by Johanna Ginsberg
NJJN Staff Writer

July 9, 2009

Lori Klinghoffer of Short Hills was elected to the board of the Jewish Agency for Israel at its annual Assembly, held June 21-25 in Jerusalem.

A former campaign chair for United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey, she is the incoming chair for the UJC MetroWest Israel and Overseas Committee. She joins Murray Laulicht — a former UJC MetroWest president, past chairman of the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education and numerous other organizations — on the JAFI board of governors.

The election comes as the Jewish Agency is facing economic challenges and included a vote in favor of a controversial structural change that separated the Jewish Agency from the World Zionist Organization, making JAFI a nongovernmental organization financially independent from the government of Israel.

During this Assembly, former refusenik Natan Sharansky was elected president of the organization.

“It’s a historic time to come onto the board,” said Klinghoffer, shortly after her return from Israel.

She said her presence on the board would offer a benefit to the NJ Jewish community. “It’s an opportunity for MetroWest to have a place at the table,” she said. “It brings our voice both ways — we have eyes on the ground there and can broaden our vision here.”

Still, she said, right now she’s just beginning to understand the organization, which is the main Israel-based beneficiary of funds raised for Israel by Jewish federations in North America.

“It’s all a learning experience for me, getting into the groove. I’m getting a broader sense of the Jewish Agency — how it operates, the program content, how it benefits the Jewish people, and why it’s important to keep it running,” she said. “And I’m gaining a better knowledge base with which to speak to our constituency here in the United States.”

Klinghoffer said she believes the organization will survive despite its difficult financial straits.

“Just as we in MetroWest have moved to work smarter, so [it] is at the Jewish Agency,” she said. “There is hope — guarded hope, but hope for the future.”

She was struck by the size of the board — 120 or so members. “MetroWest has a board about the same size, and this is a global organization!” she said.

While in Israel, Klinghoffer took the opportunity to meet the “adorable” young people who will serve as shlihim, or emissaries, in the local community during the 2009-10 academic year through the Israel Program Center of UJC MetroWest.

She also visited the MetroWest partner communities of Kibbutz Erez and Rishon Lezion.

Klinghoffer said the highlight of her trip was her visit to Ofakim, UJC MetroWest’s sister community under JAFI’s Partnership 2000 program. Among the projects she visited was a kindergarten nutrition program; a well-baby clinic teaching parenting skills to new mothers; and an arts and a women’s center, both established through the partnership with the NJ Jewish community.

“I really enjoyed seeing the continued enhancement of quality of life in Ofakim, in no small measure due to the partnership” with MetroWest, she said.

Klinghoffer met with the mayor of Ofakim, Zvika Greengold, and enjoyed a lunch catered by local women entrepreneurs now running their own business.

“The purpose of the visit was to see what’s going on, share ideas, and gain a closer connection” with the people of Ofakim, she said. “The highlight for many of us who do this kind of volunteer work is to see the benefit of our effort put into action.”

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