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May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting
May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review Jan. 3, 2005 / 22 Teves, 5765

What's in a Name?

By Jonathan Tobin


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Do new 'brands' bring meaning, money and happiness to Jewish groups?




http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Ten years ago, philanthropist Samuel Bronfman made something of a stir in the Jewish world when he proposed that the three main Jewish defense groups in this country merge.


He believed that it was long past time for the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League   —   who were all committed to fighting anti-Semitism, supporting Israel and a platform of social justice   —   to pool their efforts and merge.


The reaction to Bronfman's proposal from the staff and the lay leadership of the three groups was, to put it mildly, less than enthusiastic. The proposal was dutifully applauded by many in the Jewish world and then quickly forgotten.


The two AJCs had at various times actually met to discuss merging. But the complicated business of meshing two disparate sets of professionals and volunteers   —   and the egos of all of them   —   was never resolved.


Instead, the groups continued on their merry way, fighting for the scraps that a declining Jewish population and, even more importantly, a shrinking donor base could throw them.


Both continue to do important work, though all stumble at times on the political rocks, as their traditional constituency forces them into defining the secular liberal agenda as Jewish issues.

NEW AND SNAPPY
While the older and more prosperous AJCommittee has fared better than AJCongress, the ability of each to sustain itself may be diminishing. That has led the bright lights there to think about a way to increase visibility. Listening, no doubt, to the siren songs sung by public-relations consultants, some of the good people at AJCommittee are pondering a name change. According to a recent report in The Jerusalem Post, the group's board has discussed renaming the organization in time for the group's 100th anniversary in 2006.


Apparently, they want something new and snappy that will speak of their heightened concern about the worldwide rise of anti-Semitism and the continuing propaganda assault on the State of Israel.


Of course, those who want to do away with the old moniker are right when they say it is easy to confuse it with the other AJC. Jewish life is a melange of alphabet-soup groups that are virtually indistinguishable to those not immersed in the minutiae of the so-called "major Jewish organizations."

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Once upon a time, you didn't need a scorecard to tell the difference between the AJCommittee and the AJCongress.


The committee was founded in 1906 by the wealthy grandees of the old German Jewish elite, such as Jacob Schiff, Oscar Straus and Cyrus Adler, and their redoubtable president Louis Marshall. Moved to act by the plight of victims of czarist pogroms, the committee came into existence as a sort of council of great men who acted out of what the Enclopaedia Judaica calls a sense of "noblesse oblige." They used the traditional tactic of the "court Jew" who interceded on behalf of his less fortunate brethren.


By contrast, the AJCongress, created by Rabbi Stephen Wise in 1918, was seen by the great men of the other AJC as populist in nature and radical in character.


But before another generation had passed, the differences between them were already starting to recede. Wise, who came to prominence as something of a rabble rouser, eventually came to embody the political establishment of his day.


At the same time, AJCommittee, which was originally cool to Zionism, eventually came to identify closely with Israel. And where once its membership was restricted to just 60 persons (think of it as a sort of exclusive country club for monied political activists), it is now as eager to get average Jewish Joe's to sign up as any other group.


Given the fact that the Jewish world that gave birth to these groups no longer exists, would AJCommittee be better off if it were called something else?


The answer is that, although repackaging themselves as the Jewish equivalent of "New Blue Cheer" may be tempting, whether they call themselves a committee, a convention, a conglomerate or a confederacy, the problems they face will not be altered.

THE PLAGUE OF CONSULTANTS
Indeed, if their leaders pause and consider the success of the merger of three major national Jewish philanthropies a few years ago that resulted in the scrapping of the familiar name of "UJA"   —   and its replacement by the obscure "UJC"   —   they would not even consider it. New and snappy is nice, but change for the sake of a new marketing campaign is a poor substitute for substance or original thought.


As is often the case in the business world, consultants who use jargon such as "branding" to tell companies what to do have become a universal plague. Armed with focus groups, market surveys and polls, consultants, who usually know little about the reason the group exists, and a lot about public relations (which is to say nothing), have a way of diverting people from core issues and on to narishkeit like name changes.


Those confronted with such choices should always remember that the three worst words in the English language today are "studies have shown."


The point is, if the folks at AJCommittee are focused on the real priorities of the Jewish people today   —   and given their recent emphasis on the issues of anti-Semitism, Israel and Jewish continuity, there is reason to think they are on the right track   —   then what they need is not a new name, but to continue working on those issues.


If they are making a difference, Jewish donors will find them no matter what the name on the door says.


That's because the problem of redundancy that Bronfman talked about will eventually be solved by a form of natural selection. Those groups that serve the needs of the past, and which look to outdated ideology rather than the urgent priorities of the present, will ultimately perish just like the dinosaurs after the asteroid hit.


If AJCommittee   —   or any other denizens of the alphabet-soup bowl   —   want to survive, let them speak to the present danger facing us.


And before they change their names, they ought to take a deep breath, and then tell their consultants to run   —   not walk   —   to the nearest exit, and not let the door hit them on the way out.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent. Let him know what you think by clicking here.

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