Addendum to Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston, Massachusetts

              To:      Large City Presidents
and Executives
From: Barry Shrage December 24, 1997
I found our dialogue at the General Assembly on our overseas agenda important, but
all too short. The thoughts and ideas that flowed through the room were open to
misinterpretation and I felt that it would be useful to clarify some of my own
thoughts and ideas. Much of this memo reflects our thinking here in Boston, but for
the purpose of this discussion, please consider these thoughts as my own, and as an
attempt to restart a serious discussion of our future. Most important, I thought that it
would help to begin to put some of this dialogue in writing as a kind of a working
draft and to urge us to take the dialogue beyond the meeting room and beyond the
halls of the Jewish Agency to create an open, intellectual, and emotional dialogue
about the future of our people and the future of our national and international
organizations.
Clearly, our current system is in crisis. Many Jews are increasingly alienated from
Israel, donors are demanding more choice and a clearer sense of how their
contributions are used. The Federation "market share" is declining, particularly
among younger donors, and yet at the same time, there are signs of new interest and
even a renaissance in many Jewish communities. More than ever before, our current
situation demands a new international system that preserves our capacity to act in
concert around our most important international priorities while at the same time
allowing for creativity, welcoming individual initiative and, most importantly,
empowering local communities, innovative and motivated donors, and talented
volunteers. The development of a system that serves overseas and local needs,
while at the same time, freeing human energy and building community at home, is a
central feature of our recently completed Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP)
Strategic Planning Report.
Here in Boston we've already made a good start in testing many of the ideas
outlined in our strategic plan.   Our work in Haifa and Dnepropetrovsk has indeed
generated significant new human and financial resources and helped to strengthen
our Federation and our overall relationship to Israel. Most important, our work so
far supports an important basic thesis: At this moment in Jewish history, freeing
creative energy and encouraging hands-on connections and volunteerism provides
greater impact, better service, more connection and greater "coverage" than our
current system.