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I SEEK MY BRETHREN

RALPH GOLDMAN AND THE "JOINT"

Rescue, Relief and Reconstruction – The Work of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee

By Tom Shachtman, Newmarket Press, New York , NY , 265 pages

Forewards: David S. Wyman and Teddy Kollek

Introduction: Mikhail Gorbachev

It's a rarity to find a promotional blurb on a book jacket that accurately portrays its contents. But this is exactly the case here. Eli Wiesel's comment is simple, but eloquent: "Ralph Goldman's life is magically intertwined with the extraordinary work of the Joint Distribution Committee. It combines historical events with personal experiences. Read it and you will be enriched."

This book is a must-read for Jewish communal workers. It not only provides insights into the Jewish experience of the Twentieth Century, but it is, at the same time, a practical casebook for those who aspire to professional Jewish communal leadership. It is as exciting and suspenseful as a novel, with sharply-drawn anecdotes that give warm and colorful dimensions to historical events. More than that, it draws the reader into the life-and-death issues that faced world Jewry, allowing the reader to witness the fashioning of social policies to meet rapidly changing conditions.

To put it simply, Ralph Goldman is a HERO. His stewardship of JDC is an inspiring story of professional and diplomatic skill, transformed into visionary leadership on behalf of world Jewry. His constituencies were broad – the Jewish federations looked to him, confident that no Jews in the world were outside the concern of JDC. His deep experiences in Israel gave him the understanding of the multi-faceted role that Israel could play in dealing with the traumas facing the Jewish Diaspora. All of these elements came into focus in his vision of a coordinated world Jewish response to the shattering events of the Twentieth Century.

Illustrative of Goldman's statesmanship is his response to the perennial communal issue of serving Jews versus building community. In his work with the JDC, he saw this as two sides of the same coin. Their reciprocal relationship was always clear to him: take care of Jewish persons and thereby take care of the Jewish People. The essential ingredient was to sustain a caring Jewish community that will do both. This is an important lesson for all Jewish communal workers. Under Goldman's leadership, JDC acted out this principle. When confronting poverty and starvation, basic material needs had to be met to sustain life itself. But JDC never ignored its role and responsibility as an instrument of Jewish survival and renewal. Its message to all Jews was clear: "You are not forgotten; you are part of the Jewish People." Inside the food packages distributed to sustain life, there was always included a book – for study, reading and prayer.

JDC held high the global vision of a united and coordinated world Jewish community, meeting the needs of the Jewish People. The contribution of Ralph Goldman and the professional leadership was to deal with the realities of Jewish life and to bring the different groups together in practical programs. JDC helped to create consensus out of chaos by holding fast to its global perspective. It focused on what must be done to balance the sometimes conflicting interests of the highly complex, organized Jewish community. This was no easy task. There were the federations and the UJA; there were the special groups of Jews concerned about their countrymen: Iranians, Ethiopians, Hungarians, Romanians, Czechoslovakians, etc. The delicate issues of political action had to be finessed. JDC recognized that its apolitical posture was essential to its effectiveness in dealing with governments. In dealing with Israel , JDC recognized the many different elements: government; political parties, the Jewish Agency, the various offices of the American-Jewish organizations. All of these had an impact on the fulfillment of the JDC mission – and all had to be integrated into practical and effective programs.

Dealing with governments was the special province of JDC. It is a complex area, full of sensitivities and political problems, challenging the skills of an apolitical agency like JDC. Fortunately, there was some history and experience to go by, and it was utilized to the fullest. Not least of the problems were the divided opinions among local Jewish populations, especially in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Goldman had devised a step-by-step approach that required a sensitive mixture of patience and activism. It took extraordinary effort for the JDC to gain reentry into the various Eastern European countries like Hungary, Poland , Romania , and finally the Soviet Union. A Soviet official offered this revealing compliment to Ralph Goldman: "He understood the delicacy of Soviet affairs better than all the Secretaries of State of the United States I have ever worked with."

In the long period of its history, JDC frequently found it necessary to act secretly, to engage in clandestine operations, to use "front" organizations – in short, to use all legal means to fulfill its mission. This posed a problem for UJA and the Federations, who felt constricted in their fundraising by this secrecy. Despite this handicap, JDC managed to hold the confidence of its broad constituency and enough resources were mobilized to implement the programs.

In the early part of the last century, JDC tended to think of itself as a temporary organization that would go out of business when the pressing, immediate problems were solved. As a matter of fact, in the beginning, JDC exploited this sense of "impermanence" to enhance its non-threatening posture vis-à-vis other sections of the Jewish community.

This is now history. The 20 th Century has taught us that we must plan and be prepared for all contingencies that can confront the Jewish People. The JDC role is critical to that plan. Ralph Goldman's leadership of JDC has identified, with remarkable clarity, how that mission can be implemented in the 21 st Century.

Charles Zibbell, Retired Associate Executive Vice President, Council of Jewish Federations.

[Reprinted from Journal of Jewish Communal Service, Winter/Spring, 2002]

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