It’s like a political take on the old wedding consolation: The professional Jewish world is losing a favored daughter, but it’s gaining a solid entree into the Democratic leadership. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the U.S. House of Representatives’ minority leader, this week hired Reva Price, a veteran Washington Jewish professional who is now Washington director of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, to lead congressional Democrats’ Jewish outreach.
The departure of Price, who has 22 years of experience working for Jewish organizations in the capital, comes at a sensitive time for the JCPA: It has yet to choose a new executive director since Hannah Rosenthal resigned in January.
“Pelosi’s gain is JCPA’s loss,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. “But it’s a positive sign; it shows that the Democrats are taking the Jewish community seriously.”
That’s especially significant, said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice-chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, given the fact that Jews already support the Democrats, voting for John Kerry by a 3-1 margin in the 2004 election.
“This is a wonderful recognition” of the community, Hoenlein said. “Neither party should take us for granted, and neither one should write us off.”
In fact, while the overall numbers remain solid, close readings of recent surveys show shifts away from the Democrats among some segments of the Jewish population, particularly among regular synagogue-goers and men under 35.
Democrats recognized the dangers after the 2002 midterm elections suggested a Jewish turn toward Republicans, and they launched an effort to make sure Kerry maintained traditional levels of support. The Massachusetts senator lost the election, but his 77 percent showing among Jews showed that the campaign in the community was a success.
Price’s hiring is the latest sign that Democrats are not going to rest on their Jewish laurels. Last week the party’s congressional campaign named Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), a skilled fund-raiser and a graduate of Jewish communal work, as the chairman of its Jewish outreach council. And in February, the Democratic National Committee elected Susan Turnbull, who is active in the community, as vice-chairwoman.
“We don’t cede an inch when it comes to the Jewish community and we take nothing for granted,” Israel said. “We’re going to be very aggressive in traveling to Jewish communities and spreading the message that a Democratic majority in the House is a much better deal for traditional Jewish views than the current Republican majority.”
In a statement to JTA, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), the House minority whip, said Price’s hiring was of a piece with the party’s intensive Jewish outreach.
“Jewish Americans and the Democratic Party have long shared common priorities, domestically and in maintaining a strong American-Israeli relationship, but it is still very important to demonstrate in multiple ways that we share the same values and appreciate their support,” Hoyer said.
Price’s experience at the JCPA dovetails with the Democrats’ agenda. Since creating the Washington office eight years ago, she has guided its emphasis on lobbying on poverty issues, which often has placed the umbrella organization of the nation’s Jewish community relations councils on the wrong side of the Bush administration.
A recent instance is the tension between the Jewish community and Republicans over proposed cuts to Medicaid, the federal program that subsidizes medical care for the poor.
On the other hand, JCPA operates as a consensus organization, and Price’s experience in navigating a diverse and often contentious community should stand her well in reaching out to segments of the community, such as the Orthodox, that have drifted away from the Democrats in recent years.
“Reva is the perfect choice for this role; she knows the entire spectrum of the community,” said Nathan Diament, the Orthodox Union’s Washington director. “She will be especially valuable in helping national Democrats find issue and message points that transcend the segments of the community. Reva is expert at finding the common ground among American Jewry’s many segments and organizations.”
But Price’s departure leaves the JCPA to fill two of its most important posts.
Martin Raffel, the interim executive director, said JCPA would not consider a replacement for Price until Rosenthal is replaced, which is likely to take several more months. Until then, he said, the JCPA’s Washington staff would be able to function on its own.
“Reva’s put together a very good team,” he said. “We’re going to make sure the JCPA’s effective in Washington and around the country.”
Other Jewish groups said they were confident that JCPA’s Washington office would weather the interim period.
“Martin is doing a very fine job, we see everything moving at JCPA,” said Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, a JCPA constituent and one of Price’s past employers. “I haven’t noticed any diminution of activity.
“They’re both difficult positions to hire,” he said of the two JCPA openings, “but turnover is never easy. It’s a fact of organizational life.”
Price, who also will handle women’s issues in the leadership office, remains with the JCPA until the end of May.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
