Managing New Trends in Center-Federation Relations: a Center Perspective

Publication Date: January 1986

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Jeffrey Aizenberg; Harry R. Rosen

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: American Jews; Jewish Organizations; Informal Jewish Education

Type: Report

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

As Federations have expanded their role as the "umbrella" organization of the Jewish community, the Center has begun to be seen less as the Federation's functional arm and more as one of a large matrix of Jewish organizations who together make up the Jewish community and fully meet Jewish needs. Increasingly, Federations are involving synagogues, temples, educational institutions and many other Jewish organizations in their deliberations, as well as their allocations. Since many of these organizations provide services similar to those of the Center (e.g. pre-school, camps, single adult programs, senior citizen clubs, performing arts groups, etc.), Centers are forced to compete with them for community dollars. Jewish communal leaders predict that this trend will condnue and some believe that the subsidizing of synagogues and temples by Federation will be commonplace by the 1990's. As this trend continues, the question for Center leadership increasingly becomes how to protect the community's investment in the facilities and programs of the Center and what future role will Federation play in the effort.