Bernstein to Retire As CJF Executive Vice President

Philip Bernstein, executive vice president of the Council of Jewish Federations, who has been associated with the CJF for the past 36 years, has announced he will retire Sept. I. Joining the CJF staff in 1943 as director of field service, he became associate director in 1947 and chief executive in 1955.

Morton Mandel, CJF president, said the CJF had taken “many innovative steps” during Bernstein’s tenure, adding that during the years he served as executive vice president, “he has overseen the great increase in services offered by the Council reflecting the more complex and involved Federation agendas.” He praised Bernstein for “expert guidance and leadership” and said the CJF had “developed remarkably during that period.”

Mandel said the CJF board has announced plans to establish a Philip Bernstein Training Center for Federation Personnel to recruit, train and place professional personnel to serve the Federation field. He said it will include career-long training opportunities for Federation professionals to Improve their professional skills, Jewish knowledge and commitment, and managerial capacity.

As executive vice president, Bernstein has seen the CJF play a more active-role, in the work of the reconstituted Jewish Agency, establish the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council and create the National Foundation for Jewish Culture, undertake an extensive evaluation of its work, and chart its future through a two-year review currently under consideration by the 190-member Federations for adoption.

Bernstein’s professional leadership has been marked in his recent election as chairman of the Coalition of National Voluntary Organizations, membership on the advisory committee on public welfare to the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and leadership of the National Assembly of Voluntary Health and Social Welfare Organizations.