•
•

Year In Review

Highlights
And Low Points
Of The Year

Jewish social services faced cuts at home and questions were raised about the priority of funds
for Israel.

The Community
Tightens Its Belt

With greater demands and fewer dollars,
Jewish organizations must make
hard choices.

;)
[

L

he recession's impact on
the Jewish community has
been subtle but pervasive,
with annual federation
campaigns sluggish and
social service programs re-
duced around the country.
The organized Jewish community,
which raises more than $1 billion for
charitable causes in Israel, international
Jewry and national and local agencies,
faced impossible demands for funds: to
meet Israel's special challenge of pro-
viding homes and jobs for hundreds of
thousands of immigrants from the for-
mer Soviet Union; to support the rescue
of Jews from such countries as Syria,
Yemen and Yugoslavia; and to provide
for Jews in America who have lost jobs
or homes as a result of the ongoing eco-
nomic crisis as well as maintain social
services.
In Boston, Los Angeles and in other
major cities, federations slashed bud-
gets by as much as 20 percent, reducing
staff, merging agencies and eliminating
programs while striving to maintain
overseas commitments.
One result of the economic crunch is
for many federations to reevaluate the
ratio of their funding for Israel and lo-
cal institutions. While many contribut-
ed more than half of their campaign

T

dollars to Israel in past years, that fig-
ure is certain to be reduced as the de-
mand for funding on the local level
increases.
Orthodox institutions were particu-
larly hard hit this year. Reports of the
financial difficulties of the Reichmann
brothers of Canada caused concern be-
cause the famed real estate developers
had contributed tens of millions of dol-
lars annually to yeshivas, synagogues
and other Orthodox institutions in Is-
rael, North America and many other
countries. Similarly, news that 47th
Street Photo, the New York company
owned by Satmar Chasidim, was declar-
ing bankruptcy, proved to be one more
example of a business whose success
had benefited Orthodox causes but was
now facing its own troubles.
There were reports that B'nai B'rith
International and several national Jew-
ish organizations faced the real prospect
of closing down, but to date the response
has been to hope that belt-tightening
measures will be sufficient to weather
the economic storm.
Perhaps the full impact of the reces-
sion cannot be fully gauged, but the no-
tion that Jewish money can solve any
Jewish problem has been replaced by a
more sober outlook and the need to
make hard choices.

S

eptember 1991: Pres-
ident Bush tells the na-
tion he is "one lonely
little guy" working
against "thousands of
lobbyists" advocating
for the $10 billion loan
guarantee for Israel.
December: The U.S. leads the suc-
cessful repeal of the 1975 United Na-
tions resolution equating Zionism with
racism.
January 1992: Germany decides

not to nominate the highly acclaimed
film Europa Europa for best foreign

movie at the Academy Awards, re-
portedly because its Holocaust theme
is an embarrassment.
February: A political scandal re-
sults in France when it is discovered
that Arab radical George Habash has
been brought to the country for med-
ical treatment.
Israeli helicopters in Lebanon at-
tack and kill Hezbollah leader Shik
Musawi, an arch-enemy of the Jewish
state who helped plan numerous ter-
rorist attacks.
March: Secretary of State James
Baker is reported to have told staff
members at a private meeting, "F— the
Jews," because they didn't vote Re-
publican anyway.

A terrorist bomb in Buenos Aires
destroys the Israeli Embassy, killing
11.
April: Israel's President Chaim Her-
zog joins King Juan Carlos in Madrid
to commemorate the 500th anniver-
sary of the expulsion of the Jews from
Spain.
Reports of Yassir Arafat's death in
a plane crash are premature; the PLO
leader also survives brain tumor
surgery.
May: Syria tells the U.S. it will al-
low Jews to travel out of the country.
Jews in Los Angeles launch charity
drives for the victims of the deadly ri-
ots resulting from the Rodney King
verdict.
August: Israel wins its first medals
in its history at the Barcelona
Olympics. Yael Arad takes the silver
and Oren Smodga wins a bronze, both
in judo.
September: President Bush an-
nounces plans to sell F-15 jets to Sau-
di Arabia; Jewish groups voice muted
criticism, fearful of opposing a sale that
spells jobs for American workers.

