Confronting Survival

GARY ROSENBLATT EDITOR

N

orth American Jewish
leaders, after several
years of special cam-
paigns launched to
rescue Jews from the former
Soviet Union and Ethiopia,
have identified the next
target group of Jews in
distress: their own children
and grandchildren.
Based on the findings of a
1990 population study that
charted the steady increase
of assimilation and inter-
marriage, leaders of the
Federation movement in the
U.S. and Canada have come
to believe that North Ameri-
can Jewry is facing a crisis of
survival. In response, the

The annual
General Assembly
of the Council
=of Jewish
-Federations
tackled Jewish
continuity
and identity.
Now what?

theme of the Nov. 10-15
General Assembly of the
Council of Jewish Federa-
tions, the annual meeting
of some 3,000 delegates
that sets the communal
tone and agenda for the
coming year, was Jewish
identity and continuity.

Israeli Prime Minister
Yitzhak Rabin, speaking to
the assembly via satellite
from Jerusalem, said that
what is expected most from
North American Jewry is to
"maintain your Jewishness"
and support Jewish edu-
cation. And Israeli President
Chaim Herzog, who was
honored by the assembly at
Radio City on Thursday
evening, echoed that theme,
as did scores of speakers
throughout the conference.
Mr. Herzog told the dele-
gates that "your future and
our future depend on it."
Will Jewish leaders do
anything more than give lip
service to the need for rein-
vigorating Jewish life? Can
task forces and large sums of
money counter the increas-
ing lack of interest among
young Jews to lead Jewish
lives? Will Federations work
more closely with syn-
agogues to foster religious
involvement?
These were among the
issues discussed and debated
in the halls of the hotels over
the six-day conference, not
unlike those heard last year
at the GA in Baltimore when
Jewish continuity was a
major theme. Leaders and
critics agreed that cosmetic
changes will not be enough
to improve the situation and
that major innovations are
called for.
In a major address,
Shoshana Cardin of
Baltimore, chairman of the

Artwork from the Los Angeles Times by Barbara Cummings. Copyright© 1991, Barbara Cummings. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish
Organizations, raised
eyebrows with her implicit
criticism of an organized
Jewish community that has
not been sufficiently per-
sonal and inclusive and has
failed to support its rhetoric
with tangible results in the
area of Jewish continuity.
She acknowledged that in
order to succeed, federations
will have to become as suc-
cessful at inspiring Jewish
pride and spirituality as
they have been at raising
funds for social services.
"We need soul-building,"
Mrs. Cardin told the dele-
gates in a keynote address
last Thursday that launched
a full day of plenaries,
forums and workshops
devoted to the topic of Jew-
ish identity and continuity.
"Memories of the Holo-
caust and the State of Israel
won't move us to the 21st
century and won't motivate
the next generation to be
Jewish," she said. What is
required, she noted, is mak-
ing people feel that their
Jewishness is "a privilege
and a joy, not a burden."
She acknowledged that,
until now, the federation
movement has been less

than successful when it
comes to responding to
challenges involving the
soul rather than the
checkbook. She noted that
20 years ago, the Council of
Jewish Federations (CJF)
launched, with much fan-
fare, the Institute for Jewish
Life, whose mandate was to
reinvigorate Jewish identity
and combat assimilation. It
lasted only four years, the
victim of high expectations
and low funding.
Mrs. Cardin said that the
community was not ready at
that time "to deal with the
quality of Jewish life." Even
as recently as seven years .
ago, when she was president
of the CJF, she noted — with
"honesty and embar-
rassment" — that she had
called for an organized
community with "Jewish
identity at its core." But to-
day, the problem of assimila-
tion is only growing worse.
Mrs. Cardin, who is
assuming the lay leadership
of CLAL (the National Jew-
ish Center for Learning and
Leadership), said she re-
mains optimistic that the
crisis can be addressed in a
meaningful way because vir-
tually everyone recognizes
the great need to respond.

She stressed the importance
of reaching people, "one on
one," through warmth and
caring, and called on the
community to concentrate
"on inreach rather than
outreach" — focusing on
young people and Jewish
families who show an inter-
est in Jewish life rather than
unaffiliated or intermarried
Jews.
Mrs. Cardin called on CJF
to view the Jewish identity
issue with the same seri-
ousness as it does its fund-
raising campaign. "We need
pledge cards for Jewish iden-
tity," she said, suggesting
that delegates pledge to put
Jewish art on their shelves,
subscribe to Jewish publica-
tions, make Havdalah (the
service denoting the end of
the Sabbath), write their
congressmen "and re-
member that being a Jew is
a full-time, participatory
proposition."
But whether or not the
consensus-oriented federa-
tion movement can make in-
roads in areas that deal with
religion, ideology and spiri-
tuality, is an open question.
Arnold Eisen, a Stanford
University professor of re-
ligion, noted the uphill
struggle of attempting to

