Good Morning:

I am Jay Umansky and for the last several years, I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve as President of the St. Louis Region of the American Jewish Congress. 

First, allow me to extend my congratulations to this year’s Democracy in Action Award and Selma Dennis Award recipients, Rabbi Jerome W. Grollman and Fritzi and Mike Lainoff.  Your service not only to the Jewish Community, but to the entire community, has been inspiring.  Your lifelong efforts have helped generations.   St. Louis is a far better place because of the differences you have made in the lives of so many.  For that please accept our thanks.

Secondly, I would be remiss were I not to extend our heartfelt condolences to my friend, and our immediate past President, Bob Cohn, on the passing of his brother in law, Dr. Edward Berg.  May his memory be forever a blessing.
The American Jewish Congress plays a critical role not only nationally, but also locally, addressing issues of concern to our Jewish Community.  

GOALS, the Gateway Older Adult Legal Services project will celebrate its 30th anniversary in January, 2009.  Under the able guidance of our staff lawyer, Nancy Schmidt, and with the assistance of several of our member attorneys, the program provides legal services to indigent elderly, regardless of their religious affiliation.  Over the course of the last thirty years, thousands and thousands have had their needs met by GOALS, people who otherwise would likely have no legal assistance available to them. 

This past fall, in coordination with the Law School at Washington University, we hosted our 27th annual Constitutional Conference, the Jerome W. Sidel Memorial Lecture.  An audience of several hundred heard a panel of experts on trends, concerns and implications of current immigration policies. 

We regularly host the Jacobs’  Lecture, most recently dealing with the topic of stem cell research, which addresses issues of importance to our community.

We support the Jewish Book Festival, the Jewish Film Festival, and countless other local Jewish events.  Members of our Board serve actively and with distinction on the Jewish Community Relations Counsel.  Our past president, Gail Wechsler, now serves as the Director of Domestic Issues and Social Justice, and another past president, Lenny Frankel, currently serves as JCRC President.  Others of our board have been involved in JCRC related committees as representatives of the Congress dealing with issues as varied as Darfur, threats of proposed amendments presented at the United Methodist Conference dealing with divestment from companies doing business with Israel, and local approaches to the threat posed by a nuclear Iran.

Nationally, I am pleased to report that a critical corner has been turned.  In an effort to return the Congress to its most fundamental and democratic of roots, critical changes have been made to amend the by-laws of our National’s constitution.  I was asked by the President of the Congress, Richard Gordon, to assume the responsibility of chairing the Constitution Committee.  I will be frank with you, some of the issues raised at both the Committee level and before the entire  body were contentious.  The most critical issue dealt with the successful separation of the Council of World Jewry from the AJC.  That being said, I am pleased to report that the members leaving the Annual Meeting felt a certain degree of empowerment and a return to strength within the regions, which will only serve to bolster the strength of the Congress.

I am pleased to report that the National Meeting, held just last month in Washington, DC , included a revitalization and reorganization of the Women's’ Division, and confirmation of the Congress’ role in projects dealing with freedom from oil dependency, the use of Human Shields within the Arab world, the furor over the refusal of Ms. Magazine to carry an AJC advertisement dealing with women in Israeli politics entitled “THIS IS ISRAEL”, along with our historic concerns over assuring fundamental rights for all peoples and the continued vitality and growth of the State of Israel.

So, it is with humility and thanks that I accept your nomination to serve a second term as your President.  Where do we go from here?  I have suggestions.  I have spoken with the New York office about considering reopening an office here in St. Louis.  I would like to suggest hosting gatherings to create a Young Professionals Division to bring people in their twenty’s and thirty’s into the Congress.  I would like to work with the National Office and create a pilot project to involve college students in our programs. 

We have much to do.   In the words of Congress’ founding member Stephen Wise, “NOT CHARITY BUT JUSTICE”.  We must each serve as a vigilant watchdog to insure, foster and project justice in everything we do.    I enjoy taking photographs.  When asked why he took pictures, the photographer, Lewis Hine said, “There are two things I wanted to do.  I wanted to show things that need to be corrected.  And I wanted to show the things that need to be appreciated.   Allow me first to extend my appreciation to my Board, whose tireless efforts have made my job an easy one.  Specifically, I would like to thank my immediate past President, Bob Cohn, for his friendship, guidance and support.  Thanks too to my Executive Committee, Harlie, Sue, Sydell, and Marge Bilinsky who 30 years ago asked me to get involved in AJC.  Once again, thanks to our award recipients, the Lainoffs, and Rabbi Grollman; thanks to Rabbi Lipnick.  My special thanks to the members of the Circle of Jewish Music for their efforts today.  Finally, I would like to extend a special thank you to my family, and in particular my wife of 34 years, Peggy, for putting up with me.  You have no idea how much I appreciate your support.

Let us say, Chazak ChazakV’Nitchazek  “FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH”.  We need to strengthen ourselves by learning from what we have lived, not to forget from what we have learned, and be encouraged to continue to learn how to improve the world around us   Let the coming months and the coming election serve as a beacon for us, shining the way to a better and more just future.