|
Linking Vision and Policy to the Community: MLI Hosts International Jewish Communal Service Professionals
During the summer the Mandel Leadership Institute (MLI) hosted several seminars and symposia Among them, was a two-day training seminar for French social welfare professionals called "Non- Profit Organizations: Leadership and Management". The seminar, initiated by the Fonds Social Juif Unifié (FSJU), was organized and implemented by the Leon Ashkenazi Institute (ILA).
Fifty professionals, ranging from case workers to directors of organizations, attended the seminar. They represented fourteen independent Jewish social and welfare organizations, operating in such fields as family social services, child and youth protection, care for the elderly, youth at risk and services for people with disabilities.
Now in its third year, the seminar was collaboratively conceived and implemented by a group which included Mandel Leadership Institute graduates Michel Elbaz (Director of the ILA), Jean-Charles Zerbib (Israel representative of the FSJU), and Michal Cohen Hatab (JDC).
Speaking from the seminar, Elbaz told The Jerusalem Post that out of the 600,000-strong French Jewish population only about 2,000 each year move to Israel. "We have to keep working with those people who have chosen to stay in France," he said, adding that anti-Semitism did not impinge on Jewish welfare efforts. "We have to deal with their emotional, cultural and educational needs." For this reason, he says, strategic planning is highly important.
“When planning for training and leadership, the Mandel Leadership Institute seemed like the natural partner,” said Zerbib. “We feel that MLI is our home in Jerusalem.”
|
Michel Elbaz noted that there are several advantages to holding such a seminar in Israel rather than France: “The subject of management in non-profit organizations is much more developed in Israel than in France, where there is little specialized knowledge in this area. Here we can work with established programs that have generated successful results. Here it is easier to access experts and managers in the field so we can benefit from their expertise.” |
|
“Moreover,” he added, “at MLI we can integrate discussions on management and change. Mandel's high-level teaching and thinking seems to be increasingly oriented to social welfare, as well as education.”
Speakers addressing the seminar included: Professor Benny Gidron, Director of the Israeli Center for Third Sector Research and Professor at the School of Management, Ben Gurion University; Dr. Neri Horowitz, Director of Senior Civil Service Programs at MLI; Dr. Pierre Kletz, Director of the MLI Graduates Unit; Bony Goldberg, Director of Community Services, Municipality of Jerusalem; and Daniel Sherman from MLI .
Following the seminar, the participants joined another thirty colleagues from France at the World Council of Jewish Communal Service Quadrennial, a conference held in Jerusalem and attended by over 600 community service providers and lay leaders.
On the second day of the conference, organizers of the WCJCS Quadrennial brought a group of seventy participants to visit the Mandel Leadership Institute (MLI) to learn about its programs and educational philosophy. MLI’s former director Daniel Gordis addressed the audience, which was comprised of Jewish communal workers engaged in a variety of communal, educational and social services in Israel and the Diaspora. He spoke about the development of various programs at the Mandel Leadership Institute and the function of vision as a powerful underlying element of any organization or professional path.
“A person must ask himself, ‘What is my vision of flourishing Jewish or Israeli life?'” said Gordis. He identified vision as the one factor often missing from the standard toolkit of leadership and professional development.
Among the social welfare professionals and lay leaders present was Moris Krikheli, Director of the Jewish Youth Foundation Hillel in Tblisi, Georgia (Former Soviet Union).
“I found it interesting to learn about the Mandel approach to leadership and educational vision. The Quadrennial exposes us to new knowledge and ideas. I need to consider these ideas in relation to my field of work, to see how they can be developed and implemented,” said Krikheli.
The visit to MLI was the first stop in the WCJCS track “Changing Perceptions of Career and Career Paths.” The group continued to The Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies and Malam Solutions and Services in order to compare diverse approaches to the subject. |
