New York — Call them mega-leaders. They are the new breed of men (so far) taking the helm of the American Jewish establishment. They include:
• Mort Zuckerman, real estate and publishing mogul, who is preparing to succeed Ronald Lauder, the cosmetics heir, as chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
• James Tisch, head of the Loews Corporation and outgoing president of UJA-Federation of New York, who likely will succeed Charles Bronfman, of Seagrams wealth, as president of the United Jewish Communities.
These men are enormously wealthy, have high name-recognition and superb access to national and world leaders of government and business.
But they also tend to come in at the top of the organizations they head rather than work their way up the ladder of Jewish communal involvement. They have limited connection to amcha, or grass-roots Jews, and narrow access to rank-and-file Jewish lay leaders, professionals and press.
There is concern that in their relative isolation, these new leaders will be buffered from the associations and exchange of ideas with Jewish organizational volunteers and professionals that were an integral part of the job description in the past. Some sense of communal spirit may be lost to them, as much of the mood of American Jewry will be filtered through a few key officials and associates.
Veteran Jewish leaders are skeptical about this emerging trend and reluctant to discuss the implications on the record.
But privately they worry that in attracting powerful men to these top positions, the community loses an authentic relationship with those who ostensibly speak for them — and the leaders themselves lose a reality-check in assessing the feelings and needs of the people for whom they speak.
Family foundations loom
Shoshana Cardin of Baltimore, a past president of nearly every major communal organization, epitomizes the Jewish leader who rose through the ranks. She said that “if this trend becomes more widespread, it could dissuade competent men and women from seeking” key positions.
“If my turn were to come up now,” said Cardin, 75, “I probably wouldn’t have made it,” given the level of wealth and presumed donations of the mega-leaders.
Wealth has always been a factor in choosing American Jewish lay leaders. But this new level among the top leaders can be traced, in part, to an effort by organizational professionals to respond to the proliferation of major family foundations threatening to overshadow the federation system.
As the United Jewish Appeal and Council of Jewish Federations were struggling to merge a few years ago, individual philanthropists like Les Wexner and Michael Steinhardt were setting aside increasingly significant dollars for their own funds and setting the agenda for the rest of the community.
In an effort to keep such key figures in the system and give enhanced clout and prestige to the fledgling United Jewish Communities (the result of the UJA and CJF merger), Bronfman was tapped to be its president and Joel Tauber, a Detroit-based mega-donor, to serve as chairman.
Each leader, of course, has individual strengths and weaknesses; but generally they are high-powered businessmen used to making decisions and getting their way.
“There’s a longer learning curve for those coming from different fields,” said Cardin. She said the Jewish communal system of consensus requires much process and patience until decisions are reached and accepted.
“I don’t know if it’s helpful to have a head of the UJC who doesn’t know the leaders, lay and professional, in the system, and the needs of the average federation,” Cardin said. “We need someone willing to participate in regional conferences and to go to the various communities whose constituents want some hand-holding from their lay leaders. Being visible and accessible adds a great deal to the sense of togetherness we still need.”
Will the mega-leaders have the time or inclination to travel for such meetings? Do they have the deep-seated Jewish sensibilities of past leaders?
One Jewish lay leader said that “there are no giants out there in the volunteer community” as existed in the past. “Unfortunately some of the potential talent has been lost to industry, the professions and technology. Perhaps younger people today are not willing or able to devote the time to leadership roles in our community, or don’t appreciate the importance of maintaining a strong and united American Jewry.”
Not so the mega-leaders. Whether driven by ego or altruism, they devote time, energy and funds to the cause of the Jewish people. What’s more, their contacts with government and international leaders are impressive and can be enormously influential.
But in bolstering those connections, there is a danger that the ties between our community and our leaders can fray, and that top leadership positions will appear off-limits to all but a handful of mega-millionaires.
Like most things in life there are trade-offs here. But it’s important to be mindful of them and to work toward cultivating leaders who not only fund Jewish life but live it as well.
Gary Rosenblatt is editor and publisher of The New York Jewish Week.
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