Israelis in New York and the federation of Jewish Philanthropies: A study of anomie and reconnection

Abstract

Formulating policy and developing programs to serve the needs of the diverse population of Jews in New York is a primary communal planning task of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York. In the last few years, the federation grappled with and resolved an exceedingly complex and sensitive planning issue: developing a policy and program to serve Israelis in New York. In 1982, the Committee on Services to Israelis in New York took a fresh look at this issue and prepared a service plan. A policy report, approved by the federation's Communal Planning Committee in 1983, was affirmed by the federation's Executive Com mittee and Board of Trustees.1 This paper examines the process whereby the federation formulated a policy direction regarding Israelis in New York. The philosophical questions and dilemmas faced by federation leader ship in formulating a rationale for singling out Israelis as a population with special needs have been discussed elsewhere in this section.2 The tension between what we can call the "pro-Iraelists" and the "philan thropic liberals" was resolved by the determination to concentrate on reaching out to Israelis as an unaffiliated group. It was believed that a major effort was needed to reinforce a sense of Jewish identity among the Israelis while strengthening their ties to the Jewish community. In May 1982, following more than half a year of intense, emotional, and ideological discussion among federation lay and professional leaders, the Communal Planning Committee issued the following mandate statement setting forth general policy on services to Israelis and establishing a subcommittee on the matter: