Easy doesn't challenge

I visited Susan's House again recently. If you haven't been - you need to go. It's an amazing workshop in Talpiot, Jerusalem, where at-risk kids get a fresh chance with training in woodwork, glasswork, ceramics and the arts.

But really, it's not 'about' the crafts (even though they're beautiful, and they make terrific gifts and souvenirs).

It's about helping kids who face the worst situations of crime, abuse, neglect and more, and giving them self-esteem, the idea that they can succeed and make something of themselves.

They learn business skills - and social skills. And I loved the concept that they don't 'do' simple jewelry or art - they have to do complex pieces. Because the kids need to grapple and concentrate, and feel a sense of achievement. They don't do easy pieces.

Easy doesn't challenge.
Easy doesn't give you a sense of fulfillment at the end.

JDC helped set up Susan's House. But what I like most about our connection there is that we don't have one anymore. We've phased out.

But, you know, they always need people to buy things. So add a visit to your next Israel mission or trip.


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The dilemma we like to have

I spent a day this week with the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley, meeting with senior leadership and their Board. We talked about the Jewish world, Ukraine, the work we do together and how we tell our stories.

One issue came up that struck me, and I want to spend a moment on it here.

Sitting at dinner with some lovely, inspiring leaders of the federation, I discussed “success” and our exit strategy. I've looked at exit strategies before – it’s a critical component of how we look at our work around the world. It means that we’re aiming for local empowerment. Local capacity. Local leadership. 

So we don’t run religious services in Cuba, we don’t run major JCCs in many Russian-speaking countries, we don’t manage Heseds with American or Israeli staff. 

More and more programs are indigenous. Leadership is locally-trained (or, even better, internationally-trained in incredible places like our Szarvas Camp in Hungary).

But there’s one challenge we have to face.

We want to empower local leadership … so we have to let them strive, and grapple … and even fail.

But on the other hand – we have amazing models of Jewish communal leadership here in North America. We know, in our federations and Jewish communal structures, how to train leaders. We know how to solicit gifts. We know how to articulate our work. And we want to share these ideas.

So this dilemma – reduce our role while sharing (and encouraging) best practices – is a good one to have. These are the kind of challenges we should encourage.


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Nope, we don’t do that anymore.

I’ve spent most of this week catching up on emails (nearly there, thanks), preparing presentations for future federation groups (still looking for inspiration) and talking to colleagues around the world about different programs we’re running.

And in some cases … programs we’re not running anymore.

Over the past few weeks I’ve seen more and more this concept of exit-strategies in the Joint. How we’re phasing down from programs, empowering local leaders where possible, building local capacity and encouraging on-the-ground stakeholders to “own” the process. If it’s going to stay in our hands, at the end of the day, it’ll never be real, genuine or local.

I’ve written in the past about why I think some communities will need more time before we can phase out. We’ve phased out of over 30 countries in our history, Matnasim (JCCs) in Israel, Malben old-age homes, and much more. There’s still a lot left. But there’s a basic idea here that’s important - we have the responsibility to start the work where we can, where we’re needed, where we can make a difference. But it's not our task to finish it.

Rabbi Tarfon said “"It is not incumbent upon you to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to desist from it" (Avot 2:21) 

That’s not just a nice statement in the Ethics of the Fathers. It’s a business plan.