At a time when Israel and many Jewish communities are under physical and verbal attack, a Jewish community celebration might include some moments of serious reflection.
Such was the case at the 2014 Community Celebration of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, held on Aug. 14 at Congregation Sinai; and the featured speaker provided some of those moments.
“I absolutely believe we are at a critical juncture in modern Jewish history,” Alan Gill said to the approximately 200 people attending. “This is a defining moment for the Jewish people.”
Gill is a former MJF campaign director (1980-84) and now chief executive officer of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.
He referred to Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s widely criticized self-defense campaign against the Hamas Muslim fundamentalist terrorist organization based in the Gaza Strip; and the often anti-Semitic demonstrations and physical attacks the campaign has sparked in Europe and the U.S.
“Look at what it has spawned, besides the tremendous cost to the Israeli people,” Gill said. He pointed to signs at various demonstrations that have said “Death to Israel” — “That is not ‘criticism’ of Israel” — and “Death to the Jews.” “Let’s call it what it is: Jew-hating,” he said.
“We have learned that Jewish blood is less expensive,” Gill said. “I hate having to believe this.”
“We were the generation that thought we were going to heal the world,” he said. “There’s a long way to go.”
Nevertheless, “there is opportunity in this,” Gill said. “I almost cringe saying this,” but it is true, he said.
He said he is seeing people “step forward,” including some 12,000 young Jewish adults reached by the JDC’s Entwine program, who are “fired up.” And these, Gill said, are “Millennials” who have been “written off as not caring… Never write off Jewish people’s ability and passion.”
Moreover, “Miracles are taking place in front of our eyes,” Gill said. For example, Gill cited Hungary, a former Communist country where 21 percent of the voters cast ballots for an anti-Semitic party.
Yet the JDC and its partners have “rebuilt Jewish life in Hungary,” so that there are now 100,000 Jews “fighting for their right to be there” and “they are not afraid.”
JDC, also known as “the Joint,” is marking the centennial of its founding this year. It is, according to its website, “the world’s leading Jewish humanitarian assistance organization,” and it works in more than 70 countries, including Israel.
With the Jewish Agency for Israel, JDC is the primary recipient of overseas allocations of funds raised by U.S. Jewish federations.
Gill spoke about some of its work, such as providing food and medicine to some 200 elderly Jews caught in Ukraine by the current struggle with Russian separatists. “When a Jew is under fire, we are there,” he said.
In other news at the celebration, MJF president and chief executive officer Hannah Rosenthal reviewed the past year.
She particularly emphasized how the Milwaukee Jewish community responded to the recent events in Israel, which included raising more than $200,000 in the first week of an emergency campaign and holding a solidarity rally at Congregation Shalom on July 27.
“When there is a crisis, we respond profoundly,” Rosenthal said.
Tom St. John, law partner of the late attorney and Jewish community activist Robert H. Friebert (1938-2013; see October 2013 Chronicle), announced the creation of the Robert H. Friebert Social Justice Award.
This award will be bestowed by the MJF’s Jewish Community Relations Council. It will be given to individuals who demonstrate courage, passion, dedication and leadership while working to eliminate discrimination and injustice in the greater Milwaukee area.
Jody Kaufman Loewenstein gave a report on the new “Create a Jewish Legacy” program of the MJF’s Jewish Community Foundation. (See the April Chronicle.) She announced that the program received 81 commitments in just two-and-a-half months.
Daniel Bader was elected as chair of the MJF board, succeeding Marlene Lauwasser, whose work was recognized at the event.
The event was chaired by Brent Arnold and Idy Goodman.
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