Rhode Islanders recount the JFNA General Assembly

On Sunday, Nov. 12, more than 1,000 Jewish leaders from around the country converged on Los Angeles, California, for the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly.  The annual gathering included a team of six from the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island.

Attending on behalf of the Alliance were Mitzi Berkelhammer, board chair; James Pious, Campaign co-chair; Marc Gertsacov, community development chair (allocations); Susan Gertsacov; Trine Lustig, vice president of philanthropy; and myself. Attendees heard from a variety of speakers, including Hollywood producers, rabbis and leaders from Israel and key partner agencies.

Reuven Rivlin, the president of Israel, addressed the convention on Monday evening and called the relationship between Israel and the American Jewish community unbreakable and critical to the success of both countries. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the participants via satellite on Tuesday morning.  His remarks focused on more hot-button issues of egalitarian prayer space and conversion.  With regard to both issues, the Prime Minister stated that he was working toward a solution that would address concerns of the American Jewish community.

Netanyahu was responding to a resolution passed earlier during the General Assembly by the JFNA board of directors. The resolution called on Netanyahu and the government of Israel to reverse the freeze that they had placed on a plan to create an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

The General Assembly covered many issues in addition to Israel. Several workshops focused on the need for the Jewish community to recognize all those who are Jewish. They argued that attendees must create environments that do not “Jew-barrass” people, a term coined by one of the presenters that refers to instances where people are meant to feel less Jewish than others because of how they practice. Other presentations focused on engaging millennial Jews and understanding the changes coming as new generations come of age.

Rhode Island participants enjoyed the conference. “The positive energy at the GA was palpable and infectious. There is a wonderful feeling of connectedness from being together with Jewish communities from all across North America,” said Pious. “There is a great sense of pride that we support the JFNA when we saw all of the good they are doing to help the Jewish communities that were so hard hit by hurricanes this year.”

A highlight of the conference was an address by the Director General of the Jewish Agency for Israel, Natan Sharansky. Sharansky, who is retiring next year, thanked the crowd for their continued support of programs that help Jews around the world. He also recounted his time as a refusenik in the Soviet Union and the power of the Jewish community in the United States in the 1980s to bring about change for Soviet Jews.

“Hearing Sharansky recount his story and the role that the American Jewish community played in that story was very powerful,” recounted Lustig. “His words put into context why we support so many overseas agencies.”

For first-time attendees like myself, the General Assembly was a bit overwhelming.  There were so many new people to meet, so many organizations to learn about and so much to absorb. While the sessions were informative and hearing from distinguished Israeli leaders was important, one of the true values was the time spent learning together with my fellow Rhode Islanders.

Ultimately, we were able to talk about the sessions we attended, and we were able to determine how to apply what we learned back home in Rhode Island. We returned from Los Angeles with many ideas on how to improve the Alliance’s ability to engage the larger Jewish community, and I am looking forward to sharing those with the community in the coming months.

Next year’s General Assembly is scheduled for Oct. 22-24, 2018, in Tel Aviv.

ADAM GREENMAN is the president and CEO of the Jewish Alliance.