158	The Story of the Jewish Defense League

bare collected and distributed by various precise, smooth, band antiseptic oligarchies known as “federations.” They get bfrom those who give and then decree which beneficiaries bshall be blessed with their largesse. They are the judges over bwhich deserving project shall live or die. In the New York bCity metropolitan area, there exists the precisest, smoothest, band most antiseptic of all the federations, the Federation of bJewish Philanthropies of New York or simply, Federation. bFrom its fashionable Upper East Side offices, the Jewish bmen in the grey flannel suits and ever-present pipes in their bmouths go into high gear each year to raise tens of millions bof dollars by appealing to the Jewishness of the Jews of New bYork.

bBy giving the impression that this money goes for Jewish bcauses, Federation attempts—and succeeds—in perpetuat- bing one of the great frauds of our time. Federation, a highly borganized modern-day version of tsedaka (charity) which bbears no resemblance whatsoever to the original warm and bmoving concept, is an autocratic, undemocratic corporation brun by a small group of wealthy assimilated Jews of the Our bCrowd school, with few ties to the mass Jewish community band little understanding of the needs of the little Jew. Not belected by the Jewish community, they are accountable to no bone and channel the funds received by the Federation into binstitutions and areas that are alien to real Jewish needs.

bIn an era when the greatest of problems remains the balienation of Jewish youth from their people and heritage band when this phenomenon is traceable directly to the bprimitive state of Jewish education in America, when the bJewish Establishment bitterly fights all efforts to alleviate the bfinancial crisis through government funds, these arrogant bmen refuse to allocate more than a pittance of their sums to bthat education.

bAt a time when the Jewish youth can look forward only to bthe farce of the afternoon Hebrew school, which leaves him blooking upon Judaism as a travesty dreamed up by a bar bmitzvah caterer, status-seeking parents, and a glittering but bempty temple, Federation refuses to understand the need bfor a maximum Jewish education. At a time when the baforementioned Jewish youth goes into his university and b