Israel's Public Relation Battle With The Diaspora: A Loosing Proposition?
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| Taglit is great for the "Next Generation" / What about THIS ONE? |
A unique organization called Taglit
http://www.birthrightisrael.com
started thirteen years ago. The organization gave free trips to
Israel to young Jewish people who were not in the Jewish community.
This may sound a little strange, and initially it was. The idea was
to expand the true knowledge of Israel among Jews who were not
particularly interested in Israel. Focusing on the “next
generation” was a tactic to sell the idea more easily and to
implant a seed in the generation coming up no just in the Jewish
community. The idea took a few years to take hold. Today, Taglit
brings over 50,000 people a year to Israel. Also, initially mainly
targeted at the US Jewish population, which has over 50% of Jews not
associated with any Jewish community activity, the program is even
more successful in the rest of the world. Particularly in small
Jewish communities with a population who wants to be associated with
a Jewish activity but simply does not have the means. In some
Latin-American countries, up to 90% of the young Jewish population
who qualify and want to make the Taglit trip, end up coming to
Israel.
Taglit's success has opened up a sore point in many Jewish leaders
around the world. In countries like US and France with large Jewish
population the diaspora is disappearing. The issue of slow and steady
Jewish population turning away from interest and support of Israel is
not just a problem for Israel. Its a problem of a Jewish population
simply shrinking generation by generation. Not just lifestyle,
cuisine, language (Yiddish terms), but also institutions and
affiliation are shrinking. Some communities, as in the American rust belt, are disappearing completely, hit by a combination of both economic and cultural exodus. While travel, information and connection to Israel is
easier than ever before, there seem to be more Jews who choose to
live isolated from Israel. Not only isolated, but actually choosing
not to be associated with anything Israeli or Zionist, and therefore
Jewish. It seems like the association of the Jewish institutions and
communities with Israel, pitted against the continuous bad image in
the media channels (TV, internet, radio) has taken its toll on the
non-affiliated Jewish population. So when Israeli public opinion
experts were focusing on convincing American and Europeans (non-Jews)
that the media was misrepresenting Israel's image toward the
Palestinians, the real PR work should have been toward the
non-affiliate Jews. Yet this is not just a media and PR battle, it's a generational, cultural, and for that matter even modernization of a religion battle. Not since the reform and conservative movement were founded in the United States have the Jewish people moved forward culturally and spiritually. Maybe the problem lies there, not in the image Israel is projecting toward the diaspora (or actually the total abandon of the non-affiliated population.)
This strange turn of events is still not concerning Israeli
politicians. At least that is not the sense one gets on the streets of Tel Aviv. But Jewish leaders in large diaspora communities,
especially in the US, are close to panicking. They see the largest
drop of affiliated population in generations. Probably going back to
the immigration of the late 19th and early 20th
century from eastern Europe and the foundation of the conservative and reform
movements. The breaking off in affiliation and support for Israel and
traditional Jewish institutions is not only hurting the communities
there, it is also affecting traditional Israeli foreign policy,
economic strength, international standing, and other important areas. Taglit is
a nice project and will affect the next generation, but this generation seems to be already lost. Should Taglit expand to the “kids' parents"? Should there be a Taglit for retired non-affiliated Jews who
have time and can spread the word to their children? Should another
type of program about Israel, Jewish culture and history, or simply
Jewish life get started in diaspora communities? What other outreach
programs can be developed to bring back the wayward flock back to the
tribe? Israelis do not seem to see this and they may not see this
until the next generation, thirty years from now, when the diaspora will offer less
support with dwindled population. Maybe the difficulties diaspora
communities and their leaders are haveing, should be simply handled there.
Israel can provide the resources, a place to come and see vital
Jewish life and a broad spectrum of Jewish lifestyle and practices,
while the diaspora world works on keeping their communities strong,
vital and broad based... No clear answers from here (Tel Aviv,
Israel), so someone needs to think hard, ask very difficult
questions... AND ACT!
To be continued...
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