After spending three days in Washington, D.C., at the annual American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference (March 5-7), I am convinced of two things.
First, the future of the American-Israel relationship is in exceedingly good hands.
Second, this area of communal activity may be the most vital in terms of attracting younger members to voluntary activity in our Jewish community — and perhaps the Jewish community could learn from it.
For those who may not be familiar with AIPAC, it is a grassroots organization established to make certain that all members of Congress understand the vital importance of the bond between the State of Israel and the United States of America.
It is not a charity; it is a registered lobby. It is also not a political action committee that makes contributions to candidates for office.
My wife Sheri and I were among the more than 5,000 attendees to the conference. There were over 1,000 students including more than 100 student-body presidents (of which 78 were not Jewish). There were numerous African-Americans and scores of Christians — Israel advocacy is clearly not limited to members of the Jewish community.
The issues were most compelling — the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran with it’s Hitler-like president; a terrorist-committed party, Hamas, serving as the elected majority of the Palestinian Authority; and the continuing fight against terrorism on a global scale.
Listening to speakers that are some of America’s and Israel’s most knowledgeable and influential people was exciting. Meeting with our senators and representatives is very heady stuff.
Easy to be involved
I remember well the compelling issues that captured my attention and activity when I first got involved intensively with Jewish community issues in the 1970s and 1980s.
They included Israel’s survival in the 1973 Yom Kippur War; Soviet-Jewry; the remarkable Ethiopian aliyah; and serving our critical Milwaukee needs in Jewish education, care for our elderly, and Jewish Community Center programming.
The organizational lines were understood. The Milwaukee Jewish Federation was the umbrella that encompassed community planning, fundraising, community relations, and was the central address of the Jewish community. The synagogues did not actively shape the communal agenda, perhaps tragically, in those years.
Nationally, the United Jewish Appeal was the “Israel” connection for fund raising and programming and the Council of Jewish Federations served the same “umbrella” role on the national level as did our federation on the local level.
The tapestry of Jewish life is different today. UJA and CJF have merged into the United Jewish Communities. The JCC is a much more dynamic agency serving an ever greater percentage of our Jewish community, and synagogues have found resonance in delivering quality Jewish-content programming.
Volunteers seem more interested in direct service and directed giving. However, the quest for volunteer participation within the organizational structures continues to fall short. Here is where AIPAC may have something to teach.
Becoming active in the work of AIPAC is both compelling and relatively easy. The issues are truly important. The knowledge required to participate intelligently was almost spoon-fed to us at the conference.
Today’s volunteers want to feel that they are well informed, and that this needs to be done quickly (briefing papers must be concise and compelling). They need to feel that are “on the field of play” in whatever role they are asked to fulfill; and, they must feel that their participation makes a difference.
No organization on the world stage does it better than AIPAC — on any level or on any issue. We are very lucky that AIPAC has attracted the talent and leadership necessary to deal with the most critical issues that are facing our country and our people.
That 5,000 people attended the very well run AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington speaks volumes.
As a community, we need to learn from AIPAC’s example — and we, too, must participate in the political process. America’s support of Israel is critical for both our country and our people.
Lloyd Levin is a long-time Milwaukee Jewish community activist.
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