The Shifting Role of Diaspora Community Representatives in Israel

Publication Date: June 1999

Publisher: Jewish Communal Service Association of North America

Author(s): Raviv Schwartz

Research Area: Culture and religion

Keywords: Employment; Jewish Organizations; Israel Attachment

Type: Report

Coverage: Israel

Abstract:

With the onset of Project Renewal in 1978, several Diaspora communities hired Israel based representatives as they recognized the importance of direct communication with their twinned neighborhoods. As Project Renewal was gradually phased out and alternative models for direct Israel-Diaspora community relations emerged, the role of these community representatives required redefinition. This analysis of the role of community representatives, part of a larger study on Partnership 2000 commissioned by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, attempts to understand how they conceive of their participation in that project and what meaning they assign to it. The findings indicate that while community representatives exhibit high levels of identification with both their Diaspora community and their twinned Israeli locality there is a visible decline in their satisfaction and perceived job clarity in the transition from Project Renewal to Partnership 2000. The community representative might need to take an active role in defining the overarching goals ofthe partnership between his or her community and partnered region in order for the project to become more substantive and effective.

In Journal of Jewish Communal Service, v.75 no.4, Summer 1999.