In for the Long Haul

Am Echad, then as now, is intended to present to Israeli leaders the unified voice of the American Orthodox community, as well as to provide them with a broader context of American Jewish life than is being supplied by Reform and Conservative activists.

Dr. Irving Lebovics, together with Mr. Shlomo Werdiger, chairman of the board of Agudath Israel of America, is the principal initiator of the revived Am Echad, which includes activists from a wide array of Orthodox organizations: Agudath Israel; Orthodox Union, Young Israel; Chabad; and the Coalition for Jewish Values. Dr. Lebovics was one of the founders of the California branch of Agudath Israel, and has been its driving force for years. He is a dental surgeon affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and a longtime member of the hospital’s ethics committee. He has testified frequently in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., on a large array of issues connected to medical ethics and resources for special needs children, among others.

The original Am Echad office in Israel came into existence in 1999, following a presentation I gave at the 1998 convention of Agudath Israel of America. There I pointed out that most of the negative stories about Torah Jews in the world were being generated from Israel, and argued that with a relatively small investment of resources, it would be possible to change the tenor of press coverage of Torah Jewry. In a private meeting with the Novominsker Rebbe ztz”l, who was then Rosh Agudath Israel, he gave his strong blessing to the initiative. The media focus of the original Am Echad office was reflected in the name of its website: Jewish Media Resources. That office ceased operations in 2007.

Dr. Lebovics and I have been friends for nearly 30 years, and I have stayed in his home in Los Angeles several times. We spoke at length about the new iteration of Am Echad.