By Andrés Spokoiny
Executive Director
Food or shelter? Education or social services? Jewish continuity or poverty relief? Helping Jews locally or in Israel? Helping a lot of people with little or a few with a lot?
These are just some of the many dilemmas that we face in our allocation process. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, FEDERATION CJA has millions of dollars to distribute to agencies performing vital community services. But deciding how best to allocate those dollars is as tough a challenge as raising it. This task is especially hard in years like this, in which the economic downturn created an increase in need and a decrease in the capacity to give.
So how do we make these decisions? Throughout history, Jewish communities have faced similar dilemmas. For example: in the conflict between educational needs and welfare needs, our rabbis made a delightfully paradoxical statement: “if there’s no bread there’s no Torah/Jewish Learning, but if there’s no Torah there’s no bread.” The moral is evident. One can’t provide spiritual and educational support if basic needs, like food and shelter, aren’t covered. At the same time, the very existence of the community depends on the continuity of Judaism. And, if there’s no community, who will take care of the needy? Thus, both of these issues need to be addressed. Indeed, the Federation has made a policy decision that poverty relief and tuition assistance were to be protected from budget cuts.
Another example: our tradition grapples with the dilemma of helping locals versus helping Jews in other places. The
Mishna makes the case that “the poor of your city” take precedence. Other sources say that “the poor in the land of Israel” need to be supported in any case. We have determined that we’ll give priority to Montreal’s Jewish poor, while also making substantial contributions to help Israelis and poor Jews around the world. We believe in the Jewish value that all Jews are responsible for one another and that we are all inter-connected by a common fate and shared destiny. Therefore, even in times of great local need, we can’t disengage from our overseas programs.
The laws regarding the collection – and especially the distribution – of
Tzedakah put strong emphasis on keeping the dignity of the receiver. So, in our allocation process sometimes we pay a premium to deliver services with a higher degree of dignity. Le Café is, probably, the best example of that.
Finally, the way the process works, in itself, reflects Jewish values in action. The myth is that a few community leaders decide among themselves, in some smoke filled room, how the funds will be distributed. Nothing can be further from the truth. The allocation process includes hundreds of hours of meetings in which every agency is represented and has the opportunity to present its needs and plans. A group of planners works year-long analyzing the needs of the Jewish community and evaluating the best way to respond to them. Programs go through a rigorous evaluation process before being approved, and then through an equally rigorous audit. Most important, the process involves dozens of volunteers from Federation and its agencies who define, together, community priorities. During the process, everyone was mature enough to wear a “community hat” and to think beyond organizational boundaries and consider the collective good. The process is transparent, ensures accountability, and fosters the value of community dialogue and participation.
Above all, the allocation process fosters the most Jewish of values: the value of community. We focus our efforts, act collectively, and make sure that no Jew is left behind. Federation builds community, because community is the concrete manifestation of the value of collective Jewish responsibility.
