Important Advice and Counsel From Those Who Know

The leadership of Federation's new Senior Council celebrate the group's successful launch.  They include (from left) Federation board chair Leonard Barrack; President and CEO Ira M. Schwartz; and Senior Council co-chairs Marvin N. Demchick and D. Walter Cohen.

Dr. D. Walter Cohen gives new meaning to the term "active retiree." After 58 years of practice as a periodontist, he still sees patients one day a week. In his free time, he volunteers with the Drexel University College of Medicine, which he serves as chancellor emeritus, and with the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine, where he received his training and later served as dean. The Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University became part of Drexel in 1998; Cohen committed himself to ensuring a smooth transition.

He still travels to Israel twice a year for meetings of the Hadassah Medical Organization, where he's a director. Hebrew University Hadassah School of Dental Medicine is the repository for the D. Walter Cohen Middle East Center for Dental Education, which was launched in 1997. The facility develops local programs in oral health for the benefit of the Israeli people, and fosters joint research and mutual cooperation between Israeli scientists and dental professionals, and their counterparts in Middle Eastern nations.

Yet despite these commitments, when Federation board chair Leonard Barrack approached him last year and asked him to co-chair a new initiative -- the Senior Council -- with fellow veteran Jewish communal leader Marvin Demchick, he readily agreed. His decision had little to do with the fact that "Len's wife, Lynne, is my niece," Cohen insists, adding, "I was excited to help harness all the brain-power, experience and resources of men and women like me who have been actively involved in the Jewish community."

Cohen served as president of the Jewish Publication Society from 1993-1996, and then moved directly into the presidency of the National Museum of Jewish History, where he served a 10-year term. He vividly recalls attending a meeting convened by Federation leadership during the late '90s, calling upon Jewish organizational leaders to pool their endowments to enhance Federation's ability to meet current and future needs.

"I took out a $1 million insurance policy and made Federation the beneficiary," he said, adding that "the policy is now worth $4.5 million."

He believes strongly in the importance of building up Federation's endowment to ensure that future generations of Jews can depend upon the local and global services delivered by Federation and its partners. "We must endow our future, not endure it," Cohen emphasizes.

The octogenarian is delighted by the opportunity to renew his relationship with Federation President and CEO Ira M. Schwartz, who was dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania during the same time that Cohen was dean at Penn.

"Ira and Len represent an exciting new era in Federation leadership," Cohen says, adding that "Marvin (Demchick) and I hope to communicate to our Senior Council colleagues that this is an initiative to which we should all lend both our moral and financial support."

Demchick credits the current Federation leadership team of Barrack, Schwartz and Campaign Chair I Michael Coslov with having the vision and foresight to retain long-standing community leaders and engage them in "the new Federation."

Senior Council members get down to business at a recent breakfast meeting.

The 84-year-old is the recipient of the 1985 Community Award, presented by the then Federation of Jewish Agencies of Greater Philadelphia for his life-long involvement in numerous Jewish organizations. It's a well-deserved honor for a person who has served as vice president and trustee of Federation, as general chairman of its annual campaign and as a vice chairman of the United Jewish Appeal- the forerunner of United Jewish Communities, an umbrella organization representing 155 Jewish Federations and 400 independent Jewish communities across North America. Additionally, Demchick was the president of Region One, covering Jewish populations from the Canadian border to North Carolina and East coast to the Mississippi.

His Jewish communal portfolio dates back to the mid-1960s, and includes service as an officer and board member of such diverse organizations as Ben-Gurion University, State of Israel Bonds, the Jewish National Fund, Albert Einstein Medical Center, the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Philadelphia and, currently, as vice chairman, board of trustees of Congregation Adath Jeshurun -- just to name a few.

The words of Rabbi Hillel, "If I am not for myself, than who am I ... " have profoundly influenced his belief that Jews must take care of their fellow Jews. "The reason that our Jewish culture has survived despite many attempts throughout history to destroy us, is that we have always helped and supported one another," he asserts. He is concerned by statistics that indicate that Jews are giving only 20 percent of their philanthropic dollars to Jewish organizations, and 80 percent to non-Jewish hospitals, arts and cultural organizations at a time when Jewish poverty, hunger and homelessness are critical concerns.

"If we don't take care of our Jewish elderly and our Jewish children, then we will be responsible for the destruction of our Jewish culture," insists Demchick.

Demchick feels that the current slate of Senior Council members -- Paul C. Astor, Bernard Borine, John K. Binswanger, Robert B. Golder, Arnold S. Hoffman, Bruce Holberg, Charles Kahn, Jr., Martin Kreithen, Marvin Levin, Adele S. Lipton, Irwin S. Lipton, Sidney Margulies, Bobbie Morgenstern, Robert Reichlin, Raymond L. Shapiro, Philip M. Shiekman, Joseph Smukler, Ralph S. Snyder, Leonard Wasserman, Rabbi Gerald I. Wolpe and Norman P. Zarwin -- will be a wonderful resource for current and emerging Federation leaders.

To Demchick, the new council represents the power of Jewish continuity: "We must set the example for present and future generations of future leaders ... sounding the modern Israeli battle cry, Kadima, the Hebrew word for 'forward,' as we advance our community's mission and vision.

Cohen and Demchick emphasize that the group is still in formation and would welcome the involvement of other veteran Jewish communal leaders.

To learn more about Senior Council, call Alex Stroker at 215-832-0557, or e-mail: astroker@jewishphilly.org.