TL;DR: Jewish leaders today face a “high-wire” challenge, balancing between opposing pressures over the Middle East crisis. Global Jewry aims to be their safety harness, offering a confidential, trusted network for sharing strategies, building resilience, and fostering open, values-based dialogue across the Jewish spectrum. We’ll outline 10 steps to help leaders stay steady on the wire, from anchoring in core values to practicing charity in interpretation. Like Carl Walenda’s famous walk, the path is risky, but with support, leaders can cross it together.

Carl Walenda, the legendary high-wire artist, understood that the wire is never still. It sways, it shivers, and the wind conspires to knock you off balance. But he kept moving forward — because stopping meant failure, or worse.

Today, Jewish organizational leaders find themselves on their own high wire — not above a city street, but suspended between two fiercely opposed forces in the wake of the Middle East crisis. Criticize Israel’s actions in Gaza, and some of their most loyal supporters will brand them anti-Zionist or disloyal. Stay silent, and others will accuse them of “insensitivity,” “moral cowardice,” or “complicity.” Every word shakes the rope, and far too Jewish leaders report feeling abandoned by people they thought were their friends.

Like Walenda’s solitary walk, this balancing act plays out in full public view. Social media magnifies every misstep. Donors, members, and partners pull from both sides, each convinced theirs is the only moral position. Leaders can’t turn left or right without colliding with a wall of outrage.

As my friend Felicia Herman wrote recently in Sapir in her piece “We’re All Just Waiting to Get Fired,” many Jewish CEOs and senior leaders are leaving their posts, and highly qualified candidates are avoiding the sector entirely. Younger professionals are disillusioned, too. A recent Leading Edge snapshot found that the intention to leave is highest among employees who are youngest (under 30), newest (less than two years in their roles), and without supervisory responsibilities.

But the high wire, however treacherous, can — and must — be crossed. Losing talented leaders and failing to attract new ones are challenges we cannot afford, especially now.

This is where Global Jewry serves as a safety harness. We provide a trusted network for leaders walking the same tightrope — a place to share ideas, language, and strategies without fear. In a climate where isolation magnifies risk, we offer a space to test messages, learn from others’ experiences, and collaborate on responses that uphold both Jewish unity and open discourse. Through our channels, leaders engage directly with peers across the ideological spectrum, gaining a deeper understanding of the Jewish community’s full diversity of thought.

So, tachlis: where do we start? While there’s no single roadmap for every leader or organization, here are 10 deliberate steps Jewish leaders can take to steady themselves — and their organizations — on the wire:

1. Anchor in Core Values – Define and publicly reaffirm your guiding principles before responding to a crisis. 
2. Communicate the Process – Explain how decisions are made, who is consulted, and what factors are weighed. 
3. Build Relationships Early – Cultivate trust with diverse stakeholders before disagreements arise. 
4. Tailor Messaging – Use different channels for nuanced internal dialogue and broad public statements. 
5. Act Beyond Words – Back statements with programs, projects, and education grounded in shared values. 
6. Presume Good Faith – Assume the intent is constructive, even if the expression is imperfect. 
7. Seek Intended Meaning – Ask, “What’s the best, most coherent version of what they’re trying to say?” before critiquing. 
8. Contextual Awareness – Understand the historical, cultural, and rhetorical context before judging. 
9. Engage Before Dismissing – Articulate an opposing argument in a way its author would recognize as fair before rebutting. 
10. Charity in Interpretation – Apply the “principle of charity” — interpret statements in their strongest plausible form before evaluating them. 

Walenda famously said, “Life is on the wire; the rest is just waiting.” For Jewish leaders today, life is indeed on the wire — but with Global Jewry, they don’t walk it alone. Together, we can reach the other side with balance, courage, and the reassurance that someone else is holding the rope.

Shavua tov — and may this be the week the hostages come home.

Sandy Cardin

Founder, Global Jewry