Jewish children attending day
schools especially develop a fine
appreciation for the art of fund
raising because they are repeat-
edly reminded that "tzedakah be-
gins in the school, not at home."
Tuition paying parents of Jewish
day-school students already know
that.
In American Jewish communi-
ties, where schnorring is no longer
_ a fine art but a science, holders of
• Jewish federation pledge cards
concur that the same people show
up year in and year out for Super
Sunday. Also, fund raising in
America is overwhelmingly gen-
erational. Ninety-eight percent of
the donors interviewed are sure
that their fathers and mothers
were asked for money by the fa-
thers and mothers of present
• schnorrers.
•
Schnorring in the material
world of suburban Jewish Amer-
ica has become extraordinarily cre-
ative. There are silent auctions,
tabs to be folded on Kol Nidre ap-
peal cards, endless dinners aimed
at ostensibly honoring people who
are important.
The schnorring modalities that
have lasted the longest, of course,
\_„ are the proverbial pledge card and
/- phone-a-thons. Cutting edge
schnorrers are already replacing
their Chai (18) and double Chai
(36) giving levels with 50 and 100
to commemorate and coincide
with Israel's five decades and a
century of Zionism.
In one Jewish area of suburban
Phoenix, there was a brief mo-
ment of delight when it was found
• that Charles Rainwater, thought
/- to be a Native American fund-rais-
er and the most gifted fund-rais-
er in Arizona Jewish history, was
not genetically connected to an
earlier generation of successful
schnorrers.
But after considerable inquiry,
including interviews conducted
with Rainwater's great aunts at
the "Home," Olam's skepticism
\--)
/- was proven correct. Two of his
aunts reluctantly confided that his
paternal grandfather was Issac
Regenwasser from Lithuania.
This is the same Regnewasser
that raised funds for the Kaiser
and Lenin prior to the Great War.
1 When asked if American polit-
ical schnorring is gene related,
Olam quickly replied that it was
purely unfounded rumor that any
\9 current White House fund-raising
issues were related to a Jewish
schnorring gene.
Olam did speculate that all
successful Middle East negotia-
tors have been Jewish, from
Kissinger to Ross. He noted that
because schnorring required
pleading and chutzpah, these
schnorers were particularly suc-
cessful. Privately, Olam confided
> that he thought that Jim Baker
had Jewish genes.
At the conclusion of the confer-
ence, Olam asked for donations to
pay for the caterer, transportation,
and administrative costs. 0

•

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