This is the second of three blogs inspired by the recent Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in New Orleans. I was attending the Do The Write Thing track of this conference as a staff member of Hagshama - the organization hosting the track. I am a very big fan of this annual conference and never turn down the opportunity to attend. However, being a fan does not mean I can’t be critical. There are some issues that I started to think about as I debriefed the conference in my mind and I’m curious to see if anyone else agrees.
This post is about priorities. I think we - the Jewish community - might have our priorities out of order. Not on a universal level but certainly in the realm of this gathering. In the context of this conference, I think we need to consider a few things.
The closing plenary on Tuesday November 9th, featured: Tzipi Livni, Leader of the Opposition in the Israel Knesset; Charles Bronfman, one of the founders of Taglit-Birthright Israel; the presentation of the Community Heroes Awards; and other speakers from the Federation system. What strikes you as the most important part of this plenary? Are these speakers equal in importance? Who would you want to hear?
I realize that some people probably had to leave early, needing to get to the airport to catch a flight, but by the time Charles Bronfman finished speaking the room had trickled down to half the number of audience as it had started with, just in time for the presentation of awards. This strikes me as strange. We are about to honour someone for doing outstanding work in our community and give them a nice size cheque to continue their important work, but hardly anybody is there to congratulate this person; to show them respect for their contributions. On one hand I feel bad for the honouree who might have felt their important award was insignificant to the community that voted for them. On the other I feel embarrassed for the organizers who put effort into making this moment special, and hardly anyone stayed to see. Now I may be accused of exaggerating - the room was not empty - but the number of people who left was noticeable. Couldn’t lunch have waited 15 more minutes? Couldn’t we as a community stick around long enough to show some respect? Isn’t part of the purpose of these events to be able to offer recognition on a grander stage than that of a single community? I wonder, is the problem here the placement of this element in the program or would the response have been the same no matter what day it was presented? Does this bother anyone else?
My worry about priorities extends beyond this plenary and all the other plenaries, where the students I was sitting amongst did not seem to care about anything other than the keynote speaker. This being my second GA, I realized that yet again I did not get to visit the host community. I’ve flown all the way here from Toronto, to discuss Jewish Communities across North America, and not only do I not have time to explore this city that I’ve never been to, I don’t get to see the community here either? Maybe this is just my tourist side wanting to be able to explore, but I feel like there is something to be gained by actually seeing different communities - I’d like to see their synagogues, their historic landmarks, their JCCs. Since this year the GA was in New Orleans, there was a major emphasis on Tikkun Olam - Repairing the World and volunteer programs were offered on the second day of the conference. These programs were optional - only the students participating through Hillel were required to attend. I did not get to volunteer in NOLA (New Orleans, LA) because my track did not build it into their plan.
Gmilut Chassidim - Acts of Kindness is one of the three pillars (along with Torah and Avodah (work)) that Judaism believes the world stands on. Tikkun Olam falls under Gmilut Chassadim, shouldn’t we have all done a service project in NOLA? Shouldn’t we, as representatives of Jewish Communities across North America, be doing service projects at every GA? Is it justifiable that I traveled to NOLA for the first time, a place known to still be in need of repair, and did not give back in any way? Is there really no need to balance this value of social action with hours of important conversations? I realize that answering these questions is not simple. To make this a requirement requires cutting other important sessions, but I think we need to consider this issue. We’ve acknowledged that the young adults in our community identify with the values of Tikkun Olam, what message are we sending if we place it low on the scale of importance?
I’ve posed a lot of questions, shared what’s on my mind, please respond. Let me know what I’m forgetting to consider or what I’m reading too much into. Tell me you agree with me and expand on what I’ve said or tell me I’m wrong and explain to me why.
To finish this post, I’d simply like to congratulate Jay Feinberg, the founder of Gift of Life: Bone Marrow Foundation, for winning the 2010 Jewish Community Hero Award. Gift of Life seeks to create more diversity in the donor registry so that more people in need can find life saving matches in a faster amount of time. Click on the links to learn more.
I think you are onto something. This was my first GA. I was offered the opportunity to go and went with it. What I felt was that the entire experience had a business feel to it. To me the idea of having 4000(more or less?) Jews who are deeply involved in their community congregate ought to have some kind of meaning or depth. Furthermore, the idea that we were in a city like new Orleans which is in need of help ought to have inspired people(and maybe it did), but what I felt was that people were so caught up in their schedules that they were removed from the amazing opportunity that had presented itself. To me the event lacked some Jewish spirit. Sadly, the only time I felt any real spirit was at the hands of those hecklers. Their chutzpah really brought out the jewish spirit in the room and the crowd was roaring. But isn't that sad? I think its sad that the only time I felt any "Jewish spirit" was in light of some arguably anti semetic heckling. This is what I find sad in general. As Jews we are so easy to forget our history. We do live a comfortable life here in the West, but we take it for granted. Sadly I think we become united in the wake of anti semetism. Anways I'm tired and my writing is sloppy right now but let me know if you get what I'm saying. I think that the problem runs deep and all this anti Israel sentiment spreading like cancer ought to be a wake up call to every single Jew.
ReplyDeleteOn a more positive note though I think Birthright is truly amazing because even though most students go for a free trip, they leave having felt something and that's what its all about.
Tommy,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response. You flow into a few interesting points here. Firstly, let's be clear - of course the GA is business-y - it's the meeting of the organizational world. This is not a shabbaton or a cultural retreat. It is a professional conference, primarily aimed at bringing the professionals of the North American communities together to discuss challenges and issues along with accomplishments and successful approaches in their communities. Noting that, I agree with you, there is a lack of Jewish-ness in the actual conference - at least Jewish-ness in the way someone who is used to participating in Jewish Immersive Experiences might expect.
Second, there is definitely a large issue with anti-semitsm right now, especially on our university campuses. (Read this article if you haven't yet: http://tinyurl.com/237798p ) However, thinking that this is the only or main issue that we should be concerned with is also doing a disservice to our communities.
Third, amen to your comments on Birthright! However, the GA and Birthright are two very different experiences with different goals and we need to be careful not to compare them as though they are.