Andi Milens, associate director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, makes a point during a Dec. 16 panel discussion on the future of the Jewish community. Looking on are panelists Jacob Toporek, left, executive director of the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations, and Andrew Silow-Carroll, editor-in-chief of New Jersey Jewish News.
Photos by Debra Rubin
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January 6, 2009
A national community affairs expert urged local Jewish leaders to reach across religious, ethnic, and denominational lines to confront such issues as poverty, tensions in the Middle East, and concerns about an aging population.
Andi Milens, associate director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said a minority as small as the Jewish community has to enter into coalitions — both among Jews as well as with Christians, Muslims, and other communities — in order to maintain its political clout.
“I cannot stress how bad of an idea it would be for us to turn inward,” said Milens, speaking Dec. 16 in the South River offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County. “We cannot let other people make decisions for our community, and we need to make friends and build relationships.”
Milens was part of a post-election panel discussion sponsored by the federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council. The Manhattan-based JCPA represents 13 national Jewish agencies and about 125 local Jewish community relations councils.
Others panelists were Jacob Toporek, executive director of the New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations, and Andrew-Silow Carroll, editor-in-chief of New Jersey Jewish News.
Milens said the community does itself a disservice when it appears fragmented to government agencies and the general public. The perceived unity and influence of the community are among its greatest strengths, she added, allowing it to achieve power far in excess of its actual numbers.
“If you ask what percentage of the population Jews make up, you will consistently get a number in the double digits,” explained Milens, despite the fact that Jews make up less than 3 percent of Americans.
The group Aliyah, made up of community musicians, entertains the Jewish Community Relations Council meeting at federation offices in South River.
Toporek said at the state level the Jewish community has pulled together to let officials know its concerns. As an example, he cited recent legislation that gives municipalities more flexibility in rescheduling elections that conflict with religious holidays. The new law was a direct result of lobbying in the wake of a vote on a controversial school construction referendum in Edison that would have conflicted with Rosh Hashana.
“The Jewish community has a great asset in that it has a reputation for being organized and together,” said Toporek. “We all know that if you have 10 Jews in a meeting, you’ll have 11 different opinions, but the rest of the world doesn’t seem to know that.”
‘Poor Jews’
Acknowledging that Israel is “a huge priority” for the Jewish community, Milens said the community also faces a host of other problems relating to the economic crisis.
“Poverty is going to hit hard,” she said. “Throughout our history there has been this perception both inside and outside the community that we are wealthy. Do not think there aren’t poor Jews. There are Jews among the working poor. There are 47 million people without health insurance in this country, and I promise you some of them are Jews.”
Keeping government funding flowing for such things as Jewish nursing facilities should also be a priority for the community, said Milens, pointing out that even if the entire $900 million raised by the Jewish community annually for all causes was solely directed to such facilities, it could not make up the loss if Medicaid funding were halted.
Additionally, the lack of affordable housing, which Milens said is one of the key factors of poverty, needs to be at the top of the community’s priorities
Beyond that, there are other social issues — such as a basic standard of living for the poor — with which Jews should be concerned, said Milens, adding, “There is no excuse for hunger in this country.”
Energy and environmental issues, beyond their importance to all Americans, should be a focus of the Jewish community because “Israel’s security is intertwined with our own policy regarding foreign oil.”
Silow-Carroll said that after a bitter election campaign in which traditional Jewish support for the Democratic Party was said to be wavering, the Jewish vote for Barack Obama — from 75 to 80 percent — was similar to that enjoyed by other recent Democratic presidential candidates.
Despite the rumors about Obama’s religion and concerns about his associates, the Illinois senator seemed to satisfy Jewish swing voters that he was a credible candidate whose stated support for Israel was sincere.
“The community wants a candidate they think supports Israel in his or her kishkes,” or guts, said Silow-Carroll. Like Hillary Clinton before him, Obama undertook successful outreach to convince Jews of his pro-Israel “bona fides.”
Obama’s choice of Rahm Emanuel — whose father is an Israeli native and who feels “very strongly” about the Jewish state — as chief of staff was also a reassuring move, said Silow-Carroll.
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