The United Front
North American Jewish leaders head to Israel
for annual convention.
JULIA GOLDMAN
Special to The Jewish News
New York
A
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fter forging a partnership
this summer with the United
Jewish Appeal and the
United Israel Appeal, the
Council of Jewish Federations, North
American Jewry's main coordinating
and service organization, is making
similar overtures to the people of Israel.
The CJF's constituents from more
than 200 autonomous local federa-
tions are converging on Jerusalem this
weekend for its 67th General
Assembly and the first one held out-
side of North America. The four-day
conference, the largest annual gather-
ing of leadership in North American
Jewish communal life, kicks off Nov.
16 with an address by Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Orchestrated to celebrate Israel's
50th anniversary, the G.A., as the
annual gathering is popularly known,
will focus on the intersection of Israeli
and North American Jewish life.
Presided over by "mega-donor" and
federation activist Charles Bronfman,
this is also the first convention of fed-
erations to take place under the part-
nership's new banner, UJA Federations
of North America.
But discussions of the merger and
informational sessions on fund raising,
professional development or govern-
ment regulations — a mainstay of past
G.A. programming — will take a
backseat this year to an examination
of Israel-Diaspora affairs.
"In terms of issues," said UJA
President Richard Wexler, the G.A.
"deals with much broader, issues, the
real relationship for the 21st century
for North American Jewry and the
Jews of Israel."
That relationship "is the keynote of
the entire federation system," said CJF
Executive Vice President Jay Yoskowitz.
"As the relationship changes, it
becomes something very different,
very positive. We'll be strengthening
that relationship and making it more
of a partnership," Yoskowitz said.
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18 Detroit Jewish News
Julia Goldman is a.writer for the
Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The union will be codified at the
final event of the intercontinental
gathering when Knesset members and
North American Jewish leaders meet
to discuss issues that have strained
American Jewish-Israeli relations over
the last few years.
At the conclusion of this
"Parliament of the Jewish People,"
each of the 3,400 participants from
North America and Israel expected at
the G.A. will sign a covenant stating
the communities' intention to fortify
and maintain Jewish unity worldwide.
Jews worldwide will be able to sign
the document via the Internet at
www.ga98.org . The convention's cen-
terpiece will be Nov. 18, as every G.A.
participant embarks on one of 38
"seminars on wheels" — field trips
throughout Israel. They will provide a
first-hand experience of critical issues
defining the American Jewish-Israeli
relationship today.
Tops on that list, according to Wexler,
are the need for Jewish education in
America and a deeper understanding of
tolerance and democracy in Israel; the
effects of the global economy on Jewish
communities in the former Soviet Union
and the subsequent potential for mass
aliyah; and the hope for Israel to achieve
peace with its neighbors.
The subject of Ethiopian Jews'
aliyah and absorption into Israeli soci-
ety and the status of the Falash Mura
in Ethiopia may also prove to be a
flashpoint at this year's meeting.
During the Jerusalem meetings, top
partnership brass and local federation
leaders, together with the heads of the
Jewish Agency for Israel and the
American Jewish Joint Distribution
Committee, are expected to meet
behind closed doors for nuts-and-bolts
discussions of the new entity's mission
and leadership.
Plans for the systematic overhaul
are ongoing, including a major
restructuring of the new entity's gov-
erning bodies that will give local fed-
erations a majority voice in deciding
how the money collected in UJA cam-
paigns is allocated overseas.
One underlying purpose of this
year's G.A. is to generate enthusiasm
for the work of the partnership and its
connection to Israel.
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