Stop A Nuclear Iran

Washington/JTA

W by hasn't prevention of a
nuclear-armed Iran become
a priority of the highest order
for the American Jewish community, par-
ticularly at the grass roots? Many national
agencies, including mine, have long urged
more intense activism.
One hears many reasons for the relatively
low-key response, including an overwhelm-
ing media focus on the domestic and
global economic crisis. Iran does tend to be
underplayed in the press. The story about
a Chinese businessman being indicted for
using New York banks to buy Iran materials
to make nuclear weapons was buried deep
inside the New York Times, while a human
interest piece about the use of the Internet
to return a lost camera made the front page.
In addition, the Iraq "syndrome" has
had a chilling effect on any possible U.S.
intervention in the Middle East. Some in
our community maintain that the Iranian
threat just doesn't seem "rear They say,
"we have been hearing warnings for many
years and nothing has happened yet. Even
if they get a weapon, they would never use
it, fearing an Israeli nuclear reprisal."

A pre-emptive Israeli military strike
on Iran's nuclear facilities is something
that is uncomfortable to think about. But
along comes a study by Abdullah Toukan
and Anthony Cordesman at the Center for
Strategic and International Studies explor-
ing the feasibility of such a strike and the
potential military, political and environ-
mental consequences.
One prediction in the study: "Attacking
the Bushehr Nuclear Reactor would release
contamination in the form of radionu-
clides into the air; most definitely Bahrain,
Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will
be heavily affected; any strike on this
reactor will cause the immediate death of
thousands of people living in or adjacent
to the site, and thousands of subsequent
cancer deaths or even up to hundreds of
thousands depending on the population
density along the contamination plume."
Persuading the Tehran mullahs, who
may not behave with the kind of restraint
shown by the Soviets during the Cold War,
to step back from their current course, in
fact, will require a vigorous, sustained and
urgent international effort led by President
Obama and his administration. The presi-
dent unequivocally asserted that Iran's

again and again; publish letters
acquisition of nuclear weapons
to the editor and op-ed pieces;
capability is "unacceptable." He
encourage the convening of
clearly is pursuing a diplomatic
forums on Iran in synagogues
engagement strategy, unlike
and communal organizations;
President George W. Bush,
ask stock brokers whether they
who chose to "quarantine" the
have terror-free investment
Iranian leadership.
options and support appropriate
But one thing is clear: There
Mar tin J.
divestment initiatives; discuss
is precious little time left before
Ra ffel
the threshold to nuclear weap-
• with and send e-mails to your
Spe cial
friends, neighbors and business
ons capability is crossed.
Comm entary
associates; sign the petition on
Recognizing the dangers not
just to Israel, but also the entire Middle East the Web site of United Against a Nuclear
Iran (www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com )
and beyond, the administration is moving
and join its Facebook group; and contact
quickly to address what it accurately per-
your local community relations committee
ceives as a threat to fundamental American
to learn what other steps can be taken.
national security interests.
As unpleasant and difficult as it may be,
The American people can play a vital
we have an obligation to think about the
role in reinforcing the centrality and
unthinkable and to do everything within
urgency of vigorous U.S. leadership, and
our power to try to prevent it from coming
it must start with the Jewish community
whose manifest commitment will help
to pass.
There is no time to waste.
galvanize like-minded allies in the broader
Let's get busy.
community.
How can individuals constructively
express their deep concern about the pros- Martin J. Raffel is senior vice president for the
Jewish Council for Public Affairs, parent orga-
pect of a nuclear-armed Iran? Write and
nization of the Jewish Community Relations
call the White House, the State Department
Council of Metropolitan Detroit.
and congressional offices, not just once but

Invest In Innovation

Felicia Herman and
Dana Raucher

Special Commentary

New York/ITA

W

hat is now a crisis of economy
must not become a crisis
of vision. The economic
downturn gives us a rare opportunity to
rethink the way the Jewish community is
organized.
As this process of communal re-envi-
sioning begins, we've been hearing calls
for greater consolidation and a return to
the more centralized infrastructure of
yesteryear. Drawing upon our experience
in two foundations that have prioritized
innovation in their grant making, we
respectfully disagree with this view.
We believe that the young, and often
small, non-profits that have emerged in
the past decade, and the very de-central-
ization they reflect, are here to stay. We
believe that this interconnected network
of smaller, niche-based organizations
reflects the organizational transformation
now under way in American culture: a
revolution in the way that people connect,

organize and affiliate, brought about by
technological advancements that have
dramatically shaped our ways of looking
at the world. That revolution already has
utterly transformed so much of our lives
— the way we shop, network, share infor-
mation, learn and teach. We don't believe
there's any going back.
As the American economy went into its
precipitous decline in the fall of 2008, our
foundations partnered with Jumpstart, an
incubator and think tank for sustainable
Jewish innovation, to conduct a survey
of American Jewish start-ups: non-profit
initiatives founded in 1998 or later with a
budget of up to $2 million.
We are releasing the full report ana-
lyzing our findings as "The Innovation
Ecosystem: Emergence of a New Jewish
Landscape" (available at www.jewishjump-
start.org). Our report was designed to pro-
vide a comprehensive snapshot of Jewish
start-ups so that non-profit leaders and
funders alike might better understand the
organizations that have ascended over the
past decade and what they have to teach
us about the Jewish future.
The report makes evident that over the
past 10 years, an organic, grassroots, self-

organizing ecosystem of Jewish initiatives
has emerged parallel to the existing Jewish
communal infrastructure. We found more
than 300 geographically diverse organiza-
tions that in 2008 alone reached more
than 400,000 people and represented a
$100 million economy.
These organizations engage and inte-
grate populations that existing Jewish
organizations have struggled to reach as
well as people who are highly connected
to traditional Jewish communal life. These
organizations integrate participants under
45 — Millennials and Generation Xers
— with a healthy proportion of older con-
stituents.
These organizations have helped to
foster a culture of empowered Jewish con-
sumers who pick and choose from existing
options and even create their own paths
to Judaism and Jewish life. They operate
in a global marketplace of ideas, where a
Jewish organization can survive only if it
is competitive with the best offerings in
the "secular" world. They demonstrate an
eagerness to utilize new ways of organiz-
ing people and to adopt new technologies,
which most manage to do on shoestring
budgets. In fact, more than half of the

organizations in the survey have annual
operating budgets under $150,000.
Our charge as funders is to advocate on
behalf of these innovative organizations as
the Jewish community begins the process
of re-imagining its future.
Support for the innovation sector is not
just about providing funding for particu-
lar organizations — though, to be sure,
these organizations could use many more
champions and supporters.
It is also about understanding the
cultural transformation now under way
in the Jewish world — a transformation
that will not be stopped by the economic
crisis — and about shaping a Jewish com-
munity for the 21st century that integrates
this understanding into its structure and
philosophy.
For those concerned with the vitality of
the Jewish community, which must con-
stantly renew itself to adapt to changing
conditions, fostering an environment of
Jewish empowerment and creativity is not
a luxury but a necessity.

❑

Felicia Herman is executive director of the

Natan Fund. Dana Raucher is executive director

of the Samuel Bronfman Foundation.

May 21 . 2009

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