In the same issue of the Jewish Star with the Cholov Yisroel milk article there is a Letter to the Editor urging the OU to take over Young Israel to reduce the cost to the shuls. He's absolutely correct. Young Israel is always latching onto programs run by other organizations like the OU and Project Ezra anyway so why not fold it into the OU and be done with it?
----------------------------------
The Jewish Star, Letters to the Editor, 9-04-09
Is Young Israel redundant?
To the Editor:
I recently had to drastically cut back on household expenses due to the current economy. One cost-cutting measure was to eliminate redundant services, in this case my home phone line. It was no longer worth the cost even though I had the number for years and most of my friends and family knew it instead of my mobile. I simply informed them to use the new mobile number.
We have a similar situation with the Orthodox Union and National Council of Young Israel. The shul I daven at is a member of both. It is simply not worth paying dues to two redundant organizations. At a recent meeting of Jewish organizations with President Obama, it was the OU that was invited, not Young Israel. Even though Young Israel shuls share a common name they tend to have very little to do with each other and, in most cases, are quite different in Hashkafa. My Young Israel and others in this area keep hearing about situations at Young Israel shuls in other parts of the country that we have nothing to do with. National Council is supposed to deal with that but seems to do very little for the dues we send them.
A practical solution would be for the OU to acquire the Young Israel label and close down or merge the redundant services. The shuls would keep their name and make only one dues payment instead of two. Otherwise, it may not be worth keeping the Young Israel name we have had for years. It would be like giving up our home phone number — it is just not worth the cost.
RSS