Sitting in the ‘driver’s seat of Jewish destiny’

Newly appointed AJC President Harriet Schleifer discusses mounting global antisemitism and fighting for Israel in the corridors of power.

By NOA AMOUYAL
Harriet Schleifer at the AJC Global Forum in 2019 (photo credit: AJC)
Harriet Schleifer at the AJC Global Forum in 2019
(photo credit: AJC)
As anyone who attends policy conferences knows, a person’s badge lanyard tells a story. At the most basic level, it reveals one’s name, location and what s/he does for a living. And for participants deeply involved in an organization, glossy ribbons are hung below denoting the special departments one belongs to within the organization.
In many ways, then, Harriet Schleifer’s badge speaks volumes not only about her history with the organization, but her life: AJC (American Jewish Committee) Executive Council, AJC Board of Governors, Ambassadors Society, and AJC Project Interchange Board are all boldly emblazoned on the lanyard she hung around her neck during their annual Global Forum.
“This isn’t just my AJC story, it’s my life,” Schleifer said on the sidelines of the American Jewish Committee Global Forum in Washington.
This week, though, Schleifer added another title to her storied list: AJC president. Schleifer succeeded John Shapiro and made history as the organization’s first woman president.
“I think the most important thing is that you actually pick the right person,” Schleifer said. “Having said that, I think that we are finally realizing there are many talented Jewish women out there. I think this a wonderful opportunity for other Jewish organizations across the board to also realize there are resources yet to be tapped.
“I’m so proud of this appointment, and feel like it’s my calling. Without being presumptuous, I feel like I was born to do this,” she said.
A former lawyer, Schleifer turned her attention to philanthropy and has been a proactive member of AJC since 2004. As a child of Holocaust survivors, she wanted to help contribute to a better world than the one her parents knew.
But unlike many Jewish activists, it wasn’t enough for Schleifer to engage in tikkun olam – repairing the world. Rather than putting a Band-Aid on a problem, she craved an opportunity to forge her own path forward and build from scratch.
“I didn’t want to fix something, I wanted to create something,” she explained. “I wanted to be in the driver’s seat of Jewish destiny. AJC was my vehicle. I realized how we can be mission-driven and forward thinking.”
So when she was introduced to AJC, she dove right into the deep end of the pool. Now as president she hopes to do the same, and is preparing to take on some very serious issues prevalent during this topsy-turvy time.
One of the challenges at the top of her list is combating global antisemitism.
“‘Mortified’ doesn’t appropriately describe how my parents would feel if they saw what is happening to Jews today,” Schleifer lamented, visibly disturbed by the recent events plaguing Jewish life around the world.
Schleifer at the opening of AJC Central Europe in Warsaw, with her husband, Leonard (Credit: AJC)
Schleifer at the opening of AJC Central Europe in Warsaw, with her husband, Leonard (Credit: AJC)
From the shootings in Pittsburgh and Poway to an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor stabbed to death in her home in France, it seems as if the world has ignored or forgotten the lessons it supposedly learned 75 years ago.
“My father ended up in the emergency room after he saw the Twin Towers fall on 9/11,” Schleifer recalls. “It dawned on him that this was a plan, not an accident. It reminded him of all the evil that he had experienced and was happening again in his lifetime. If he saw now what was going on in Europe and here, he’d be back in the emergency room again.”
However, she has no plans to stand on the sidelines and look on in horror. Rather, Schleifer hopes to cultivate a “community of conscience,” where people of all walks of life band together to combat bigotry and prejudice.
“It’s not just Jews who will fight against antisemitism,” she said. “We will fight arm and arm with partners that we can find, because antisemitism is anti-democracy and anti-human rights.”
One way AJC plans under her tenure to forge those bonds is by reaching out to members of the African-American community in the United States.
“I would like to revitalize Black-Jewish relations,” she said. “We used to have very close relationships. We perhaps either took it for granted or other forces came into play that began to divide us, and we have so much more in common.”
To that end, AJC announced at the Global Forum that it will help launch a bipartisan Black-Jewish congressional caucus.
One of the caucus’ five co-chairs, Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-New York), addressed the 2,500 person confab and echoed Schleifer’s hopes that this will be the start of ongoing dialogue between the two communities.
“For generations, the Jewish and African-American communities have stood together, helping each other overcome their greatest challenges and triumphing in the face of sweeping discrimination, all while securing a brighter future for all Americans, but our work is not yet finished,” said Zeldin. “It is clear our communities are still the target of hate and discrimination, and we will not stand idly by.”
The caucus, then, will aim to raise awareness of each community’s unique needs and challenges, combat stereotypes and back tougher hate crime legislation.
But sometimes, the bigger challenges lie in creating harmony within. As an organization representative of a wide swath of the Jewish community, AJC is home to Democrats and Republicans alike.
As such, creating a consensus on controversial issues is no easy feat, but Schleifer is dedicated to ensuring petty internal differences are put aside for the good of not only Israel, but global democratic values in general.
“We try to put the cards on the table, discuss the issues and decide what’s best in the interest of America,” she said. “We are, after all, the American Jewish Committee. We work through a Jewish lens, but in the end, we know Israel is the sole democracy in the Middle East, and it’s our goal to keep democratic values around the world. We strive to keep Jewish and democratic values aligned.”
But for a conference unofficially centered on our current zeitgeist, which is essentially grave uncertainty worldwide, Schleifer sees a window of opportunity.
“I think people are unwilling to see the world through somebody else’s perspective,” she said. “And we have to get back to realizing that we’re all created in the image of God. We’ve got to respect each other and figure out what we have in common without focusing on our differences.”■


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