GROWING PAINS

Describing the Torah as another
part of Jewish literature," Wine
explained the philosophy of his move-
ment:
"One of the basic principles of
Humanistic Judaism is the belief that
the power for solving human prob-
lems does not come from the outside
of us but from within us. So for us
what is most important is to train
people to use their limited human
power to benefit themselves and other
people. We think that is the message
of Jewish history," he said.
"In the century of the Holocaust
it is hard to believe that we live in a
world that some wonderful power is
taking care of us; what we learn
from Jewish history is that in the
end we have to take care of ourselves
and others.
Robert Lappin
of Swampscott,
Mass., who has
given $5 million
to the federation
over the last 10
years, called the
decision to allow
Wine's group
into the GA
inappropriate,
and described the
group as a form
Rabbi
of "Godless
Sherwin Wine
Judaism." He
added, "they just
as well might have a session on Jews
for Jesus or Messianic Jews. The orga-
nization (UJC) is out of control and
there is nobody apparently looking
with a careful eye at the activities
going on.
"I think there is a large constituen-
cy that already is very distressed over
Arafat and who will be distressed over
Humanistic Judaism, and the result is
going to be an erosion of credibility of
the UJC."
Irwin Hochberg, past president of
UJA New York, and current national
campaign chairman of Israel Bonds,
also expressed his outrage. "I'm
shocked," he said. "If it s true that
they are planning a session for two
hours to present an atheistic religion
as an alternative to Judaism, then they
have to have their heads examined."
Rabbi Wine said he is not receiving a
speaker's fee from the UJC for the
class.
Defending the class, UJC
spokesman Norman Eisenberg said,
"The goal of the GA is to provide an
innovative, stimulating program that
can engage all members of the Jewish
community."

C:

'

from page 17

tioned whether Israel should be
involved in subsidizing Jewish identi-
ty-building programs for diaspora
youth.
"My personal concern is the Israeli
government's providing money" for
the trips at a time when its resources
could be spent on Israeli children's
education, said Stephen Hoffman,
executive vice president of the
Cleveland federation.
Other issues raised by federation
executives who participated in the
recent discussions included whether
the trips should focus on high school-
or college-aged students and whether
10 days was enough to form the basis
of a meaningful connection to Israel.
Moreover, federations now running
their own Israel experience programs
do not want their efforts and successes
to be superceded by a global structure.
Boston, as well as Washington and
Los Angeles, among other federations,
have successful savings incentive pro-
grams that encourage long-term
engagement with Jewish institutions
and the idea of going to Israel. The
professional leaders of all three federa-
tions also expressed the importance of
partnering with synagogues and other
community organizations in creating
Israel experiences with lasting effects.
"We're concerned that Birthright
Israel should supplement what we do.
It shouldn't be competitive," said John
Fishel, executive vice president of the
Jewish Federation of Greater Los
Angeles.
"It's not going to be the giant
monolithic thing they thought," said
Barry Shrage, president of the
Combined Jewish Philanthropies of
Greater Boston. He added, "Somehow
or other, we believe that we can find a
way to individualize it and personal-
ize" the global initiative.
But no one interviewed by JTA
expressed any doubt about the benefits
of a national program on the scale
planned for Birthright Israel. The
biggest thing it brings to the field, said
Jacob Solomon, executive vice presi-
dent at the Greater Miami Jewish
Federation, "is a broad vision, a nation-
al and international vision to create a
climate that makes our job of recruiting
young adults and teens easier."
The sold-out success of the college
trips bodes well for demand, many
people believe, and Hoffman of
Cleveland believes in the savvy of
Birthright Israel's marketing campaign.
Attracting kids is the key, Hoffman
said. If Birthright can "help us under-
stand the market, then we're all for
that

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