A Close- Up Look At People Who Matter : Government Cuts Worry Jewish Leader

The talk about government cutbacks in social services scares a lot of people, including Jonathan Cookler.

“It should scare everyone that has a conscience,� said Cookler, 50, of Tarzana, who became head of the San Fernando Valley Alliance of the Jewish Federation Council last month.

“Forty million dollars was raised last year for our services,� Cookler said. “But we got another $51 million from the government. What’s going to happen when those services are cut away?�

The Valley Alliance includes 49 temples and synagogues, as well as 15 community service programs such as Jewish Family Services, which runs the Valley Storefront Multipurpose Center for Seniors in North Hollywood.

The alliance also funds programs that include meals for seniors, help with landlord disputes through Bet Tzedek Legal Services, children’s activities and fighting domestic violence. The services are not limited to Jews.

“I think the federation has a bad rep for seeming to be only a fund-raising agency,� Cookler said.

While 60% of the federation’s funds do go to Israel to help in the resettlement of refugees, the rest is spent locally, he said. “My goal is to increase the visibility of the alliance to our constituents.�

Last year, the Valley Alliance was given a semi-autonomous status within the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. The change was made to recognize the sizable Jewish population in the Valley and surrounding communities. With the reopening in October of the Bernard Milken Jewish Community Campus in West Hills, which was destroyed in the Northridge earthquake, Cookler has become president at a time of rebirth for the alliance.

Of the 600,000 Jews in the Los Angeles area, 225,000 live in the San Fernando Valley, Cookler said, making the area the fifth largest Jewish community in North America.

“The community in the Valley has grown up, and it hasn’t yet been given the recognition it deserves,� Cookler said, adding that the East Valley has a well-established Orthodox community similar to that of the Fairfax District in Los Angeles. “Our community is a very young, vibrant community.�

Cookler has volunteered with the Jewish Federation since he graduated from UCLA Law School in 1970. He also volunteers for the Anti-Defamation League, the ADL.

“The ADL and the federation work very closely with each other,� said his wife, Faith, whom he met at an ADL meeting 19 years ago. She is now president of the Pacific ADL’s Southwest Regional Board.

Their meeting is one they call b’sherit, a Hebrew word meaning fated, or destined, because their views in working for a better world are similar. “It’s created this synergy,� she said, the cooperative action of different people.

The cost for the volunteer work is in their time. “My golf handicap is the highest it’s been in 20 years,� Jonathan Cookler quipped.

But it is all worth it, Faith Cookler said, when they see their children, Beth, 13, and Wes, 12, also taking an interest in charitable works.

“We are all equally dependent on each other,� she said. “We do this because it is part of what a human being does.�

Personal Best is a weekly profile of an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. Please address prospective candidates to Personal Best, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth, 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338.