The 2011 NADAV Jewish Peoplehood Award has been presented to Professor Yehezkel Dror and film director Joseph Cedar. Professor Dror and Cedar received the award from businessman and philanthropist Leonid Nevzlin, Founder of the NADAV Foundation, and Irina Nevzlin Kogan, President of the Foundation. The NADAV Jewish Peoplehood Award, in its third consecutive year, was established to promote and nurture global Jewish unity and belonging among Jews, a feeling that has been weakened in recent years. The award is given to individuals and organizations in the Jewish world as an appreciation for their contribution in strengthening global Jewish identity, and deepening the connection between Jews around the world. Last year the recipients of the NADAV award were Angelica Berrie, President of the … Continue Reading
Peoplehood vs. Zionism
by David Breakstone Type “peoplehood” into a Microsoft Word document and it’s going to appear as a mistake. That’s a bit worrisome, given the increasing emphasis being put on the concept within certain circles intent on looking after the Jewish future. My problem, though, is not that Word doesn’t recognize the notion, but that its proponents don’t recognize, a priori, the vital role Israel plays in assuring the continuity to which they are committed. Put more simply, I am worried that “peoplehood” is being advanced as an alternative to Zionism, undermining the very foundations on which Israel was built. Just when so many of us are battling for the hearts and minds of young Jews subjected to a hostile campaign to delegitimize the idea of Jewish statehood, “friends” are … Continue Reading
Adventures in Hebrew Land
Lots of happy children were seen around Beit Hatfutsot this past Friday morning for the opening of A-B-See-Do at the Family Gallery. This new exhibition's goal is to expose children and adults to the essence of the Hebrew language and also language in general. Through play, discovery and investigation, the exhibition broadens the visitor's understanding of the role of language in everyday events and culture, while promoting family fun and learning. According to a post in the museum entrance, "Communication is the foundation of every community. Through language people are able to understand and be understood by others in their community. Our appreciation of the Hebrew language and recognition of its importance in helping to create the culture in which we live is the basis for this unique … Continue Reading
Jewish Peoplehood as Practice
by Matthew Vogel Over the past few years, the organized Jewish community has participated in a tremendous amount of research, discussion and implementation surrounding the idea of Jewish Peoplehood as a conceptual framework for engaging with Jewish life and uniting the disparate Jewish communities around the world. Erica Brown and Misha Galperin formulated Jewish Peoplehood as having a "shared history and common destiny" while Yonatan Ariel offered another formulation of questioning more about "who am I, who are you and who are we?" to learn about the commonality of Jews across the world. Recently, 24 students and six professional staff members from Baruch College, the Inter-Disciplinary Center in Israel, and the Kiev Hillel met in Ukraine to explore Jewish Peoplehood in a program called Kol … Continue Reading
UJAFed-NY Comments on Peoplehood Hub Closing
Following our post yesterday on the closing of the Jewish Peoplehood Hub, we received this from UJA-Federation NY, one of the three partnership members: The challenge of creating a globally connected Jewish people remains a vital priority for UJA-Federation of New York through the work of the Commission on the Jewish People (COJP). COJP aims to create connections among Jews and experiences of Jewish peoplehood that lead to a sense of belonging to the Jewish people, and promote and develop management leadership, governance, planning, and infrastructure. The cooperative working relationship of the Nadav Foundation, the Jewish Agency and UJA-Federation that was reflected in the Jewish Peoplehood Hub was a valuable and productive effort. It moved the global discussion of this issue forward and … Continue Reading
The Jewish Peoplehood Hub has Closed
The Jerusalem based Jewish Peoplehood Hub (JPH), a partnership between the NADAV Fund, UJA-Federation of New York and the Jewish Agency for Israel, has closed. Launched at the 2009 Federation GA, the JPH was envisioned to "serve as a center for discourse, knowledge dissemination and program development on the subject of Jewish Peoplehood. It will operate as a global think tank and project lab for enhancing commitment to this issue among world Jewry. The JPH will focus on influencers - educators, younger lay and professional leaders and academics - in order to magnify its impact." The JPH operated from the Jewish Agency’s educational campus in Kiryat Moriah, Jerusalem. Headed by Yonatan Ariel and Dr. Shlomi Ravid, it had an initial annual budget of $600,000. … Continue Reading
The Future Agenda of the Jewish People
Jewish Peoplehood. A term we've often heard over the past ten years. But what is Peoplehood; how is it defined; what is the significance; and what is the added value. Or, is Peoplehood nothing more than a "buzzword" - created by high-priced marketing consultants. To begin looking at some of these questions The Peoplehood Papers, first published in 2007, has become a regular publication aimed at providing a space for sharing ideas about Peoplehood, the Jewish future and related matters. The current issue, Peoplehood - Between "Charity Begins at Home" and "Repair the World", explores the tension between the Talmudic imperative of "Aniyei Ircha Kodmim" (your town's poor come first) and the call to do "Tikkun Olam Bemalchut Shadai" (repair the world under God's sovereignty). Shlomi Ravid … Continue Reading
Light and Shadows: The Story of Iran and the Jews
An unprecedented exhibition devoted to the history, culture and contemporary life of Iranian Jewry will open at Beit Hatfutsot on December 30, 2010. This exhibition is the first to present a comprehensive, in-depth portrait of Iranian Jewry and introduce visitors to the fascinating world of an ancient community and its cultural, social, economic and political life. The intriguing story unfolds over more than 2,700 years, beginning with the first Jews exiled from Jerusalem by the Babylonians and continuing to today, with most members of the community scattered throughout the world. The exhibition is sponsored by the Los Angeles-based Y&S Nazarian Family Foundation. It is also generously supported by The David Berg Foundation, The Diamond Charity Foundation, The Global Mashadi Jewish … Continue Reading
Jewish Peoplehood Leadership Conference Launches
With a vision to contribute to the cohesiveness of the Jewish people, the International School of Jewish Peoplehood Studies (within Beit Hatfutsot) in collaboration with Israel's Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, the NADAV Foundation and KolDor hosted the first, of what is planned to be annual, Jewish Peoplehood Leadership and Entrepreneurship Conference. At yesterday's all-day event, several hundred participants gathered at Beit Hatfutsot to connect and re-connect. While the attendees crossed generations, many of them were "the usual suspects". That said, there was a fair mix of new, younger, faces coming from countries including France, Germany, Sweeden and Venezuela. During the opening plenary, new findings by the Jewish Peoplehood Closeness Index (PI) were presented. … Continue Reading
Criticism of Israel by Young American Jews is a Good Sign
Speaking at the Jewish Funders Network Conference today in Phoenix, Arizona, Irina Nevzlin, president of the Nadav Foundation said, "The new generation of Jewish leaders is very creative and trying to incorporate their philosophy and ideology while looking for their own meaning of Jewishness and Jewish Peoplehood. The fact that young American Jews display 'a whole range of liberal feelings’ means that Israel is very close and personal to them, and for me it's a positive sign". Her remarks were conveyed during a panel discussion entitled ‘Continuity and Discontinuity’. The plenary session was based on the results of an extensive survey of 6,773 young Jewish leaders in their 20s and 30s conducted by JTS professor Dr. Jack Wertheimer. The survey researched the respondents’ attitudes towards … Continue Reading
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