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Mark Charendoff
Mark Charendoff is the President of the Jewish Funders Network, an organization of family foundations, public philanthropies, and individual funders, "committed to advancing the quality and growth of Jewish philanthropy, in both Jewish and secular endeavors."
He is the former Vice President of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies. He has previously served as Director of Jewish Educational Services for the JCC Association of North America. Mark serves many other boards and committees (Executive Committee of The New York Jewish Week, on the Boards of Birthright Israel, BBYO International, Jewish Communal Service Association of North America, Lifestyles Magazine and more). He is the Co-Editor of Jewish Education and the Jewish Community Center.
We will discuss Jewish life, education and future in America. Readers can send their questions to rosnersdomain@haaretz.co.il
Dear Mark,
Let's keep talking about this issue, but first I would like to make a
provocative suggestion: Enough with Birthright Israel already. As much
as I think this program is successful, one can't avoid the feeling
that whenever there's need to talk about Jewish renewal, someone will
bring Birthright Israel as the one and only example.
If this is the only program that's working - maybe we are even in more
trouble than we think? Or let me phrase it as a positive question:
what other indications do we get of programs that might work?
Best,
Rosner
Shmuel,
The reason that I suggested birthright israel as an example is not
because it is at the only program that "works". As I mentioned, there
are many examples of engagement that seem to be working: from the Meah
program for adult Jewish learning in Boston, to Camp Ramah, to the
Heschel School in New York, to the Wexner Leadership programs. But we
are in the investment business - philanthropic investment, but
investment nonetheless. So when we ask ourselves what works we have to
be pretty precise as to what we mean by that. Are we looking for
transformation - the capacity to actually change the direction of
someone's life? Are we looking for something that can realistically
impact a large percentage of the Jewish people? We represent investors,
looking for a place to have impact, and if they want both of those areas
to come together we have not seen that many options in Jewish life.
Birthright may be one of them. Camping may be another one but I don't
believe we have figured out a way to dramatically raise the numbers of
Jewish children attending Jewish resident camps. Adult Jewish learning
may be an avenue but while there may be exceptional isolated efforts
they are isolated nonetheless. As a community I don't believe we have
made a serious effort in adult Jewish learning. Dayschools work but it
is unclear whether we will make a major impact on numbers without the
assistance of the federal government -- something that our own community
continues to oppose. If one wanted to stimulate the Renaissance that
you asked about there are two ways to do it. You could provide
financing for a range of smaller efforts, letting a thousand flowers
bloom, with the hopes that one or more of them will succeed (where they
will get the next round of financing if they do succeed is another
question -- philanthropists are far more motivated to begin things than
to continue them). Or one can look for an existing success that has the
capacity to be taken to scale. Our members seek to do both but the
latter seem to be the more difficult to identify.
Mark
And a question from a reader:
Jewish days schools in the U.S. are extremely expensive, and, truth be
told, often of lower academic quality than the suburban public
schools with which they compete for a Jewish audience. Wealthy Jewish
philanthropists seem to be happy to give millions, even tens of
millions of dollars, to "presitigious" causes, Jewish and non-Jewish.
Any hope that endowing Jewish days schools will attract even a
fraction of the money that flows into putting people's names on
university buildings?
David E. Bernstein
David,
From your mouth to God's ears. As a parent with three children in
day-school I would be thrilled with the outcome you describe and happily
nominate you to chair the development committee! The problem, as I see
it, is that the percentage of the Jewish community, outside of the
Orthodox community, that is dedicated to the day-school initiative
remains quite small. Someone who did not attend day-school, who did not
send their children to day-school, and who does not have grandchildren
in day-school, is unlikely to have any relationship with the day-school
in their community. Dayschools have not yet developed adequate
strategies to foster relationships with donors who are not part of their
parent body. Until they do, or until we develop a larger, more
ambitious, national day-school agenda, we are relying on an awfully
small pool of potential donors for your new champions to emerge from.
Best,
Mark
Dear Mark,
I will start where I ended my article from last week on the optimism shared by rabbis in America, and where I also ended, half a year ago, an article on the JFN convention in Denver. It's this word "Renaissance" that keeps coming back from American Jews: A Renaissance of American Judaism.
Have you seen it? What exactly does it mean?
Best,
Rosner
Dear Shmuel,
Thank you for your question about whether we are experiencing a renaissance in American Jewish life. While I seem to be one of the few optimists in the American Jewish community (we hold our annual meetings in a phone booth on Lexington Ave.) I can't say that we are experiencing a renaissance in any meaningful way.
If by renaissance you mean a kind of national rebirth, I think the sense of Jewish peoplehood in this country is at a historic low. I don't think that most young people feel connected to a larger Jewish community in any kind of meaningful way.
To the extent that they feel connected to a sense of community at all that community is as likely to be the co-op they live in on the West Side, the group they bike with on Sunday morning, a group of environmental activists that is connected on the web, or a book club made up of Jews and non-Jews. In fact they are likely to be a member of 10 different communities and if one of those is a "Jewish" one we should count ourselves lucky.
And if they are connected to a Jewish community they likely don't see that as one connected to something larger, which includes Jews in South America, the former Soviet Union nor, sadly, Israel.
If by renaissance you mean a flowering of creativity - of the arts, literature and religious life - again I don't see it. While there are striking examples across the country in each of these categories, I am afraid they are exceptions that prove the rule.
I don't see these efforts engaging a plurality of young Jews. Young Jews, by and large, are voting with their feet and those feet are not leading them into synagogues, JCCs or Jewish museums. Jewish newspapers and periodicals are largely absent from their daily lives and count an
aging readership.
If you mean on the other hand, "Are we on the verge of a renaissance?" that is an entirely different question. As they say, where there is life there is hope! Mighty oaks from little acorns grow. Birthright israel, which several years ago was dismissed as an unrealistic exercise in philanthropic vanity may, if it continues at the current pace, touch enough otherwise unengaged Jews to prove significant, perhaps even a long sought after tipping point in Jewish life. Who knows where that next homerun will be hit? (Sadly, not at Yankee Stadium.)
Norman Lamm, the former President of Yeshiva University, once described misplaced American Jewish optimism by quoting a classified ad in the New York Times that read, "Lost dog. Lame in left leg, blind in right eye, two broken ribs. Answers to the name of Lucky." So, no - I don't believe we are in the midst of a renaissance. But will our future be brighter than our past? During the week of Succoth we move into fragile little huts and put our faith in the Creator.
How can we be anything but optimists?
Mark
Dear Mark
Another one from a reader:
Is it not better for US Jews to invest in Jewish continuity here at home, rather than send the money to Israel? We have enough problems to deal with, and maybe it's time to think about our children and not always about Israel?
Thank you for your answer.
Todd Resnick
Dear Todd,
Thank you for your note. I think you raise a compelling point so let me address it in a couple of ways. Firstly, I'm not sure that Jewish philanthropy is a zero-sum game. While I have met people who are giving to their absolute capacity, where the extent of their philanthropy is impacting other spheres of their life (what kind of car they drive, what kind of a house they can afford, where they vacation, etc.) they are, sadly, few and far between. For the most part people give to those causes that inspire them and, frankly, to those causes that ask. So for most people they can do both. When they hit the absolute limit of what they can afford your question becomes more important but for the vast majority it will always remain theoretical.
Secondly, I take issue with your "us and them" formulation. I'm a strong believer in Jewish peoplehood in general and in our collective responsibility to see this grand experiment of Israel succeed. I believe we all have a stake, an existential stake, in building a vibrant Jewish state just as I believe that Israel has a stake in strengthening a vibrant Jewish Diaspora. Some of us contribute by living in Israel and participating fully in civic life there. Clearly, there is no better way to impact Israeli society. But for those of us who've chosen to live elsewhere there are still opportunities to partner with Israelis -- to bring our passion, our expertise and our resources to bear upon the challenges that face a growing democracy. I believe in an Israel with clean rivers and streams, with green park lands and livable cities. I believe in an Israel with a commitment to religious and ethnic tolerance, with an understanding of Jewish values and Jewish heritage and an education system that is the envy of developed countries. I believe in an Israel where the weakest members of society have every opportunity to work hard and make a better future for themselves and their children. And I believe that all Jews ought to play a role in seeing that reality come about - not in a distant messianic age - but soon. I think we ought to have the energy to build strong communities here Todd and still have plenty of energy left over to help in Israel as well.
Best,
Mark
Dear Mark
Thank you for your time and effort - this will be the last question in this dialog.
I would like you to comment on an article by Steven Cohen, research professor of Jewish social policy at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, and Jack Wertheimer, provost and professor of American Jewish history at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Commentary magazine. I commented on this article a while ago, and would like your reaction to this one paragraph (the quotes are from the Cohen-Wertheimer piece, the rest is my comments):
"One should mention the new 'globalist' consciousness. Absorbed into the mindset of educated Jews, this cluster of ideas works powerfully to undermine the concept of a distinctive Jewish people." For some, giving to Jewish causes became a thing that should even be condemned "as unseemly, or retrograde." Thus, it is easier today to attract Jewish activism for causes not "specifically Jewish". Darfur is the obvious example.
Best
Rosner
Dear Shmuel,
Chag Sameach. While I generally avoid commenting on an isolated quote I did read the original piece in Commentary and I think I remember the gist of the argument. I often find myself in alignment with the thinking of Professors Cohen and Wertheimer but I must admit that characterizing the Jewish "globalist consciousness" as new is somewhat surprising.
The prophetic visions in the Bible don't seek to inspire commissions of Jewish continuity or affordable day schools. Those may be means but the end has been fairly consistent in Biblical literature -- creating a more perfect, more just world. In fact, this obsession with Jewish identity is more a product of modernity than is the imperative to care for all of humanity.
While it is true that the concept of Tikkun Olam, fixing the world, has been so overused that it has become the punch line of a joke that does not give us license to imagine that it is not a profoundly Jewish aspiration. It is likewise true that there are some who find giving to Jewish causes "unseemly or retrograde". They have to be persuaded that there is merit and beauty within Jewish tradition, that there is nobility in the Jewish mission, and that we can best pursue that mission if we are strong, healthy and educated people. But we must also remember that our mission is not merely the survival of our people - it is to make the communities we live in just a little bit better. The truth is Shmuel, that most young Jews avoid Jewish causes not because they are particularistic but because they don't find them appealing when measured against some of the general causes they support. The days of giving to Jewish causes automatically, out of loyalty or sense of obligation, are gone for most North American Jews.
Don't get me wrong, I am not celebrating this fact, I'm just reporting it. We have to learn to adjust to the realities we are living in, and today's reality is a free market where our causes must compete with a multitude of good options (and bad) that are trying to attract the dollars of our young philanthropists. But I'm afraid that will have to be the subject of another dialog.
Best,
Mark
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