PROFILE

Smooth Sailing,
Almost

NOAM M.M. NEUSNER

Staff Writer

Photos by Glenn Triest

I

Joel Tauber is readying himself to take the reins of American
Jewry's largest fund-raising organization.

f he wanted to, Joel
Tauber could switch
on cruise control.
In May, he will as-
cend to the chairman-
ship of the United Jewish
Appeal, the annual campaign
that raises close to $1 billion
a year for Israel.
In the last three years,
UJA has been a fund-raising
powerhouse: including
Operation Exodus and loan
guarantees, it has provided
the Jewish state with over
$3 billion.
Mr. Tauber, a tanned,
bespectacled, 56-year-old
businessman/lawyer, has
done his share to make those
numbers happen. He has led
Detroit's Jewish community
as president and chairman of
the Jewish Federation. As
vice chairman of UJA, he
visited hundreds of Jewish
communities across the
country, helping them raise
money for their annual cam-
paigns.
It would be easy, after put-
ting in all that effort, to sit
back and enjoy the fruits of
his labors. After all, UJA is
one of the trophies of the
organized American Jewish
community.
It has, in the last few
years, helped orchestrate the
massive exodus of Soviet
Jews to Israel. Perhaps more
remarkably, it has steered
clear of Mideast politics —
and sometimes has raised
money despite Israel's wan-
ing popularity on the world
scene.
"If you step away from it,
it's a remarkable ac-
complishment," Mr. Tauber
said.
Difference is, Joel Tauber
is not stepping away. If
anything, he will take the

reins when UJA will have to
rethink its very mission. Mr.
Tauber wants UJA to step
up its efforts, saying that the
past three years have been
"flat."
"We'll have to retain as
much of the Exodus cam-
paign dollars into the regular
campaign," he said.
He wants to send at least
10,000 American Jews to
Israel on UJA missions. He
wants every Jewish high
school youth to go to Israel if
he so desires.
It is all part of a plan that
he says will keep the Ameri-
can Jewish community
plugged into giving through
the next century.
"A lot of kids don't have a

"You're not only
fundraising, you're
trying to raise
Jews."

Joel Tauber

sense of the Holocaust, or of
how far Israel's come," he
said. "We may have to take
a more active role in making
Jewish youth understand
what we're all about."
Don't make the mistake,
however, of thinking UJA
will be making any big
changes soon. Joel Tauber is
a true-blue believer in UJA.
"The focus will continue to
be on fund raising, there's no
question of that," he said.
"Once you get involved in
fund raising, it raises your
Jewish consciousness," he
said. "People who give
together, stay together."
But American Jews —
many of them young
families — are finding this
message out-of-step with
their needs.
They would like to see
more money spent on Jewish
education, family program-

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

89

ENERAT ION

Joel Tauber gets ready to become
UJA's National Chairman.