More than 120 major Jewish leaders, decision makers and academics from around the Jewish world, will attend ‘The Conference on the Future of the Jewish People’, taking place October 30-31 in Jerusalem. The goal of the conference is to hold in-depth discussions on the strategic issues affecting the future of the Jewish People and the State of Israel.

JPPI President Avinoam Bar-Yosef, stressed that the conference will, for the first time, raise the issue of managing the budgets and resources within the Jewish world in light of the ongoing global economic crisis and the changing trends in Jewish philanthropy.

“For the first time, we can see that the Israeli government is taking Diaspora Jewry seriously, viewing it as a strategic asset to Israel, and that it is willing to invest in its future to maintain its power and influence,” explained Bar-Yosef. “We will hold a special session at the conference with senior government officials and leaders of Jewish organizations to identify joint projects that can strengthen future generations. Separately, conference participants will look at the entirety of the resources available within the Jewish world and will consider more efficient ways to utilize them to meet future strategic needs of the Jewish people.”

Some of the questions that will be addressed are,

• Are we satisfied with the present level of funding of Jewish people activities and the uses to which these funds are put or do we see evidence of “market failures”?
• If we are dissatisfied, how do we create a vision for where we wish to be in 10 or 20 years’ time?
• If we can conceive such a vision, how do we determine priorities and pathways that, in turn, will shape the actions and programs for achieving it – and how can we measure our progress along the way?
• In a Jewish world lacking central or centralizing institutions, what benefits can be achieved and what dangers might arise through collaboration and coordination, what forms could such collaboration take, and how could collaboration take place?
• What is the relationship between Israel as a nation-state (and increasingly prosperous economic engine) and Jewish people priorities, needs and resources?

The Conference, with participants drawn from among the Jewish world’s senior leadership, will also address the challenge of leadership changes within Jewish organizations and communities and of advancing new, young leadership.