1.1 Alternative TYPES of organizations are needed. Today’s organized Jewish community, as generally understood, contains two broad categories of organizations: religious institutions (synagogues, seminaries, day schools, etc.) and philanthropic non-profit organizations (including Federations and their satellite agencies, advocacy organizations, fraternal groups, museums, etc.). I argue that the diversity of different kinds of organizations involved in Jewish life is essential for the future viability of the American Jewish community. This would include businesses, including media outlets; government affiliated bodies, such as charter schools; and divisions of other public institutions, such as Jewish Studies departments in universities and colleges.

Any ethnic or national community is sustained via an ecosystem of organizations; the diversity of those organizations, in addition to their quantity and quality, is an important factor in the overall robustness of that community. In modern American life, many kinds of institutions (especially “for-profits”) guide the popular culture, and thus help shape how individuals see themselves and their environment. The relative absence of significant commercial enterprises, focusing on a Jewish consumer base, is at least partially responsible for the anemic nature of modern American Jewish life (as some critiques might suggest).

1.2 The importance of Core Constituencies for organizing. Commercial organizations, in particular, depend strongly on niche marketing. In order to promote a business it is usually critical to identify and target at least one customer base that speaks a common language (formal or informal), shares common assumptions, and uses common sources of information. One of the challenges in marketing products and services to American Jews is the relative diversity of the community. Rather than constituting a single homogeneous block, American Jewry contains a few different “core constituencies” that come together on occasion, thus preserving the semblance of a single, united community. The Orthodox community, despite its own broad diversity, is probably the most clearly defined core constituency, and a variety of commercial and religious institutions already exist to serve their needs and sustain their way of life.

1.3 Hebrew Americans as a Core Constituency. I define “Hebrew Americans” as that sub-group of American Jewry who already have a deep involvement in, or a potential for deeper participation in, Hebrew cultural life – principally Israeli emigres and their children, those who have had extended stays in Israel, graduates of Hebrew educational programs, and other fluent Hebrew speakers. Despite the diversity within this group, they constitute a distinct (if sometimes overlooked) core constituency and a viable niche for creative organizing. Indeed, some of the most interesting new phenomena in Jewish life – including a national television network and a bilingual Hebrew/English charter school – were largely driven by the needs and interests of this block. The successful innovations derived from this sub-culture can, in turn, generate tremendous impact across the broader Jewish community.

1.4 The fertile soil of Israel culture. Israel needs to be recognized more clearly as a repository of resources, which offers unique products that cannot be produced in the Diaspora. The Israeli Network television channel is an obvious example of this; while it may be prohibitively expensive to introduce a nationwide Jewish television outlet in the U.S., Russia, or another Diaspora country, it is quite feasible to re-broadcast Israeli shows, originally produced for domestic consumption, throughout the Diaspora. While this channel targets Hebrew speakers as its core audience, it may eventually have the potential to affect the greater national and international Jewish community. Put another way, institutions that serve Hebrew speakers can leverage the depth of cultural resources that Israeli society generates, in a way that other Jewish institutions can’t.

To sum up these four arguments: Significant change in American Jewish life requires structural reform, and the cultural resources that Israel offers could be critical to such a transformation. Identifying Hebrew Americans, as a distinct sub-group within American Jewry with its own set of needs, is the first step toward building a set of new, innovative institutions that can alter the ecosystem of the larger American Jewish community.