Remember UJA, more formally known as the United Jewish Appeal?

It had, and probably still does have, the most widely known brand name in Jewish communal life.

But when the national organization, founded in 1938, merged with the Council of Jewish Federations a decade ago, they morphed into a new entity and name: UJC, United Jewish Communities, for the umbrella group of North American Federations.

At the time, I was among the many who thought it was unwise to jettison the “UJA” acronym, since it was not only well known but was thought of positively.

Well, the experts thought otherwise and UJC was the chosen name. But after ten years of struggle, disappointment and downsizing, the organization has decided to change its name again, no doubt at considerable expense based on outside consultants, strategic studies, focus groups and the like.

The group’s leadership voted yesterday to go with Jewish Federations of North America. Doesn’t roll smoothly off the tongue or make for a catchy acronym, but it is to the point.

So let’s hope this one sticks, and that JFNA (get used to it) has more success than its predecessor.

If only changing the name could make it so.

The chances of a U.S. or Israeli military attack on Iran in the coming months may have dramatically increased, if a report in The Sunday Times of London last weekend is true.

The Times said that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s secret trip to Moscow of Sept. 7 was to meet with President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin and hand over a list of names of Russian scientists helping Iran build nuclear arms.

The brief meeting, during which Netanyahu was accompanied by his national security adviser Uzi Arad, was tense, according to the report, and was kept secret “not to embarrass Moscow,” but “rather to spur it into action,” in the words of a source.

The timing is significant in light of the Oct. 1 meeting in Geneva between U.S. and Iranian officials for the first time in three decades, and a report in The New York Times this past weekend asserting that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has concluded that Iran is further along in its nuclear program than had been believed.

Connecting the dots, one might conclude that the U.S. and Israel hold Russia responsible for the involvement of Russian scientists — whether they were sent by Moscow or went on their own — in Iran’s nuclear work and that there is a new sense of urgency to resolving this matter, with the nuclear program well advanced.

How audacious of Russia to appear to be weighing whether or not to agree to Washington’s urgings for harsh sanctions against Iran while allowing its experts to be helping the nuclear weapons program.

Now that Russian participation has been revealed, the U.S. and Israel may be able to bring greater pressure on the Kremlin to in turn pressure Iran to pull back from the brink.

If that does not happen, the statement made by Ephraim Sneh, a former deputy defense minister in Israel, that “if no crippling sanctions are introduced by Christmas, Israel will strike,” appears to be more than just bravado. “If we are left alone, we will act alone,” he said.