Sidebar: Pushed by famed philanthropist, local families push right back
Sidebar: Deep impact
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Living up to his reputation as Jewish philanthropy's chief provocateur, "megadonor" Michael Steinhardt greeted the local philanthropists who hosted his appearance in New Jersey Sunday as "compromised by bureaucrats" who "hold an ossified view of Jewish life."

Steinhardt addressed an audience of 120 Oct. 7 at the Leon & Toby Cooperman JCC, Ross Family Campus, in West Orange as keynote speaker of a "Family Philanthropy Evening" sponsored by the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest New Jersey.

Urging his audience to "think big and creatively, to give of your time and your energy as well as your money," the retired investor focused on areas he views as in need of seismic change: education, early childhood, synagogue services, Jewish pride, and Jewish philanthropy.

Steinhardt harshly criticized existing structures in each of these areas, in some cases painting lay people and professional alike with a broad brush of cynicism.

He also criticized the panoply of Jewish professionals as dispassionate about the Jewish future.

"Where Jews care they argue, confront, disagree. This hardly exists in the Jewish professional world. At stake is the Jewish future of the generations to follow." He said later, "The Jewish professional world, forgive me, has a terrible habit of ignoring and shoving aside problems."

His remarks set off a lively debate among the attendees, many of whom represented the second and even third generation of philanthropists supporting local and global Jewish causes and were invited expressly to talk about the "Jewish Future Across the Generations." (See sidebar)

Steinhardt's blunt talk suprised even those familiar with the former hedge-fund manager who has invested some $125 million in Jewish causes over the past 12 years. Steinhardt was a founding partner of Birthright Israel, a program of free trips to Israel for young people, and has funded groundbreaking initiatives in day-school education and synagogue outreach.

The speech was among his first since announcing this summer that he was refocusing his philanthropic giving in part, associates said, because he was pessimistic about the Jewish world and the impact of his giving.

Steinhardt shared some of that pessimism in his remarks Sunday. His characterizations of supplementary Jewish schools ranged from "shoddy institutions with out-of-touch pedagogy" to "a shande" – a "shame" – to "arguably the worst Jewish educational experiment in modern Jewish history."

His evidence? His own experience in religious school as well as the experience of participants in birthright israel. "The afternoon school creates ignorant, uneducated, undereducated Jews," he said. "The kids on birthright are, with some exceptions, lovely, feeling youngsters who don't know anything, who are the products of Reform Sunday schools with a bar mitzva that was mostly a gift-gathering phenomenon and from that point on have no Jewish education. That represents the bulk of how American Jews are educated. More and more get no Jewish education because that type is such a turnoff."

Nor are day schools the answer, said Steinhardt, since, according to the Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University, they currently enroll only three percent of non-Orthodox Jews.

But, he said, charter schools "might be a solution to our communal needs," and pointed to the new Ben Gamla Charter School in Florida's Broward County, which opened in September. The school offers a Hebrew curriculum but is otherwise secular.

"What if we unrolled a nationwide system of Jewish charter schools focusing on Jewish elements, not on religious studies – which appeals only to a minority of Jews anyway – but on the elements of Jewish culture that make us strong?" said Steinhardt, a self-described atheist. "Because these would be largely publicly funded, the cost of these schools would be considerably lower than that of day schools. Charter schools are still a new phenomenon in America, and there are various legal and curricular issues we must explore.

"But it is clear that charter schools might be a solution to our communal needs," he said. "We would be foolish to ignore their potential."

One local Conservative rabbi, Francine Roston of Congregation Beth El in South Orange, argued in a question-and-answer period following his remarks that more resources today could create different and better learning centers in synagogues. Steinhardt, unconvinced, made it clear that he is in favor of scrapping afternoon religious schools altogether in favor of a completely new model.

"Hebrew school has been a disaster, so don't talk to me about resources," he said. "Let's face the fact that it's no good."

Lack of pride

Steinhardt also said that early childhood education was a "squandered opportunity" to connect young families to the Jewish community.

"Early childhood represents the greatest opportunity for Jewish enrichment at a time when parents are open to Jewish connections and are often searching for meaning in life." He criticized JCCs and synagogues for viewing preschools as "revenue centers rather than vehicles for Jewish enrichment." He pointed to teachers' salaries, averaging between $9 and $10 per hour, as evidence of "the value these institutions place on early childhood."

His solution: the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative, supported in part by the Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation. Now in its infancy, with 12 preschools around the country participating in the pilot, including one in Basking Ridge, it applies a learning approach akin to the child-centered Reggio Emilia method, infused with a Jewish curriculum. The educational initiative is also designed to draw parents into the process, with the stated goal of having them embark on their own Jewish journeys.

"Archaic and boring" is how Steinhardt described synagogue services and Jewish religious practice.

"I don't think it's an accident that Jews have a lower synagogue attendance rate than all major Christian denominations have in their places of worship," said Steinhardt, who has supported synagogue revitalization efforts such as STAR (Synagogue Transformation and Renewal) Synaplex.

"To me, that which [synagogues] must communicate as the sine qua non of Jewish education and in our religious services is Jewish pride," he said. "If you ask yourself where you feel the most pride being Jewish, I think your answer might lead to emphasize something in the secular realm. You take pride in our experience of musicians, scientists, or association with our heroism in the Six-Day War, Entebbe. You take pride in a great athlete or even a politician who is Jewish, or when you learn your favorite film was made almost entirely by Jews. We take pride in these associations, and none of them is synagogue or Jewish education."

Finally, he took on Jewish philanthropy itself and questioned whether tzedaka even continues as a Jewish value.

"The best measure of the health of a community is where it spends its dollars," he said. In the mid-20th century, he said, "50 cents of every Jewish [charitable] dollar went to Jewish causes," while today it has dropped to 15 cents. Later, in response to Steinhardt's charge, Andy Stamelman, newly elected president of the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest, countered that of the $19.5 million in grants made through the JCF last year, 80 percent went to Jewish causes, bucking the national trend.

Steinhardt also criticized those spending their philanthropic dollars on organizations fighting anti-Semitism.

"North American Jewry's greatest threat is not the external threat of anti-Semitism but the internal threat of apathy, inertia, and ignorance of our own heritage," said Steinhardt, adding, "I'll know there's been change when Jewish philanthropists focus on the Jewish future and not on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism."

Backing birthright

The impact of his talk was summed up by Kenneth Heyman, president of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ. He began his response to Steinhardt by saying, "When you started, I was feeling six feet tall. Now I've shrunk to about five feet, five inches."

Heyman took issue with Steinhardt's criticism of the federation movement's participation in Birthright Israel. Steinhardt seemed to tar all federations, including UJC MetroWest, when he said the national movement's $11 million contribution to the $81 million Birthright initiative fell far short of the one-third of the budget federations had once been expected to contribute.

Heyman pointed out that UJC MetroWest not only regularly gives the full share requested of it every year, but that it is now participating in a $100,000 pilot program, in partnership with The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, to further "brand" bBirthright.

A firm Steinhardt retorted, "You are fully supportive in meeting your request. However, do you know if that is the appropriate amount? Are you asked to opine on what should be given to Birthright Israel in relation to what should be given to the Jewish Agency? No. Are you really in a position to make substantial judgments as to how money is allocated?

"It seems to me that if you care about the Jewish future as much as I do, you can't help but conclude as you look around at your kids and your neighbors' kids that you do not need me to point it out to you. A lot of things have to change."

Max Kleinman, executive vice president of UJC MetroWest, welcomed Steinhardt's challenge, but said he undervalued the work of federations like his own. "MetroWest has been a leader in Jewish education, including day school endowments, Jewish camping, Birthright Israel, MASA, Passport to Israel, and teacher recruitment and training," said Kleinman. "We recently launched the Iris Teen Tzedaka program and the Jerry Waldor Institute/Wexner Heritage Program (see story, page 8). We have Rimon [an adult education collaborative] and other wonderful synagogue-based adult ed. programs. All of this has been done to fill the breach in terms of the failure in Jewish education."

Kleinman also took issue with Steinhardt's assault on supplementary schools.

"We know many kids want to have a bar or bat mitzva, and they go to synagogue schools," said Kleinman. "Rather than attack the schools, we need to come up with a way to make them better. That ought to be the conversation. It's easy to break down and leave town. It's much more difficult to move in the right direction."

Kleinman also said that in allocating its resources, Jewish "continuity" cannot be the sole focus of philanthropic giving.

"Our mission is to inspire the next generation to do great things Jewishly," he said. "We have to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, take care of the elderly. It's not just a continuity agenda but fulfilling the mission of the Jewish people. We don't have enough money to do everything. We must fulfill the promise of inspiring the next generation even as we take care of the needs of those depending on us."

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Pushed by famed philanthropist, local families push right back

MICHAEL STEINHARDT'S blunt challenge to fund-raising volunteers and professionals in West Orange last week came amidst an evening during which major supporters of the MetroWest community gathered for a spirited debate centered on "Viewing the Jewish Future Across the Generations."

And spirited it was, as Steinhardt chided the audience of philanthropists on the state of Jewish giving, and as many took up the challenge and fired right back.

When Steinhardt boasted about the success of Birthright Israel, the program he cofounded that sends young people on free trips to Israel, Paula Gottesman challenged him to show the figures.

"How do you know if Birthright Israel works?" Gottesman asked.

Steinhardt pointed to studies that suggest it does, but acknowledged that the program is only seven years old and that it is too early to judge its success with any certainty.

Arthur Brody, past president of a forerunner of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ, asked Steinhardt what he intended to do with his considerable fortune after his death.

"I plan to die broke," replied Steinhardt.

That led Leon Cooperman, the evening's cochair and, like Steinhardt, a Wall Street star in his own right, to say that he plans to leave his private foundation to his two sons and their families so that they can gather around the table regularly and discuss their philanthropic visions and passions. Cooperman also said that they would have to distribute 50 percent of the funds to the causes that he and his wife, Toby, support.

The Family Philanthropy Evening, hosted by the Jewish Community Foundation of MetroWest, brought together first, second, and third generations of philanthropists.

Archie Gottesman Debode – who, like her parents Jerry and Paula Gottesman, is a strong supporter of Jewish day school education, among other causes – emceed the program, which focused on family philanthropy and the philosophical underpinnings of Jewish giving.

"We planned this evening in order to stimulate conversation and debate on what constitutes Jewish giving and giving Jewishly," said JCF executive director Anat Becker.

"It takes a community with a certain maturity level to bring in someone like Michael Steinhardt, who really took no prisoners," UJC MetroWest executive vice president Max Kleinman said after the program. "He attacked our Jewish institutions, and he was an equal-opportunity attacker. It's good to hear a critique in a very direct way. It's good to have an iconoclast. But you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater."

Mark B. Rubin, an expert on family wealth issues and taxes, led an Interactive workshop on "Wealth, Family Values, & Philanthropy."

Rubin, a CPA and partner at the Schonbraun McCann Group, talked about the fear of many wealthy families that extreme wealth would corrupt their offspring and sap their motivation to be productive. He suggested that philanthropy is a powerful antidote to such corruption.

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Deep impact

MICHAEL STEINHARDT made waves when he retired in the mid-1990s from the money management business with roughly half a billion dollars in the bank and pledged to devote his energies to the Jewish philanthropic world. Among the approximately 100 initiatives in which he has played a major or founding role:

• Jewish Life Network
• Areivim: Fund for the Jewish Future
• Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative
• Partnership for Jewish Education
• Jewish Campus Service Corps through Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
• Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University
• Taglit-Birthright Israel
• Makor/Steinhardt Center at the 92nd Street Y
• Forward newspaper
• Lights in Action