The comments by Rabbi David Eliezrie of Los Angeles in his opinion piece “How Federation studies marginalize Chabad” (Feb. 27) are well-taken. However, they make an implicit assumption that “A Portrait of Bay Area Jewish Life and Communities” was aimed at assessing the impact of our numerous — and, frankly, quite creative — institutions, including Chabad. Rather, our prime concerns were the number of Jews and others in Jewish households, their geographic location and residential mobility, social characteristics, social service needs, relationships to Israel and diverse ways of being Jewish.
The information gathered and analyzed thus far is rich, informative and, at times, quite surprising. We are excited about the conversations, both nationally and locally, that already are happening around the findings. Our journey has just begun to explore all of the insights — and then to turn those insights into action.
For months leading up to the “Portrait” survey, we worked very closely with the researchers and numerous professional and lay partners and colleagues throughout the Bay Area Jewish community to make sure we explored how people “do Jewish.” In constructing the questionnaire, we surveyed all of our community partners to learn what they were most interested in discovering from a study of this scope.
Consequently, we now have detailed information about child-rearing practices; Jewish education; ritual observance; volunteering with Jewish (and other) organizations; participation in Jewish cultural events; service attendance; and attachment to Israel, among many other findings of great interest to the entire community, including Chabad. By my own informal count, I see at least four dozen (!) questions that bear directly upon assessing the varied ways in which Bay Area Jews express their Jewish engagement — be it personally, in their families, at home and in community.
At the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties, we are fortunate to partner with many of the Chabad rabbis in the region. They are an integral part of Jewish life here, creating a welcoming and joyous environment of rich Jewish experiences. We look forward to digesting the study’s findings with the Chabad leaders here — just as we look forward, and already have begun, doing so with others. While the “Portrait” does not measure any organization’s or movement’s specific impact, we believe it has valuable insights for all who care about creating and securing a vibrant Jewish future.
This article is partial propaganda to promote the agenda of the Federation, which is headed nowhere and fast. Rabbi Eliezrie wrote a very insightful book on the Secret of Chabad, where he discusses his efforts over the decades that were frustrated by various federations where he has lived. He does not make public criticisms, such as in this article easily. And he did not ask me to write this response, either. Chabad always chooses to resolves issues with our fellow Jews quietly. The push back from Danny Grossman is propaganda. The solution to the problem in part is to build a Jewish community with certain values. for instance, this Federation got rid of the very popular annual Israel in the Gardens! What a bad decision. And the first year it happened, the J. printed that this was temporary. A lie. Moreover, if you go to other more affiliated communities, Jews tend to want to help each other before asking for money for the Federation or for a synagogue. Now, I want to be clear that it is very important to donate to the local Federation where one lives and to the synagogue where one attends. But this is not mutually exclusive. What I have keenly observed in our NorCal Jewish Community is that the culture is to ask for money and to not help each other. My complaining here about it will not resolve it. If Mr. Grossman and his colleagues on the Board of the Federation want to buy into this more constructive approach then we can turn things around in our beleaguered community that is rapidly disappearing through non-affiliation and assimilation.