Jewish Messenger, Fall 2012 The Jewish Federation of Greater New Bedford
Jeff Jacoby speaking at the bima at Tifereth Israel
Boston Globe’s Jeff Jacoby Keynotes Annual Meeting
Jeff Jacoby, an award-winning columnist for The Boston Globe and a nationally syndicated journalist, was a keynote speaker at the annual meeting of the Jewish Federation on September 23, 2012. Although the choice of a speaker may have appeared somewhat controversial, Mr. Jacoby has a following among Federation member as well as in the general community. It became apparent by a good number of guests who came to hear the noted commentator. In the absence of Federation president Dr. Stuart Forman, Dr. Jack Belkin, Federation Vice-president, led the meeting.
The business part of the meeting opened with the Board elections. This year, along with reelecting a number of seasoned board members, two new members were added to the Board roster, Meg Steinberg and Abrah (Salk) Zion. Rabbi Barry Hartman installed the new and reelected Board members with his inimitable mix of humor, advice, and good wishes. He noted that While Meg Steinberg and her husband Barry are newcomers to the area, having moved to Marion two years ago, Abrah Zion comes from a long-time New Bedford family. Following her family’s history of communal involvement, Abrah has been actively involved with the PJ Library program of the Jewish Federation. Federation executive director Olga Yorish opened her remarks by acknowledging the passing of two very special women, Shulamith Friedland and Rubye Finger who will be missed greatly by the Federation and the whole Jewish community. She then gave an overview of Federation’s past year’s activities, stressing the central theme of working in collaboration with other Jewish organizations in the community, as well as with other religious and civic organizations in New Bedford. “We had a challenging campaign last year and worked very hard to maintain our programs and allocations on the same level,” said Yorish, adding that she was looking forward to working with Ellen Hull again on the 2013 campaign. Ellen Hull kicked off the 2013 annual campaign whose theme “ordinary things” was coined by the Jewish Federations of North America. “We promise to do more and to work differently to keep up with the changing communal environment,” said Hull (see page 3).
Rev. Pam Cole and Rev. David Lima with Jeff Jacoby
Mr. Jacoby built his presentation as a response and elaboration on the question raised by Ambassador Michael Oren in a Wall Street Journal article “What happened to Israel’s reputation?” “Why has Israel’s image deteriorated?” asks Oren in his article. “Why have anti-Israel libels once consigned to hate groups become media mainstays? Especially now, after nearly two decades of the peace process in which Israel has gone to extraordinary lengths to end its conflict with the Palestinians.” To these questions, Mr. Jacoby offered his controversial answer, which he first suggested on the Globe’s opinion page on May 23, 2012. According to Mr. Jacoby, “The real answer is that Israel’s global standing has been debased not despite the “peace process,” but because of it.” Following the presentation, Mr. Jacoby answered a number of questions from the animated audience. The meeting was rounded up by a scrumptious dessert reception.
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