editorials
A t the conclusion of Chinese President Xi
Jinping’s carefully orchestrated Moscow summit
with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Russian
leader personally escorted his guest to his car. For
some observers, Putin’s departure courtesy was a
rare gesture for the taciturn Russian strongman. But
to others it presented an insight into current relations
between China and Russia: Xi may have journeyed to
Moscow, but it was Putin who played the valet.

Last fall, in another autocratic lovefest between Xi
and Putin, the two declared a “limitless friendship.”
The driver for their bromance is hostility to the
United States and to what they see as America’s
“hegemony, domination and bullying.” So together
they are standing up to Uncle Sam.

But even a “limitless friendship” has its limitations.

China is on the move in Asia and Africa and is
gaining international infl uence. Russia is frozen in
place and at risk. Russia has economic problems and
is deep into a frustrating war eff ort against Ukraine
that is draining human, economic and political
resources. As observed by U.S. National Security
Council spokesman John Kirby, Russia’s problems
have relegated Putin to “junior partner” status in his
relationship with Xi.

So what did last week’s summit accomplish? Many
assumed that Xi would announce a plan for the
delivery of weapons from China to assist Russia in
Chinese President Xi Jinping , left, meets with
Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2022.

its war eff ort. But no such public announcement was
made. Instead, Xi continued to project himself as an
international peace broker, seeking to build on the
credit China claims for the recent rapprochement
between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

At this point, it isn’t clear where the China-Russia
relationship is headed. While Xi and Putin can
continue to tweak America, any Ukraine-related
alliance will likely bolster Western unity and
opposition. Western nations will continue to provide
military and fi nancial support to Ukraine and their
eff orts will be bolstered by the once-neutral Finland
and Sweden as they join NATO and the opposition
chorus. Even though Xi didn’t promise military support, he
did continue his embrace of Putin. And he did that just
as an arrest warrant was issued against Putin by the
International Criminal Court. The growing Xi-Putin
relationship worries Western leaders. It could lead
to further downgrading of trade with China and
upgrading of sanctions and military preparedness.

In all events, the lines of power in the China-Russia
relationship are changing. For the United States,
that probably means continuing support for what is
becoming a proxy war in Ukraine, while gearing up
for what could be a Cold War with China. But that
will likely be a diff erent kind of Cold War from the
one that followed World War II. This time, ideology
will play much less of a role. Instead, it will be driven
by some mixture of brute strength, intimidation and
economic dominance. And the U.S. will need strong
leadership to navigate those confrontations.

In the meantime, Putin and Xi are looking for
opportunities to project strength and control and
boost their prestige. Last week’s summit was one
such occasion. And in that one, Xi came out on top.

It will be interesting to see what happens next, as Xi
and Putin continue to explore the parameters of their
pledge of “limitless friendship.” ■
Dealing with Antisemites
A new survey by ADL found that 2022 set a
record for antisemitic incidents in the United
States since ADL started keeping track in 1979.

The 3,697 incidents marked a 36% increase over
2021, which had set the previous record with 2,717
incidents of harassment, vandalism and assault.

The year 2022 was when the dramatic hostage
taking at a synagogue in Colleyville, Texas, took
place. And it was the year that rapper and fashion
designer Kanye West erupted in a stream of
antisemitic invectives on a variety of media, including
an announcement that he planned to go “death con
3” on the Jews. ADL tracked about 30 copycat
incidents of antisemitism that mentioned “Ye,” but
we suspect the number is actually much higher.

After such a dispiriting year, what should we make
of the recent fi nding by the Pew Research Center,
that among religious groups in the United States,
Jews are the most liked? According to Pew, Jews
have a 35% favorability rating and a 6% unfavorability
rating. By contrast, evangelical Christians have a
14 MARCH 30, 2023 | JEWISH EXPONENT
28% favorability rating and a 27% unfavorability
rating. Whatever those statistics mean, we continue
to worry about antisemitism and the targeting of
Jews. And we continue to struggle to fi nd a way to
stop it.

Our community has done impressive work. We
have tracked the numbers. We have lobbied for,
passed and popularized the Working Defi nition of
Antisemitism so that people now know it when they
see it. We have pushed for broad and meaningful
Holocaust education to teach about hate and
its consequences. And we call out antisemitism
whenever we see it.

Our community has also succeeded in upgrading
the sensitivity and vigilance of local, state and
federal governments, along with community allies of
all sorts, to the evils of antisemitism. And we have
invested heavily in security and the wide-ranging
fi ght against the corrosive impact of antisemitism.

Yet, even with all of the money and energy that has
been invested, antisemitic activities continue and
increase. Our herculean eff orts seem to be having
very little eff ect.

In many discussions about antisemitism, it is
often noted that Jews are less than 3% of the
U.S. population but are the religious group on the
receiving end of the most hate. We wonder how such
a small segment of the population can attract so
much hate. But as a data point, the size of the Jewish
community is not all that meaningful a number. That’s
because the number of Jews is almost irrelevant. It’s
the number of antisemites that matters. Jews are not
the problem. Antisemites are.

The challenge to deal more eff ectively with
antisemites is not new. It has confounded those
battling Jew hatred for generations. Perhaps there is
nothing more we can do at this point beyond eff orts
to raise awareness, defend ourselves and work to
educate the haters of the wrongs of their ways. But
we hope there is more. Antisemitism is a growing
plague in desperate need of a better solution. We
need new answers to how to deal with antisemites. ■
Ju Peng / Xinhua News Agency/Newscom
Mr. Xi and Mr. Putin



opinions & letters
Making a Moonshot Philanthropic Bet
on Philadelphia’s Jewish Community
Zev Eleff
I n November, the Collaborative for Applied Studies
in Jewish Education convened a meeting of national
Jewish professional learning providers in Washington,
D.C. The scores of participants studied CASJE’s recent
findings on the value of professional development in
the Jewish arena, particularly in the field of Jewish
education. We swapped notes on how to best deploy continuing
education. Some, me included, hypothesized that more
substantive and creative professional development
would do much to rebuild the Jewish nonprofit profes-
sional pipeline.

doses of professional development, often free of
charge. But they also relayed that they could use more
of it and would like to see more creative, research-
based offerings.

New Jewish professionals (some that just started
their careers and others who recently transitioned
from other professional places) tell a different story,
one that better foretells the sustainability of our Jewish
nonprofit sector.

Most in this group work in non-classroom settings:
They’re situated in informal education, human service
agencies or administrative positions. Their organiza-
tions don’t provide the same amounts of in-service
programs deployed in school settings. Three-quarters
The constellation of Philadelphia-based Jewish
nonprofits stands at a transformative moment.

I departed the CASJE conference with two takeaways.

First, there’s a risk-taking moonshot-level philanthropic
bet to be made on Jewish professional development,
how creative and better continuing education can be
leveraged to better staff and animate programming
and services for the Jewish community. Second, it
ought to happen in Philadelphia.

The constellation of Philadelphia-based Jewish
nonprofits stands at a transformative moment. Over
the past two years, many of our local organizations
have hired new leaders.

For example, 16 Jewish nonprofit CEOs attended a
meeting in January convened at Gratz College and
in coordination with Jewish Learning Venture. Three-
quarters of the leaders present were recent hires with
a mandate to grow their institutions.

What about the value of professional development in
our agencies?
With the support of 25 organizations, Gratz College
recently surveyed 115 Jewish professionals, every
subset but congregational rabbis.

Two-thirds of the respondents boasted more than 10
years of working experience in the field. Most of this
group — a high quotient of day school and synagogue
educators — reported that all or most of their work
requires Jewish content knowledge or expertise in
the Jewish community. The majority possess gradu-
ate degrees in Jewish education, Jewish professional
studies or received rabbinical ordination.

In concert with the findings from CASJE, this veteran
cohort — again, mostly educators — receives steady
take part in continuing education outside of Jewish
professional studies, but just 15% participate in profes-
sional development that might be characterized as
Jewish education or Jewish professional studies.

What explains this group’s low participation in Jewish
professional development?
Just 30% of their work, they say, requires Jewish
content knowledge. In follow-up questions, the same
professionals indicated that their job would benefit
from deeper Jewish content and that substantive
Jewish professional development, if made available
and at low costs, would help them increase their capac-
ities in the workplace.

The throughline is the urgent need for skills-based
professional development offerings that improve the
sacred work of Jewish nonprofits. From board manage-
ment to text-based learning. From mental health
awareness to Hebrew education, and then to program
evaluation best practices.

A transformative investment in Jewish professional
development for Philadelphia’s Jewish nonprofit sector
would test the impact of continuing education on the
wider community.

Months ago in these pages, I wrote about
Philadelphia’s “broken Jewish education pipeline.” I
tabulated more than a dozen recent Jewish population
studies and showed that Philadelphia’s enrollment
numbers, compared with its peer communities, ranked
at the bottom in every Jewish educational setting: from
early childhood to high school, from youth group to
camp. I’d wager we would find similar low figures for
engagement with Jewish adults.

Hence the moonshot. Our local heads of school and
Jewish nonprofit CEOs represent a new generation of
leadership, ready to put our people in the very best
position to succeed. Together, they want Philadelphia
to emerge as a model Jewish community. They have
already made a bet on themselves and their colleagues.

To support them, we’ll need to further uptrain and
sometimes reskill our teams to better serve and
support our communities. The data suggests it’s a risk
worth taking. ■
Zev Eleff is the president of Gratz College and a
professor of American Jewish history.

letters Jew Hatred Pervasive in City
Jew-hatred in Philadelphia exists from the top down
(“AJC CEO, Philadelphia Leaders Meet to Address
Antisemitism,” March 2).

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has for two consec-
utive years sponsored official events that by their
very nature legitimize Jew-hatred: The city’s partic-
ipation in the United Nation’s so-called “Day of
Solidarity With the Palestinian People,” replete with
fist-brandishing posters and terrorist PLO flags –
part-and-parcel of a movement to undo and destroy
the Jewish state of Israel and endanger Israel’s seven
million Jews.

Kenney’s departments, including the School District
of Philadelphia, have promoted Jew-hatred and/or
have sought to erase Jewish history and heritage.

Our organization has documented multiple examples
of these in two detailed reports. Government-
sanctioned Jew-hatred gives the attacks an official
imprimatur and funds all or part of the attacks –
making them more impactful.

It was nice of Philadelphia City Council to pass a
resolution against antisemitism – though without
addressing the city’s own attacks against Jewry it is
rather meaningless.

Steve Feldman, executive director, Greater Philadelphia
Chapter Zionist Organization of America
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