominant
issue of resettlement of hun-
dreds of thousands of Rus-
sian olim in a five-year time
frame.
The issue hung like vapor
in many of the major plenary
sessions and smaller
workshops. Issues concern-
ing assimilation and inter-
marriage and the future of
the Jewish family were
scheduled in secondary con-
ference rooms, the kind that
require a map or a hotel
employee's directions to
find.
At one particular meeting,
a debate on the rise of
intermarriage, the small
conference room was so
crowded that many had to
stand and lean on any piece
of wall they could find.
Others simply could not
physically fit into the room,
which often became emo-
tionally charged by speakers
and audience members as
well.
The Council of Jewish
Federation organizers must
have paid close attention.
This year in Baltimore,
these issues demanded
center stage. They were
offered and debated against
a backdrop of recessionary
struggle as well. The urgen-
cy wasn't the miracle of the
now ongoing Soviet exodus.
This time the cloud of
cultural and economic sur-
vival gave a hard edge to the
G.A.
This was, according to
several Detroiters in atten-
dance, "a different sort of
G.A."
"I think we saw the Jewish
community of America com-
ing face to face with its mor-
tality, both physically and
spiritually, at this G.A.,"
said Detroit Federation
President Mark Schlussel. "I
believe this G.A. was sen-
sitive to those issues."
Mr. Schlussel said the
mere idea that the G.A. had
brought in a scholar-in-
residence was new to this
conference. The scholar was
philosopher and author
Rabbi David Hartman.
Rabbi Hartman told the
delegates that if they want-
ed to ensure a fruitful Jewish
future, they needed to start
Jewishly developing them-
selves.
Federations were able to
put their individual situa-
tions into a more national
perspective, according to Mr.
Schlussel.
Robert Aronson, Federa-
tion executive vice presi-
dent, said he gets a sense of
where the American Jewish
community sits when he
comes to the G.A.
"We are at one of the more
difficult points in organized
Jewish history," he said.
"And clearly, based on the
CJF population study, the
news is not good news. The
Danny Glazer was bedecked with banners.
The plenary sessions brought the delegates to their feet.
strains come from different
directions such as reset-
tlement, the peace process,
the economy, the population
study. If there is good news,
it's that the communities are
not panicking. Instead,
we're working to deal with
these stressful times.
"On the other hand,
there's still a concern for the
next couple of years," he
added. "When you talk to
one of your colleagues, you
find out that they might be
cutting their campaigns or
their staffs. The mood was
clearly different this time.
Last year we were
celebrating the miracle of
the exodus of the Soviet
Jews. This year, in
Baltimore, we were more in-
trospective, cautious and
somber."
For Caryn Nessel, director
of the Michigan Jewish Con-
ference, and Sivan Maas of
the Federation's Israel Desk,
the G.A. was a chance to
meet other professionals in
similar positions around the
country.
Ms. Nessel paid particular
attention to the G.A.'s
Government Affairs In-
stitute. Workshops included
panels on the impact of the
Jewish community on a
state level, trends in social
services, tax issues and
health care issues.
"What was really inter-
esting for me was to see that
all of us across the country
seem to be facing similar
issues," she said. The Mich-
igan Jewish Conference is a
Federation supported agen-
cy that identifies Jewish
communities around the
state, pinpoints problems
they might be having, and
works with them to- solve
any problems.
"This was a terrific oppor-
tunity for me to hear about
the issues facing the other
states," she said. "We want-
ed to see how they were deal-
ing with them, and what
steps they took as agencies
to become stronger and more
influential. For me, it helps
to meet someone and have a
name and a number to call
for feedback or reaction."
Ms. Nessel said that the
major issue, like in so many
other areas, was how cut-
backs in state budgets would
influence delivery of services
to citizens.
Sivan Maas used the G.A.
as a networking tool. She
said this is the only oppor-
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
35