socioeconomic status,
country of origin and polit-
ical ideology," said David
Gad-Harf, executive direc-
tor of JCCouncil.
Council traditionally
represented newer Ameri-
cans holding down blue-
collar jobs. Federation's
constituency consisted of
the more affluent.
As years passed, demo-
graphics and issues
changed — and so did the
agenda of the liberal
JCCouncil.
In the 1950s and '60s,
JCCouncil took on civil
rights and liberties. It
began building coalitions
with other minorities,
especially blacks.
A war halfway across
the world in 1967 brought
Israel and the survival of
the Jewish state to the
helm of JCCouncil's agen-
da. Jews were less wel-
come in the civil rights
movement. The problems
of Soviet Jews came to
light.
"We became more insu-
lar again," Mr. Gad-Harf
said.
International issues
jumped to the forefront
again through the 1970s.
Mr. Gad-Harf said he
believes the pendulum is
swinging back toward the
center. Today, JCCouncil
tackles domestic problems
through programs like
Project Chametz, a com-
munity effort to feed the
hungry; multiculturalism
in the form of "The
American Mosaic," a pam-
phlet on cultural diversity
which is distributed to
every school child in the
tri-county area; and Israel,
by acting as a watchdog on
legislation and foreign pol-
icy which affects the land
and its people.
MEMBERSHIP
JCCouncil is one of 120
constituent organizations
of the National Jewish
Community Relations
Advisory Council
(NJCRAC). Members vary
from large, national agen-
cies like Hadassah to less-
er-known organizations
such as the Jewish
Federation of Greater
Albuquerque.
NJCRAC was founded in
1944 by the Council of
Jewish Federations as the
organization through
which Jewish agencies can
jointly determine issues of
concern and of action.
At home, JCCouncil is a
member agency of the
Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
Federation provides nearly
100 percent of JCCouncil's
budget — an allocation of
$493,000.
Although Federation
and Council share common
concerns and goals, ,they
maintain separate boards
of directors. More recently,
Federation and Council
have shared an under-
standing and respect for
each other.
"There used to be quite a
schism between the two
groups," Mr. Gad-Harf
said. "We were middle-
class and Federation was
high-income, conservative.
The differences have been
dissipated over the last 20
years."
Mr. Gad-Harf maintains
that regardless of financial
difficulties (JCCouncil's
funding from Federation
was cut $27,000 this year),
the two organizations
must remain autonomous.
"It's best to have sepa-
rate organizations," Mr.
Gad-Harf said. "We have a
special role to play in the
community, yet we are
accountable to Federation
and in sync with it."
Ms. Weiner added, "How
much credibility would we
have under anyone's aus-
pices?"
The $27,000 cut was a
full 5 percent of
JCCouncil's annual bud-
get. Personnel and pro-
gramming costs, four-fifths
of the budget, were hard-
est hit. Two part-time
employees were let go.
$493,000
the
Of
JCCouncil operates from,
$380,000 goes toward pay-
roll and programming,
$90,000 is used for office
and administration, and
the remaining $20,000 cov-
ers a leased car, dues to
NJCRAC and out-of-pock-
et costs.
This year, JCCouncil
has decided to help subsi-
dize their allocation by
asking member organiza-
tions for $25 in annual
dues.
Those members are 275
organizations ranging
from the 20-plus branches
of Jewish War Veterans of
the U.S.A. to Simcha, a
contingent of gay and les-
bian Jews.
CHANGES, CHALLENGES
Paid staff at JCCouncil
includes Mr. Gad-Harf,
Associate Director Allan
Gale, Domestic Concerns
Director Miriam Imerman,
Community Affairs Assoc-
iates Beverly Phillips and
Beverly Yost and Public
Relations Director Lissa
Hurwitz.
"Occasionally people are angered
by our stances as the representative
of the Jewish community."
Jeannie Weiner
Ms. Imerman says
JCCouncil's mission is "to
reach out to the general
community while repre-
senting the Jewish com-
munity."
Facilitator might be the
word to best describe Ms.
Imerman's position. "I do
basic things to help our
volunteers carry the mis-
sion into the community,"
she said.
Ms. Imerman joined
JCCouncil in 1984. Her
main task was to staff vol-
unteer committees. Among
the many she oversees is
the task force on city/sub-
urban relations. Its goal is
to maintain favorable rela-
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