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Sterling Heights, Eastlake Commons • (810) 247-8111 (On corner of Hall Rd. and Hayes Rd.) Troy, Oakland Mall • (2481 589-1433 Outstate: Ann Arbor, Colonnade • (734) 761-1002 (On Eisenhower Pkwy., west of Briarwood Mall) Grand Rapids, Breton Village Mall • (616) 957-2145 (Breton Rd. and Burton Rd.) Okemos, Meridian Mall • (517) 349-4008 As rescue efforts wane, Jewish Agency struggles to revitalize itself. "Happy Chanukah" www.toywonders.com 14 Mile & Haggerty Road (Newberry Square) • 248-624-4930 Ask about our Preventive Maintenance Program 24 Hour Emergency Service 30 Vehicles • Radio Dispatch Quality Installation /27 r 1 998 Detroit Jewish News The mission and vision statement, adopted Monday after three days of extensive debate, was crafted to respond not only to changing needs in Israel but to the changing priorities of the federation system and its donors in North America. MARK J. JOFFE Special to The Jewish News Jerusalem The statement identifies five major areas of activity for the agency: • aliyah and rescue, which it defines acing a future when its his- toric mission of rescue and resettlement may one day be completed, the Jewish Agency for Israel is struggling to repo- sition itself and reorder its priorities. And the agency is doing so at a time when the landscape of American Jewish philanthropy is rapidly chang- ing around it. as its "primary priority at this time"; • strengthening the relationship between Israel and the rest of world Jewry; • enhancing Jewish unity; • enhancing Jewish identity; and • strengthening the State of Israel as a state for all Jews. Delegates from around the world grappled with that reality earlier this month as they convened here for the Jewish Agency's annual assembly. After hours of debate that included a fair amount of vociferous criticism, they adopted a "Shared Vision and Mission Statement" that redefines both the agency's work and the way it is sup- posed to accomplish it. All but the "aliyah and rescue" functions are essentially new. While the agency has always under- written Jewish and Zionist education in the Diaspora, never before has it assumed responsibility for such things as "cultivating Jewish identity," pro- moting the "enrichment of Jewish life" in Israel and striving to "create an appetite and an environment for developing Jewish values and Jewish cultural creativity." The adoption of the statement is the first major milestone in a strategic planning process that may determine whether the agency continues to enjoy the support of most Jewish communi- ty federations in the United States beyond Dec. 31, 1999, when its con- tract for funding by the United Jewish Appeal expires. Many federations have been openly critical of the agency and have reduced their annual allocations to it over the years, in some cases funding their own programs in Israel separately. If this trend leads to the abrogation of a binding arrangement between the federations and the Jewish Agency, it will change the way American Jews have been contributing money to Israel for the last half-century. by Madame Alexander much more control" over the money its donors send ro Israel and how that money is being spent. But, in fact, that process is already changing, as the three central institu- tions of American Jewish philanthropy — the United Jewish Appeal, the Council of Jewish Federations and the United Israel Appeal — put the finish- ing touches on a merger into a single, streamlined entity. While many of the specifics of the merger are still being ironed out, one thing is clear, said Bennett Aaron, chairman of UIA. "The federation sys- tem in North America wants to have Mark J. Joffe is a writer for the Jewish. Telegraphic Agency While the Jewish Agency has always billed itself as the principal link between Israel and the Diaspora, never before has it assigned itself the task of securing the "future of the Jewish peo- ple" or creating a "global Jewish corn- . The move to broaden the agency's mandate is "an attempt to grapple with a post-aliyah period," said Shoshana Cardin, immediate past chairman of UIA, which distributes and monitors the use of funds raised by Jewish federations in the United States for the Jewish Agency With just 50,000 Jews from the former Soviet Union now coming to Israel each year and with all but a few thousand Jews rescued from Ethiopia, "we had to have a vision of what the agency would do in the 21st century," Cardin said. Beyond the expanded mandate, the mission statement calls for a new mode of operating, using many of the buzzwords of American corporate cul- ture in an era of "downsizing" and "re- engineering aineerina " ' b. The agency plans to continue to act collectively while also facilitating and coordinating individual commu- nity action and interaction," according to the statement. It will strive to be a . "