Cover Story: Building A Federated Framework :,. ., ,‘ ',:. Mt•VO .,,, %WWW‘M:::.E.Z .Z•z:: . .M.EM. , 7 ' 54RN.R.I'm s'. ‘,.‘.% , '•\ ••• , yt ',VW' . • , •:. ,.. , '• ,,, s- ss, , k:',•K • :4:r ,.. — .,.'") ‘ " ..',. . 1 ' , .K.•?\` ,‘„ ,,, , ,:•N ,,,„••• -"••\'''‘''' , •,,,k;to..:,, ..,•:,....\:•,•:. :4 •,,a,:::?:;:.1:0: `.:•, .. :•4:•t• ,,S1:10,:t • .f&R.M.:;:,::.•,&,::::„ , :i i k lA t. •••.::, .......V.:14t,,4 , ,•:,•4 ..,•:......W.,4:::: •::::::.,,,:••••:•::::,o,:::: gave up the rough-and-tumble of New York City o lead a fight fbr human digni. ular Mafia-busting former prosecutor and incumbent Republican — Rudy Giuliani. A noble cause; a losing race. She knew it was time to do some- thing else. Today, Messinger is the president of the American Jewish World Service (AJWS), a non-profit organization devoted to providing humanitarian assistance, technical support and emergency relief to communities around the world — part Jewish Peace Corps, part Jewish aid organization. The AJWS sent representatives to Central America to assist after the destruction caused by Hurricane TODD LEOPOLD Special to the Jewish News or more than 20 years, Ruth Messinger was right there in the thick of things — New York, N.Y. She was a player: from the school board to the city council to Manhattan borough president, jostling and jawing with mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins, gadfly journalist Jimmy Breslin and "The Donald" Trump. In 1997, she ran for mayor, a Democrat running against a very pop- II Todd Leopold is an Atlanta writer. Mitch; it established a grass-roots effort in Senegal to ban female genital mutilation; it provided support to teachers of rural preschool children in South Africa. In many respects, it is as far from the brass knuckles ethos of New York City politics as you can get. But, for Messinger, the goal is the same: helping others.- "It was quite a natural tran- sition," says Messinger, relaxed amid the hubbub of the GA's Delegates' Lounge. She's been presi- dent of the AJWS for 17 months. Messinger talks quickly and bluntly, and though she appears a bit weary, there's an undercurrent of the politi- cian's boundless energy — focused on issues one minute, animatedly making an appointment with a passerby the next. "When I left politics... what I was looking for profes- sionally was the opportunity to run a not-for-profit agency.... I could use my city knowledge, but also my Jewish commitment to social justice," she says. "I heard about this job — identifying and supporting grass-roots humanitarian groups — BEYOND POLITICS on page 10 *kk:••;'4":,V,KA%•WW4::W. A conversation with Israeli feminist Alice Shalvi. Kr 4 ••:•.•, \\ Ks. RICHARD LUFRANO Special to the Jewish News S fitting in the lobby of the Marriott Marquis hotel at the General Assembly, Alice Shalvi wipes away a few crumbs of peanut butter crackers that have become her lunch and talks about feminism. For her, it is a "transformative ideol- ogy" that aims to "create a world where a person's sex should not be relevant." That dream, both of transforma- tion and justice, has been a driving Richard Lufrano is an Atlanta writer. 4 •:,4:14.44:tarar''''' • • ••••• Ait •••V DANA DRATCH Special to the Jewish News S hulamit Reinharz shatters the stereotype of the reticent, remote ivory-tower scholar. The director of women's studies at Brandeis University is ener- getic and out there, an academic for the modern era. Wise with a young face, idealistic but politically savvy. A feminist in a mini-skirt. A sociologist by training, Reinharz Dana Dratch is senior staff writer of the Atlanta Jewish Times, sister publication to the Jewish News. force in her life. It has led her to be one of the most visible champions of women's rights and social justice in Israel — in 1984 she helped found the Israel Women's Network. She is also a tireless peace activist, a lover of Judaism and the Jewish peo- ple, and a figure of powerful moral authority. Her accent and her elo- quence, reminiscent of Abba Eban's, lends her already-weighty presence further weight. Shalvi's journey has been filled by struggle with the seemingly irreconcil- able, and then discovery and integra- tion. About two years ago, the story splashed through the Israeli press that the nation's most ardent Orthodox feminist was now praying in a Conservative synagogue and consid- ered herself part of the Conservative community. She jokingly says she was "outed." She is now the rector of the movement's Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, the Israeli affiliate of the Jewish Theological Seminary. Born in Germany in 1930, Shalvi immigrated to England with her modern Orthodox family four years later. After earning a master's degree in literature from Cambridge University, Shalvi immi- grated to Israel in 1950, where she went on to receive a doctorate in English literature from Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 1969, Shalvi founded the Department of English at Ben Gurion University in the Negev. Meanwhile, she says she never questioned the tradi- tional gender roles assigned by OrthodoX Judaism. "Prior to 1979, I don't think women in the Orthodox movement knew what was out there. What she calls her "epiphany" came SPEAKING OUT on page 10 " randeis University Shulamit Reinharz turns women's dreams into bricks, mortar, money and jobs. loves causes, ideas, books and people. As long as you have people," she says, "great things will happen. ), On a podium she's formidable — chic, with a tailored suit, regal pos- ture, salt-and-pepper hair and a reso- nant speaking voice. Across the breakfast table, Reinharz is engaging. She smiles — easily and often — with her whole face and talks with her hands. She laughs and tells stories. The 53-year-old could be your next-door neighbor if your neighbor had a Ph.D. from Brandeis, drove an ambulance in Israel during the Yom Kippur War and founded the only research institute on Jewish women in the world. Three "-isms" — Judaism, femi- nism and Zionism — fuel her life. "I feel thrilled at the opportunity to be working as an academic at a time when [women's studies] has taken off," she says. "Just as I feel thrilled to be alive at a time when the state of Israel has been created for the first time in 2000 years. I live at the intersection of those things." Born to Holocaust survivors in Amsterdam in the wake of World War II, Reinharz grew up in New Jersey. She jokes that she was the only Jewish girl in town. She was one of the few who actually learned Hebrew in Hebrew school. She spoke it well enough to act as a translator for a vis- iting Israeli, Jehuda Reinharz, when she was 15. The two fell in love, have been married 33 years and are the parents of two grown daughters. Today, Jehuda Reinharz is president of Brandeis University. Shulamit Reinharz has never been afraid to step forward — provided she can help the causes she TOWER ACTIVIST on page 10 11/26 1999 7