This coming February will mark the 18th (or chai, from the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in the word meaning “life”) year that Kathleen R. Jendusa, 63, has been executive director of the Wisconsin Society for Jewish Learning.
This fact is remarkable not only because Jendusa has held the post for so long; but as far as The Chronicle can tell, Jendusa is also the only non-Jewish person presently serving in that kind of position in a major Wisconsin Jewish community organization. She is Catholic and attended parochial schools in her native town, La Crosse.
To mark the occasion, The Chronicle spoke with her at the WSJL’s Glendale offices. Compiled and edited excerpts of that conversation follow:
Where did you attend undergraduate school?
The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
And what did you major in there?
Sociology and psychology.
What was interesting about those fields?
The study of people. I just enjoyed working with people. I worked with people from the time I was very little on. My parents owned A&W root beer stands. From the time I could reach a car, I was number one carhop. And I did that until I was 20.
And that got you interested in people? I wonder what kind of people you saw.
Very interesting people. Some very delightful people. When you are in a business like that, you make lots of wonderful friends of people from other restaurants, etc. And you meet a wide range of individuals….
And then I came to Milwaukee, and got my Master of Science in social work [at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee].
With the idea being?
I really had no idea what I was going to do. But after I graduated, I took the summer off, because it was the first summer I had not worked ever. The school had gotten a new dean after I graduated. (I had been president of the graduate students.) And during the summer, I came back to Milwaukee and I decided I should meet with this dean and tell him what I thought of the school. I just wanted him to know some of the good things and some of the bad things, some of the things I thought needed changing. And he suggested we look to do something about it. And it was done by hiring me to work out of his office on some of those issues.
How long did that last?
I worked there from September 1969 until January 1974, I think. I [then became] project coordinator for the Allied Health Education Coordinating Council of Southeastern Wisconsin. I was at that position for nine months. I resigned, and I stayed at home. And the next year (1975) I had our daughter.
You got married somewhere in all this?
Oh yes. While I was at the university, I got married [to] John Jendusa.
How did you end up as WSJL? I take it there were other gigs before that?
I worked for Jewish Family Services.
So you did some work in the Jewish community before you ended up at the society. How did that happen?
Because John worked at JFS; he was a social worker there. He had started there before we were married.
And when our daughter started nursery school, I had decided to look for something part-time. We had decided one of us would always be home with her…
[Then-JFS executive director] Ralph Sherman hired me to basically go through all their adoption and foster care records and to condense them so that the records themselves could all be destroyed. So I worked there for three or four years doing that. And then I didn’t work out of the house for a couple of years.
Then I took on the job of bookkeeper for the school lunch program at our daughter’s grade school, because again I would only have to work on school days. And I did that for three years, I think….
And then we had a friend who was a podiatrist, whose office manager went on maternity leave, and I took the office over for a year for him. And then I started this job.
How did WSJL hire you?
Lisa Hiller had this position before me. She was leaving the position. We knew each other. She knew I wasn’t currently working out of the house. She knew my background. And she called and asked if I would be interested. And we arranged an interview for me with some of the members of the society. I interviewed and got job. This was February 1991.
Why were you interested in this particular position, which was unlike anything you had done previously?
Because I had been involved in the Jewish community throughout all the years, because John had worked for JFS for 17 years by then. He left in 1988. Also we were still involved because he has been the consultant and therapist for the boys at the Wisconsin Institute for Torah Study from the day the school opened. Throughout all the years, we had continued to be engaged in the Jewish community.
So I thought … because [the WSJL post meant] working at the college and adult level, because I had been part of university life, it was an excellent fit in that capacity. And from having met with the members of the organization that I had, who were delightful people, the mission of the organization, it all just felt like a very good fit for what my interests were.
As you are not Jewish, I gather there were things you did not know when you started out.
There still are things I don’t know. But there was a great deal I did know. We used to celebrate the Jewish holidays, because the majority of our friends were Jewish. So we celebrated Jewish holidays throughout the 1970s and 1980s, because of John’s work. He’s extremely knowledgeable.
We have done Torah study with Rabbi Michel Twerski [of Congregation Beth Jehudah] for a number of years. Both of us studied ongoing. So it was basically a natural outgrowth in many ways.
Why did the members of the society board decide to take you?
Gosh only knows. I hope it was because they thought I could do a good job.
So you have been in the position for 18 years … it sounds like it probably was the longest single job you’ve had.
Yes it is. Absolutely. Other than being a wife and mother.
What have you enjoyed about it?
I think number one is the people. They are an incredible group of people. The officers, the board members, the membership itself throughout the years have been truly incredible. This community is an incredible, wonderful community to work with.
How so?
Because overall they truly are interested in engaging in Jewish learning [and] they have been there to make sure that it can happen.
I think they have extremely creative ideas and thinking of the kinds of things that can go into Jewish learning and into programming. And that they are willing to invest themselves in seeing that it happens. And that’s not something you find in all kinds of jobs.
When you joined the society as executive director, how long had the society been in existence?
It is currently 53 years old. So it was I think it was about 36 when I started.
And what has changed about the society from then to now?
When I first started, the largest thrust of the organization was directed at the college level, of supporting and working primarily with UW-Madison. Although the organization started as a statewide group, and really worked to engage the entire state in Jewish learning, as the years went on, that focus was diminished to some degree, in part because of staff, etc.
So when I first started, the thrust was still at the high level of working with the universities. Through the years, we have very fortunately been able to move to reincorporating some of the original intent of the organization, of doing a great deal statewide.
For example, the Wisconsin Small Jewish Communities History Project. That project was started in 1955, when the society started. And it lasted about a year-and-a-half because it was a graduate student in Madison who had been hired to do some of that initial research, and when he graduated, the project just sort of died.
So when we brought that project back, it was another way of going back to the very foundation and roots of the organization. In the last number of years we have been working very hard at doing that, which is very exciting.
What achievements are you proudest of over the 18 years?
A number of them. [We] were instrumental in [helping create] the Center for Jewish Studies at UW-Milwaukee. I think our community work. We do a great deal of work within this community, working with other organizations, co-sponsoring community events, serving on community committees. A great deal of the collaboration that we do with other institutions, colleges and etc., around the state.
What about the Third International Festival for New Jewish Liturgical Music concert [held at Cardinal Stritch University this past June]?
It’s a highlight because it’s a very different kind of activity.
It’s not an academic Jewish learning activity.
But it’s cultural… We are not a religious organization, but a cultural organization, which really is a wonderful advantage for us because it allows us to bring everyone together. One of the efforts the society works very hard at is to say that as a Jewish community, there are commonalities that we can all get together around. There are areas where we all move to one side or another, but there are certain elements where we can all be together. And that can be … certain speakers, or a music program or an exhibit that we do, that’s all part of Jewish culture.
The Jews of Kaifeng (China) program that we had at Alverno College a few years ago [is another example]. It was the largest exhibit Alverno ever had; to this day they are extremely proud of that.
So we really can serve as a bridge and as a conduit to bring people together. And it is one of the things the board, which represents all the traditions of Judaism, works very hard to do.
How many members are on the board?
21 members.
You also have general members.
Yes. We are a membership-driven organization. There probably are approximately 750 members. We have a dues structure. We are always on the lookout for new members. We then have a number of other individuals who are not interested for whatever reason in membership, but who ask to be on our mailing list to receive information, who attend the programs.
Are the members from throughout the state or primarily from the Milwaukee area?
They are from throughout the state, and some from outside the Wisconsin area as well… Many people who leave Wisconsin and, let’s say, retire to another state continue their membership. And then there are individuals across the country who maintain membership in the society because they’ve heard of us. We have some speakers, for example, that once they’ve spoken and done programming for us and then leave, and then they will continue to support the society through a membership.
What projects are on the horizon now?
We have a number of programs that are being looked at right now. We have nothing to compare with either the Jews of Kaifeng or the music festival at the moment.
Your most recent project was the film “Chosen Towns: The Story of Jews in Wisconsin’s Small Communities.”
That will be continuing because that project is nowhere near complete. Andy Muchin [director of the Wisconsin Small Jewish Communities History Project] is continuing to do interviewing. We are looking at doing additional programming around the state potentially with Wisconsin Public Television at colleges. We will be looking to do an exhibit, and we’re working to develop curricular materials … that could be used by students throughout the state. There is potential for a book or something that could be developed from all of the research. But all of it at the moment is sort of slowly unfolding because of the need for funding.
What is your budget?
It varies a great deal, because of the different projects. If it’s a year with a big project, then the cost is much greater. We are an independent organization that is membership driven. We also get funding from grants, from various foundations, from bequests.
You will keep on going for a while?
I would hope that the organization itself will go on indefinitely.
But you with the organization?
I’m confident to say that I probably will not be here another 18 years; but I hope to be here for a good number of years to come. Absolutely. I’m looking forward to it.
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