The rainbow of balloons dotting Siegal Hall at Congregation Beth Israel began Monday evening as decoration for the Milwaukee Jewish Federation’s annual meeting.
But, in the course of the program, the balloons became not only a sign of tangible support for Israel but also a symbol for diversity within the Jewish community and an example of the values that bind the community together.
The balloons were affixed to the chairs of those community members who have registered to participate in the federation’s Nov. 11-20 mission to Israel themed “This year make it Israel.” (See related story, left.)
And the diversity of their colors represented what MJF president Judy Segall Guten called “one of my greatest pleasures this past year — all of you.”
“You are all ages,” she said. “You are individuals who are as diverse as our multi-faceted community. You are people who come together around very different interests and concerns that are near to your hearts. You have vastly different opinions and loves. You embrace different personal visions for the community. Your family needs are different. Your knowledge and habits are different. You share culture and you differ culturally.”
Guten recalled last year’s annual meeting, her first as president. “I said that I envision a Jewish community that each and every member knows that he or she can come to in time of need.”
“To this end, we need to launch an inclusive community planning process,” which will include “a strategic framework” in which to make decisions, she said.
This year brought a new structure for federation professionals, Guten explained, “that will enable [them] to create a setting resulting in greater human resource and financial development success.”
The other half of the equation, Guten continued, is a new volunteer leadership team “which will result in far broader decision-making involvement, leadership and implementation by the volunteers.”
That approach, she said, will be introduced over the next two weeks.
Guten also introduced the newly created position of president-elect, held by David J. Lubar, who will assume the presidency when Guten completes her term next summer.
In keeping with the focus on restructuring and planning, Richard H. Meyer, MJF executive vice president, said, “[W]e are being tested in how we operate, how we fundraise, how we relate to our core constituencies, how we form new partnerships and how we engage the Jewish and general community in fulfillment of our historic mission.”
Echoing Guten’s emphasis on an “outcome-oriented” approach in these areas, Meyer welcomed new MJF staff members David Cobb as chief operating officer and Tanya Mazor-Posner as campaign director.
He also said that despite the lengthy “fight” for “necessary capital changes” at the Karl Jewish Community Campus, the federation has succeeded in such outreach initiatives as the Women’s Division “Shalom Baby” welcoming program, graduation of 24 young leaders in the Visions Program and participation of eight area synagogues in a federation-sponsored leadership training program.
“Federation-synagogue engagement,” said Meyer, “must be one of our most important activities during the coming years.”
Ties to Israel
Describing the 150 community volunteers and professionals gathered, Rabbi Jacob Herber, CBI’s new spiritual leader, said they “are sustained by their commitment to building a strong and unified Jewish community in order to ensure the survival, well-being and continuity of the Jewish people in the greater Milwaukee area and throughout the world….”
One such volunteer, Israel and Overseas Needs Committee chair Jerry Benjamin, spoke of his personal ties to Israel and lauded those planning on participating in the fall community mission. Sporting a white button printed with the words, “I’m going,” Benjamin said he hopes for 100 participants.
Recent Birthright Israel participant Don Karsh spoke about how safe he felt in Israel during the free trip for 18-26 year-olds, which helped him form deep and lasting relationships with Israelis. The Israelis accompanying his group “became my friends and I could talk to them about anything,” said the college freshman.
Another voice from Israel was that of featured speaker Carlos G. Rizowy, Ph.D., a Chicago attorney, university professor and authority on international legal issues and foreign policy.
Rizowy recalled his mother’s advice to always “Keep the naches machine going.” To that end, he listed a series of accomplishments in Israel’s short history, including:
A sevenfold growth in its GDP over the past 30 years, and a GDP that is 50 percent larger than that of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon combined; a decrease from 33 percent to less than 9 percent of the budget spent on defense; the absorption of a million immigrants in the past decades who “not only came but stayed and integrated”; and women’s percentage of the workforce, which ranks among the world’s highest.
Further, Rizowy said, education is the second item in Israel’s budget: Israel ranks first in the world in its number of professors, third in the world in its number of university graduates and third in its amount of engineers and scientists.
“Not bad for a county in its mid-fifties,” Rizowy repeated after each accomplishment. He added that “Israel was able to achieve all this under democracy and pluralism,” highlighting the difference between Israel and other Middle Eastern countries as well as many African states founded less than 70 years ago.
Despite these successes, Rizowy acknowledged that Israel faces serious financial challenges. “That’s where we come in,” he said, of diaspora Jews. “That’s where we have always been…. We were there when Israel was built, and we must be there now.
“And the support that Israel needs most now is that we go there. I hope next time I’m here to have to wade through a room full of balloons.”
In other federation action, officers and board members were elected. Serving with Guten, in addition to Lubar, are Jerry Benjamin, James E. Deshur, Penny Deshur, Robert L. Habush, Marlene Lauwasser, Gerald Stein and Marci Taxman, vice presidents; Bruce Arbit, treasurer; Scott Sampson, assistant treasurer; Bradden C. Backer, secretary; Frederick R. Croen, assistant secretary; and Jody Kaufman Loewenstein, officer-at-large.
Board members beginning a two-year term include Elaine Appel, Rabbi Pinchas Avruch, Daniel Bader, Audrey Bernstein, Wendy Blumenthal, Rosalie Gellman, Julie Gorens-Winston, Marty Katz, Cindy Kazan, Mitchell Moser, Jeanette Peckerman, Michael Peltz, Michael I. Sattell, Daniel Sinykin, Susan Lubar Solvang, Sue Strait and James H. Zucker.
Nathan Bernstein and Judy Coran co-chaired the event.
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