Donor Spotlight:
Scott Newman

reposted from the February 2007 issue of Speak E-Z

For Scott Newman of North Caldwell, the key to becoming deeply involved in the Jewish community is to see for oneself the work that is accomplished by United Jewish Communities (UJC) of MetroWest NJ.

In his case, it was a combination of the right experience at the right time of his life that made something “click” for him. It let him see personally what needed to be done and what could be accomplished.

“Prior to 2006,” he recalled, “I had zero involvement in UJC. Then, out of the blue, last November or early December, Michael Katz [of UJC’s staff] gave me a call and said, ‘how about just coming out for lunch with me?’ I’m not quite sure what clicked for me that day, but something did. We went out for lunch and chatted, and he got me interested in going on a mission. So, I went on the mission to Israel.”

Newman was not new to Israel. “I’d been involved with Israel since the early 90s. I’d done manufacturing there, and I’d been going every year. I had made perhaps 15 trips before the mission, but they were always tourist trips or quick business trips, often times for under 24 hours. They were never quite like our mission.”

It was the mission that made all the difference for Newman, helping him gain a better understanding of how he wanted to direct his life “vis á vis my involvement with UJC.

“That trip got me interested in Israel specifically,” he explained. “I learned a lot from that mission about what interests me and about UJC. I learned from my own perspective that one of the things I want to do going forward is have Israel be a part of my life. What made the mission so meaningful to me is that I got to see what the UJA campaign does, and I was very impressed with the programs I saw there.

“I’ve always given to UJA but out of a sense of obligation more than anything else. Now, I want to give because we do really good things. The mission made UJC a place I want to contribute to and I want to be involved in. It was a transformative event for me.”

In thinking back to the moment when he decided to attend the decisive lunch he had with Katz, the lunch that led to his going on the mission, Newman suspects it was just ideal timing.

“It was probably the time in my life,” he considered. “I had just sold my business, I was thinking about what I was going to do next, and so I had an open mind about things for the future. I really didn’t know that the involvement I’ve begun to have with UJC was going to be such a part of my future.”

Whatever it was, it led Newman to devote himself to UJC in a very serious way, with an emphasis on working with several projects dedicated to Israel. And what excites him most is the opportunity to conduct his own mission to Israel.

“I’m co-leading it with Peter Feinberg,” he said, “and it’s leaving in March. Many of the people going with us have, I think, felt the same way about UJA and Israel that I did. So, my hope is that they’re going to come back from the mission like I did and that we can create a kind of exponentiation of my experience. We need to create a new generation of people who are going to be the backbone of UJC. That’s what we’re trying to accomplish with these missions.”

It is an important objective for Newman, because, in his view, a new generation – his own generation – is becoming the foundation of support for UJC, and they have to be engaged in a different way from their parents.

“The people of my father’s generation are not going to be with us very much longer,” he pointed out, “and many of them have passed on already. They watched Israel being born. It was born out of the ashes of World War II, and I think my dad’s generation felt a huge urge to give whatever they could give to make Israel a reality. And they did. Now our generation has come around, and there’s no limit to the number of worthy places they can give to. They didn’t grow up watching Israel’s struggle to exist. They grew up with Israel a reality, and they think of UJA as their parents’ charity, one with plenty of money. Giving to UJA is for them like putting water into the ocean.”

What needs to be done instead, Newman feels, is to repeat for as many people as possible the kind of experience he had in Israel, the experience of seeing for themselves the good works that UJC accomplishes. Of course, most people cannot be sent to Israel, so Newman suggests that they go on “mini-missions,” similar to the one he is planning for visiting the Rachel Coalition and Jewish Family Services.

But, above all, he feels that the right information with the right approach has to be conveyed, that a new message should be sent.

“I think that UJC has to reinvent itself,” he said. “I think it has to talk to people in a new way. The old idea – you’re Jewish and you should give to Israel, it’s an obligation – I don’t think that flies any more. I think we have to say: this is an incredible cause, these are the great things we do, and these are the reasons you want to give. Just like buying a commodity, when people give money to a charity, they want value, they want meaning. They want to see where the money’s going. When they see what a great place UJC is, what it does, they’ll feel they should get involved.”