Tell us why your mom deserves
a Diamond Sweetheart from Tapper's.

4 1;1 ;0 •,.

18 karat gold
& diamond pendant
with chain

In 100 words, or less, explain why your mother deserves to win
a Little Sweetheart courtesy of world renowned designer
Charles Krypell.
Contest is open to children 14 and under.
Preschoolers can send a drawing.

THE WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN BY CHARLES KRYPELL
ON SATURDAY, MAY 1ST,
DURING HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE AND SHOW.

Bring in, or mail, your entry to Tapper's. Include mother's name,
child's name and age, address and phone number.
All entries must be received by Friday, April 30, 1999.

D IAMONDS & F INE JEWELRY
6337 Orchard Lake Road . West Bloomfield, MI 48322
248-932-7700 . 800-337-GIFT

• Are you battling with your
child over food?

• Is your child sneaking food?

Is your child gaining too
much weight?

• Do weight problems
run in your family?

CCWM

Center
for Childhood
Weight Management

4/16
1999

"Healthy Kids Are Happy

24 Detroit Jewish News

Let the

CJF }UJA 4111A = ILTC

New "United Jewish Communities" is an efrort
to involve an Under 50' Jewish crowd.

JULIA GOLDMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

hat do you get when you
add the Council of
Jewish Federations to
the United Jewish
Appeal and the United Israel Appeal?
Federation leaders from around the
country meeting here this week com-
pleted that equation with "United
Jewish Communities: Serving
Federations Across North America."
That's the name chosen for North
American Jewry's new central fund-
raising and social-service organization.
The name was adopted after a pas-
sionate debate that exemplified some
of the tensions inherent in forming a
new national organization intended to
change the culture of a central system
that serves the needs of Jews locally,
nationally and internationally.
The new national structure, six
years in the making, is intended to put
more decision-making power in the
hands of the federations. They have a
majority share in the governing bodies
that will be set up, if plans go smooth-
ly, over the next three months.
The ambitious plans for the merger
necessitated the dissolution of the CJF
and the UJA, whose boards effectively
voted themselves out of existence. The
UIA, which had been the mechanism by
which funds raised by the UJA had
made their way to the Jewish Agency for
Israel, remains somewhat autonomous
for legal reasons, but it shrank its board
of directors by two-thirds.
To facilitate the transition from
three organizations to one, Stephen
Solender, the executive vice president of
UJA-Federation of New York, agreed to
serve as the group's acting chief profes-
sional officer for six months.
Announcing Solender's appoint-
ment, the new organization's chairman
of the board, Charles Bronfman,
explained the decision to name an
interim officer while the search for a
permanent president continues. "We
),
must move forward," he said, "today.
The next six months will be critical
in creating the perception of progress,
said Larry Joseph of Miami.
In addition to giving immediate
attention to the needs of smaller feder-
ations and to engaging younger lead-

ers, he said, federations must believe
that they have "taken over the national
system" by infusing the upper eche-
lons of power with new faces from the
communities.
-
"If people in the communities do
not perceive the idea that the system
will change," Joseph said, then United
Jewish Communities "will not meet
with the success we'd hoped for."
Rabbi Irwin Kula, president of
CLAL-National Jewish Center for
Learning and Leadership, challenged
the leaders to focus more on service
than on power.

V

c..c

V

Stephen Solender: Acting chief

"The community is about trust and
faith in people. It's not about the
strategic plan," he said. He added that
the perception of UJA and federations
as oligarchic organizations has created
a "radical disconnect between the peo-
ple in this room and amcha," meaning
the Jewish people.
For his part, Bronfman stressed
philosophical issues, such as inclusive-
ness and coalition building, over struc-
tural details.
He also called for redefining the rela-
tionship between North American
Jewry and Israel, moving from a view of
Israel solely as a recipient of Diaspora
funds to one of Israel as a partner with
equal responsibility "to nurture and
build the new Jewish world."
Partnerships should also be forged,
he said, with synagogues to infuse