By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
When the Olympia Food Co-op voted to boycott products made in Israel this past summer, Daniel Birk decided he wanted to make a statement. Rather than hold a protest or urge people to stop shopping at a store whose decision had upset him, the board treasurer and endowment manager of Congregation Bikur Cholim-Machzikay Hadath decided to focus his energies on doing the opposite of what the co-op had done: Help Israel.
“We were seeing what they were doing, and decided that we should take some action on this as well,” Birk said.
At the synagogue’s Oct. 5 board meeting, his plan was officially adopted: The BCMH endowment now has officially been directed to invest at least 25 percent of its funds in Israeli financial instruments.
At this point, the vote is more or less symbolic — around that much of the endowment had been invested in Israel Bonds already.
“It’s something that we were kind of already doing, but wanted to make it an official policy,” Birk said.
When it comes to the financial aspects of running a synagogue, having an endowment worth $1.6 million can be a blessing. BCMH’s endowment hasn’t been doing much in the way of growth — pledges to the endowment are few and far between and much of the interest earned goes toward the operating budget — but being able to boast $400,000 in investments in the Jewish State can be a big way of helping Israel without the burden of paying for out-of-pocket programming expenses, especially when synagogues these days run razor-thin expense lines in their budgets.
“Without having to put money out that you wouldn’t get back, this is a way to not put money out, and get money back,” Birk said.
But, he added, the synagogue also adopted its new investment policy because it wanted to make a statement.
“Part of the goal is to send a message out to other shuls and other communities, and show them that there are ways for synagogues to show support,” he said.
The road to the vote, Birk noted, was a smooth one without controversy or much need for discussion. The board and the endowment committee, he said, both understood the point of the motion and approved it.
While a smattering of synagogues around the country have some small investments in Israel bonds or stocks, BCMH’s investment is likely the largest in the country thus far.