The Communal Agenda
The September 7 story on the Jewish Federations’ Global Planning Table, (“Internal Gridlock Stalls Federation Giving Reform”), features a provocative headline but misses the real story of this ambitious initiative. The Global Planning Table is designed to re-envision the way Jewish Federations raise and allocate funds for global Jewish needs. This complex process requires collaboration and consensus, and successes are achieved incrementally. Such change does not promote sound bite reporting, but remains the building block of our transformative agenda. We are completing the first year of GPT, and are pleased that we have made significant progress. We are on schedule to submit comprehensive recommendations for year two of GPT, at the 2012 General Assembly gathering in Baltimore. The 42-member GPT Committee, which includes significant representation from our historic partners, remains enthusiastic about its work and its ability to help place the critical needs of our global Jewish family squarely on our communal agenda.
David J. Butler
Chair, JFNA Global Planning Table
New York, N.Y.
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
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