Emily, there are no really good answers to what the legacy Jewish organizations should do.
I will say that any organization that is trying to be all things to all people, winds up being nothing to anyone.
For me Jewish organizations that feel the need to universalize our historical Jewish experience and decide that Tikun Olam becomes our religion gives the next generation an opportunity to reassess the Jewish enterprise and fall prey to the fringe groups.
If Oct 7th has taught us anything in the Puget Sound it is that traditional allyship was an illusion and we have to reimagine who supports Israel and our mainstream Jewish community. The last time our community was united in support of our tribe (not a dirty word) was Soviet Jewry and Ethiopian Jewish rescue.
I will give one suggestion.
Perhaps the Federation can arrange a summer program to arm Jewish College Bound students with a clear understanding of their heritage and Israel’s history so they can combat 25 + years of progressive anti Israel indoctrination in Academe.
And by the way, the door is open if any Jewish organization is serious about supporting me as a qualified, ethical, respectable, sincere person in my ability to serve on this King County commission without having to listen to antisemitic content and without being verbally bullied off the group for gentle attempts to complain about. (I have since served on another commission that didn't contain antisemitism, but I lost professional opportunity and helpful compensation because of what happened and no Jewish organization being there for me.)
In 2022, I was invited to attend a meeting to learn about joining a new county community input commission. I applied and was chosen. The meetings were on zoom, as was the case during the pandemic. A few months later, at the July 13 meeting, the non-Black affinity group was shown a video on the history of racism in public health. This was an excellent video about Black History, but the speaker in the video, Joyce DeGruy Leary, veered off into antisemitic digressions, with hostile comments about Jews, the Holocaust, Spielberg and 9/11. King County Executive Dow Constantine was present at the zoom meeting and introduced the video, but I don't know whether he saw it in advance or stayed to watch it while his profile was still there in the chat. my attempts to resolve this situation quietly did not lead to a solution. I contacted Jewish organizations. They did nothing, zero, zilch, to support me or my right to serve on a government commission without having to listen to anti-Jewish misinformation. No one tried to talk to Dow Constantine. Not only did they not support me, they undermined me. The AJC/JF sent a letter to the diversity manager, without my permission or the opportunity to read and approve it in advance, stating that a constituent had made allegations which would not be proven. This was a lie and they knew it. I did not make "allegations" and everything could be proven. The objectional video is online for everyone to see. The meetings were recorded and the chat was saved. All of my communications with the county were on e-mail. Everything is on video, zoom recordings or e-mail. Then the ADL/JF statement said that they do not represent the constituent. They failed to set up a meeting where they would help me and trying to straighten out this problem. Instead, they did nothing to support me, I was bullied off the commission, and the ADL/JF went in and made a presentation to them with their educational materials, minus my presence on the commission. This is how the Jewish organizations treat a respectable, educated, ethical Jewish person serving on a local board and commission. They still have not apologized to me or done anything to remedy the situation and support Jews participating in public service. They have done nothing to support my ability to serve on government boards and commissions without experiencing comments hostile to Jews. A couple of individual county council people have invited me to their events, that they could make sure did not contain antisemitic content. Imagine how a Muslim or Hispanic or Asian or Black person would be supported by their community if something like this happened to them. CAIR has a legal defense team ready to help its constituents on any issue of bias.
Emily, thank you for being one of very few asking the hard questions. I was at UW last Sunday and came face to face with the pro Hamas thugs who have taken over swaths of the UW campus. The hate was palpable as calls for violence against Jews were broadcast over megaphones and chanted by hundreds of wild eyed sycophants. Prior to October 7th, the JCRC was fixated on hyper critiques of Israel, BLM statements and imposing diversity litmus tests on community organizations. In fact religious leaders and synagogues who ally themselves with the campus radicals and religiously observe Nakba Day were and remain on the JCRC. I do not doubt the good intentions and important work of many of our Jewish organizations, but it is clearly not effective and not enough.
These are great questions. I have a few ideas, and I’m working on putting them in some kind of coherent form. I’m curious, do you have your own ideas about what we should do? Feel free to respond privately at rabbirosenbaum@h-nt.org. The way I’ve posed the question to myself is: ‘Are we at a Herzlian moment’? (Herzl fundamentally revised his views on how Jews should relate to non-Jews and the result was the creation of the State of Israel, effectively a radically new strategy for Jewish survival and flourishing. Are we at a similar crossroads?
Emily, there are no really good answers to what the legacy Jewish organizations should do.
I will say that any organization that is trying to be all things to all people, winds up being nothing to anyone.
For me Jewish organizations that feel the need to universalize our historical Jewish experience and decide that Tikun Olam becomes our religion gives the next generation an opportunity to reassess the Jewish enterprise and fall prey to the fringe groups.
If Oct 7th has taught us anything in the Puget Sound it is that traditional allyship was an illusion and we have to reimagine who supports Israel and our mainstream Jewish community. The last time our community was united in support of our tribe (not a dirty word) was Soviet Jewry and Ethiopian Jewish rescue.
I will give one suggestion.
Perhaps the Federation can arrange a summer program to arm Jewish College Bound students with a clear understanding of their heritage and Israel’s history so they can combat 25 + years of progressive anti Israel indoctrination in Academe.
And by the way, the door is open if any Jewish organization is serious about supporting me as a qualified, ethical, respectable, sincere person in my ability to serve on this King County commission without having to listen to antisemitic content and without being verbally bullied off the group for gentle attempts to complain about. (I have since served on another commission that didn't contain antisemitism, but I lost professional opportunity and helpful compensation because of what happened and no Jewish organization being there for me.)
In 2022, I was invited to attend a meeting to learn about joining a new county community input commission. I applied and was chosen. The meetings were on zoom, as was the case during the pandemic. A few months later, at the July 13 meeting, the non-Black affinity group was shown a video on the history of racism in public health. This was an excellent video about Black History, but the speaker in the video, Joyce DeGruy Leary, veered off into antisemitic digressions, with hostile comments about Jews, the Holocaust, Spielberg and 9/11. King County Executive Dow Constantine was present at the zoom meeting and introduced the video, but I don't know whether he saw it in advance or stayed to watch it while his profile was still there in the chat. my attempts to resolve this situation quietly did not lead to a solution. I contacted Jewish organizations. They did nothing, zero, zilch, to support me or my right to serve on a government commission without having to listen to anti-Jewish misinformation. No one tried to talk to Dow Constantine. Not only did they not support me, they undermined me. The AJC/JF sent a letter to the diversity manager, without my permission or the opportunity to read and approve it in advance, stating that a constituent had made allegations which would not be proven. This was a lie and they knew it. I did not make "allegations" and everything could be proven. The objectional video is online for everyone to see. The meetings were recorded and the chat was saved. All of my communications with the county were on e-mail. Everything is on video, zoom recordings or e-mail. Then the ADL/JF statement said that they do not represent the constituent. They failed to set up a meeting where they would help me and trying to straighten out this problem. Instead, they did nothing to support me, I was bullied off the commission, and the ADL/JF went in and made a presentation to them with their educational materials, minus my presence on the commission. This is how the Jewish organizations treat a respectable, educated, ethical Jewish person serving on a local board and commission. They still have not apologized to me or done anything to remedy the situation and support Jews participating in public service. They have done nothing to support my ability to serve on government boards and commissions without experiencing comments hostile to Jews. A couple of individual county council people have invited me to their events, that they could make sure did not contain antisemitic content. Imagine how a Muslim or Hispanic or Asian or Black person would be supported by their community if something like this happened to them. CAIR has a legal defense team ready to help its constituents on any issue of bias.
Emily, thank you for being one of very few asking the hard questions. I was at UW last Sunday and came face to face with the pro Hamas thugs who have taken over swaths of the UW campus. The hate was palpable as calls for violence against Jews were broadcast over megaphones and chanted by hundreds of wild eyed sycophants. Prior to October 7th, the JCRC was fixated on hyper critiques of Israel, BLM statements and imposing diversity litmus tests on community organizations. In fact religious leaders and synagogues who ally themselves with the campus radicals and religiously observe Nakba Day were and remain on the JCRC. I do not doubt the good intentions and important work of many of our Jewish organizations, but it is clearly not effective and not enough.
Emily,
These are great questions. I have a few ideas, and I’m working on putting them in some kind of coherent form. I’m curious, do you have your own ideas about what we should do? Feel free to respond privately at rabbirosenbaum@h-nt.org. The way I’ve posed the question to myself is: ‘Are we at a Herzlian moment’? (Herzl fundamentally revised his views on how Jews should relate to non-Jews and the result was the creation of the State of Israel, effectively a radically new strategy for Jewish survival and flourishing. Are we at a similar crossroads?
Rabbi Jay
Throwing it back to me - ha! I think we are at a crossroads, yes. I'll reach out to you.