EDITOR'S WATCH

In Pursuit Of Younger Leaders

(

ment Institute sponsors three pro-
cross the country, Jewish
grams that partner prospective leaders
communal groups are busy
with seasoned mentors.
recruiting younger mem-
The American Jewish Committee
bers. But that alone won't
awards fellowships to aspiring Jewish
produce a new generation of leaders.
communal leaders.
Most young adults in their 20s, 30s
Hadassah runs a three-
and 40s are still pre-occupied
year leadership academy for
with building careers and
young Jewish women in 10
raising families.
American cities.
So the burden falls square-
Locally, the Jewish Feder-
ly on our veteran leaders to
ation of Metropolitan
/---) continue brewing innovative
Detroit not only operates a
ways to actively involve the
Young Adult Division but
best and the brightest among
also various young adult
younger Jews in the Jewish
leadership training pro-
community's diverse commu-
grams.
nal pursuits.
Significantly, a subsidized
ROB ERT A.
Most groups recruit from
trip
to Israel to spiritually
S KLAR
the same pool of up-and-
connect
to the Jewish
clitor
coming Jews who share a
homeland is central to all of
passion for Jewish continuity
/-
these groups.
and humanitarianism, if not
That kind of financial commitment
Zionism. As I see it, giving these new
reinforces the idea that Jewish com-
recruits real responsibility, not just get-
munal, groups are serious about build-
ting them to join, should be of para-
ing their leadership ranks, not just
mount concern. It's the job of umbrel-
bolstering their membership numbers.
la coalitions like the Conference of
Such groups are banking that
Major American Jewish Organizations
investment will not only turn partici-
and the UJA Federations of North
pants on to communal volunteer work
America to spread that notion far and
but also coax them to join committees
wide.
and accept chairmanships locally.
Many larger groups are hip to how
Many participants are drawn to the
to recruit leaders for tomorrow —
opportunity to develop into a signifi-
they offer generously subsidized lead-
cant player in the high-profile world
ership programs.
of Jewish communal service, reports
Consider:
the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the
The American Society for Tech-
national Jewish news service.
nion-Israel Institute of Technology's
Mentor relationships are pivotal at
Sosewitz-Jackier Leadership Develop-
the Sosewitz-Jackier Institute, giving

reports to read, the frustrations and,
"access to the highest echelons of the
oh yes, the egos — than fret over their
Technion," said Bill Litwak, a Los
latest charitable gift.
Angeles-based co-chair of several insti-
That's because what they give is
tute leadership programs.
likely a by-prod-
He said such
uct of what they
access sends young
earn.
But their
leaders a message
leadership poten-
that we think
tial is boundless.
you're important,
A case in point
not just an after-
is
Ryan
Seyburn,
thought
a
Jewish
National
Lawrence Jacki-
Fund
rising
star.
er, the Detroit-
The
twentysome-
based national
thing Detroiter
president of the
gives freely of
American Tech-
himself to turn
nion Society and
on more Genera-
one of the fenders
tion X'ers to the
of its $1 million
pressing
needs of
leadership insti-
Israel's
arid
envi-
tute, is upbeat
ronment.
about the out-
And he's mak-
reach. Today's
ing
a substantive
younger genera-
difference,
don of Jews, large-
whether it's chair-
ly professionals
ing Tu B'Shevat
rather than propri- Ryan Seyburn: At 27, one of the
family
days or
etors, are not at a Detroit Jewish community's rising stars.
Green
Sunday
point in their lives
fund-raising. Says
where they are giv-
JNF Detroit staffer Priscilla Sullivan
ing a tremendous amount of money,"
Smith: "We think very highly of him
Jackier said.
and are grateful for his efforts to reju-
And that's okay to my way of
,,
venate what was a stagnating region.
thinking because the goal at this point
Plainly, what North American
should be tapping their ideas and
Jewry
needs more than almost any-
energy, not their checkbooks.
thing on the brink of a new century is
Unquestionably, it's wiser to accli-
a transfusion of younger blood among
mate younger Jews to the infrastruc-
ture of communal leadership first —
LETTERS on page 31
to the meetings, the travel, the endless

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LETTERS from page 27

is most difficult to translate this into
the Middle East situation, desirable as
this might be. Our task is to keep this
important and fruitful dialogue
between individuals alive and continu-
ally expanding.
As to your comments regarding
pluralism among the various "direc-
tions" of Judaism, especially on the
local level, I have been privileged to
serve for many years on the Unity
Committee of the Jewish Community
Council of Metropolitan Detroit and
find that your ideas are indeed the
very ones promulgated by them. It is
my hope that your stand in this mat-
ter will provide further impetus to the
much-needed will to understand each
other so that we come together as a
united community.
Walter M. Stark
Huntington Woods

Heathens
And Hatred

When one realizes that 2,000 years
ago the entire known world was
inhabited by human beings who were
either Jews like Jesus or those who
were heathens, then it may be possible
that within the genes of the Rev. Jerry
Falwell lie the seeds of the Antichrist.
Morton Horwitz
New Haven, Conn.

A Return
To Paganism?

Reuven Hammer, professor of rab-
binic literature at the Conservative
Masorati movement's Schechter Insti-
tute in Jerusalem (Jerusalem Report

Jan. 18), warns that Judaism is in the
process of returning to the pagan roots
of biblical Jews.
This development threatens to
undermine the very foundations of
Judaism as we know it. The primary
cause of this return to pagan mysti-
cism is the sudden popularity of kab-
balistic thought masquerading as con-
cepts like "eco-Judaism" and tikkun
olam ("As The Tree Grows" Jan. 29).
While historians like Gershom
Sholem have noted that the Reform
Movement is actually a secularized
form of kabbalism, this mystical influ-
ence has spread to Conservative
Judaism as well.
It is no accident that tikkun olam
(repairing the world) does not appear
in the Five Books of Moses, but rather
it is an unfortunate result of the asym-
metrical contact between Judaism and

medieval Christianity. Thus "social
action," as a means to perfecting the
world, has replaced the centrality of
study in Jewish thought and practice.
Israel's self-destructive policies, such
as trading land for a non-existent
peace, are a direct consequence of the
secularized kabbalistic influence on
modern Zionism.
Much of the problems facing
Judaism today, in Israel and the Dias-
pora, are a result of the Jewish
response to the 18th century enlight-
enment known as the Haskalah. Jew-
ish intellectuals in 19th century
France and Germany theorized that if
only Jews had national identity, anti-
Semitism and the rejection of Jews
would cease.
Theodor Herzl thought that once

LETTERS on page 31

2/5
1999

Detroit Jewish News

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