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M I N U T E S of the Board Meeting of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago Held on January

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M I N U T E S of the Board Meeting of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago Held on January M I N U T E S OF THE BOARD MEETING OF THE JEWISH UNITED FUND OF METROPOLITAN CHICAGO HELD ON JANUARY 21, 2016 AT THE JEWISH FEDERATION 30 SOUTH WELLS STREET CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Ben Gurion Way, 30 South Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60606‐5056 . (312) 346‐6700 . FAX (312) 444‐2086 . www.juf.org C O N F I D E N T I A L M I N U T E S Of the Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, held on Thursday, January 21, 2016 at the Jewish Federation, 30 S. Wells Street, Chicago, Illinois. AGENDA & INDEX PAGE 1. RESPECT FOR MEMORY OF FRANCES FINCH 1 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1 3. D’VAR TORAH 1 4. RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT 3 5. 2015 JUF CAMPAIGN – RESULTS & ANALYSIS 4 6. RECOGNITION OF RACHEL STERNBERG 7 7. CHAIRMAN OF BOARD 7 8. PUBLIC AFFAIRS 8 9. CONFIDENTIAL REPORT: TAKING STOCK OF CHICAGO’S ANTI‐ISRAEL GROUPS 9 10. REPORT OF PRESIDENT 14 11. COMMITTEE REPORTS 18 12. REPORT OF SECRETARY 18 M I N U T E S OF THE JEWISH UNITED FUND BOARD MEETING HELD ON JANUARY 21, 2016 PRESENT: Wendy Abrams; Caryn Rosen Adelman; Wendy Berger; Gita Berk; Debbie L. Berman; Robert J. Bond; David T. Brown; Scott I. Canel; Joshua K. Daitch; Bruce I. Ettelson; Jason Friedman; Linda B. Ginsburg; Hilary Greenberg; Marcie B. Hemmelstein; Joshua B. Herz; Scott Heyman; Andrew S. Hochberg; Cindy Kaplan; Deborah Schrayer Karmin; Amy T. Kirsch; Adrienne J. Kriezelman; Peter Kupferberg; Rabbi Vernon Kurtz; Jane Cadden Lederman; Sanford E. Perl; Theodore Perlman; Neal H. Price; Lisa Reisman; Paula Resnick; Joshua Rinkov; Elliott Robinson; Bryan Rosenberg; Lisa Rosenkranz; Marc Roth; Eric A. Rothner; Julie Dann Schneider; Skip Schrayer; Steve Schreiber; Harry Seigle; Midge Perlman Shafton; Kim Shwachman; Susan B. Silver; Bill Silverstein; Barbara Kaplan Slutsky; Alan P. Solow; Sara Crown Star; Pam F. Szokol; Phyllis Tabachnick; Robyn Tavel; Marilyn Vender; Daniel Wander; Rabbi Carl Wolkin; Michael H. Zaransky; and Dr. Steven B. Nasatir, Ex‐Officio and Nathaniel Sack, Ex‐Officio. UNABLE TO ATTEND: David A. Baum; Harvey J. Barnett; Mark Chudacoff; Douglas E. Cohen; Rabbi Paul F. Cohen; Moshe Davis; Maury Fertig; Linda Schottenstein Fisher; David Golder; Dana Gordon; Andrea Grostern; Dana Westreich Hirt; Gerri Kahnweiler; Penny Keeshin; Frances H. Krasnow; Steven H. Lavin; Brian J. Levinson; Larry Levy; Rabbi Steven S. Lowenstein; Hon. Sidney H. Mathias; Lee I. Miller; Steven N. Miller; Michael Oxman; Rabbi Joseph S. Ozarowski; Jason Peltz; Tom Rivkin; David Rosenbaum; Gail L. Rudo; Michael J. Sacks; Stephen P. Sandler; Keith J. Shapiro; David A. Sherman; Morris Silverman; Marc Spellman; Bruce Taylor; Avrum Weinfeld; Joseph Wolf; and Andrea R. Yablon. STAFF: Audra Berg; Boaz Blumovitz; David Brief; Aaron Cohen; Deborah Covington; Shirley Dvorin; Patti Frazin; Linda Haase; Rose Jagust; Elissa Kagan; Donna Kahan; Reis Kayser; Louis Lazovsky; Caryn Peretz; Sally Preminger; David Prystowsky; David Rosen; Jim Rosenberg; David Rubovits; Deborah Shub; Sherryl Steinberg; Rachel Sternberg; Emily Sweet; Jay Tcath; and Adina Torchman. Bill Silverstein, Chairman, presided. JEWISH UNITED FUND ACTIONS TAKEN AT THE BOARD MEETING HELD ON January 21, 2016 1. Upon Motion Duly Made, Seconded and Carried, the Minutes of the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors held on December 17, 2015, were approved. 2. Upon Motion Duly Made, Seconded and Carried, in keeping with the Illinois Not‐for‐Profit Corporation Act and the Jewish United Fund By‐laws, the appointment of the 2015‐2016 Jewish United Fund Committees of both Community and Board members, was ratified. DISCUSSION 1. RESPECT FOR MEMORY OF FRANCES FINCH Since the last Board meeting, Frances Finch passed away. She was a member of the JUF/JF Board from 1978‐1986. She was a past President of the Women’s Board and was an Honorary Women’s Board Director. She also chaired the Silver Circle. Bill Silverstein, Chairman, then called on Caryn Rosen Adelman, who shared some thoughts about Frances with the Board. She said that when she knew Frances, the Young Women’s Board was a part of YLD (then known as the Young People’s Division). Soon thereafter, it was “traded” to the Women’s Board, which was annually raising $3 million a year. At the time, she was known as Mrs. Herman Finch. Her husband was a major force in developing The Chicago Medical School, first as a member of the board of trustees, then board chairman. The school was later renamed in honor of him. Ms. Adelman said that Frances was a welcoming, lovely lady – a real Southern belle with a Southern drawl who embraced and encouraged other women. She was a quiet but mighty woman whose commitment to JUF/Federation and philanthropy was extremely important to her. She engaged and mentored women involved with the Women’s Board, and she will be missed by many. Mr. Silverstein thanked Ms. Adelman for her remarks and asked the Board to join him for a moment of silence in respect for the memory of Frances Finch. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES It was Moved, Seconded, and Carried that the Minutes of the regular monthly meeting of the Board of Directors, held on December 17, 2015, be approved. (Motion No. 1) 3. D’VAR TORAH Marc Roth gave the D’var Torah. This week is the sixteenth reading from the Torah, named which means, “When he sent.” The title comes from the first verse of the ,(בשלח) Beshalach reading, which can be literally translated, “And it happened when Pharaoh sent out the people.” The reading tells the adventures of the Israelites as they leave Egypt, cross the Sea of Reeds, receive miraculous provision in the wilderness, and face their first battle. Mr. Roth said he felt that this is one of the richest portions, with so many interesting choices to explore for meaningful messages. He chose two of his favorites themes: the path in which G‐d directs Moses to lead our people on their journey to Israel and the crossing of the Sea of Reeds. He chose the crossing of the Sea of Reeds to expound upon a lesser‐known biblical hero uniquely special here in the Chicago Federation, Nachshon. According to both the Midrash and Talmud, “When Israel stood facing the Sea of Reeds, and the command was given to move forward, each of the tribes hesitated, saying ‘we do not want to be the first to jump into the sea.’” It was Nachshon, Prince of the tribe of Judah, brother‐in‐law of the high priest, Aaron, who jumped into the swirling sea. Moses stood and prayed. G‐d said to Moses, “My beloved ones are drowning in the stormy seas, and you are standing and praying?” 2 “Master of the world” Moses said, “What am I to do?” And G‐d replied, “You lift your staff and spread your hand over the seas, which will split, and Israel will come into the sea upon dry land.” This was a moment of profound awakening of our people’s spiritual faith. And it was Nachshon who courageously led our people in. It is interesting to note that five heroes descended from Nachshon, least of which were David and Daniel, and the eternal kingdom of Israel was ultimately given to his tribe, the tribe of Judah. He asked the Board how often they think about their own spiritual awakening. Not only about finding religion or a belief in a higher power, but about one’s purpose in this world, why we’re here at this time and place, and what our contribution should be to humanity. Mr. Roth said that he believes we all have a responsibility to make the world a better place. And the leaders of the Nachshon Mission awakened him to his responsibility to our community. He said that he is here today because of his fellow participant’s inspiration and leadership. He is proud and privileged to be amongst them, and continually strives to walk the talk via the example that they’ve shown. The lesson of Nachshon is not one of blind faith; it is an awareness of our life’s mission, in spite of and in the face of life’s many obstacles. This leads to the path. G‐d could’ve directed Moses to Israel on a route that would have taken no more than four days, but as is later discovered, he did not. Why? Mr. Roth said that it reminded him of one of his favorite Talmudic lessons ‘the long, short way.’ On the road into a large walled city, a young man approaches an old man on the side of the road and asks, “What is the shortest way into the city?” The old man replies, “Do you want the short, long way or the long, short way?” “What’s the difference?” the young man inquires. “If you walk a very short distance to the front entrance, you’ll find a locked gate. However, you can try and scale the twenty‐foot wall, which if you are successful, will leave you at the foot of the city. Or, you can walk the long way around to the very back of the city, where you’ll find the gate wide open and walk right in.” The young man proceeded to the front gate, and finding it locked, began to scale the wall. Having quickly made it almost all the way to the top, he lost his grip and fell, severely injuring his leg. Not only was he unable to climb, but now he could merely hobble at a very slow and arduous pace, under great duress, to get to the back of the city to enter.
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