The NextGen
A name coined by the UJC. Yet, as was mentioned to rounding applause at one of the sessions, perhaps a poor choice. For using the word ‘next’ we are not concentrating on who they are but rather on who they will become. If this GA showed us anything at all, it is they already are.
It did not matter where you turned during these few days. From the Academy Award winning film, West Bank Story to Ethos Water; from talented and accomplished Israelis like Miri Ben Ari to Pnina Gaday, this demographic is already leaving their mark. BTW, while Miri turned in a stellar performance Monday night at the GrandOleOpry, virtually nothing was said about the Gedenk Movement she founded. As a youth education organization focusing on anti-Semitism, the holocaust and the resulting consequences, this internationally famous musician is leaving her mark in a multitude of places.
Through all these sessions, these young community activists continually stressed the need to work together and the importance of developing an intergenerational dialogue for collaboration and partnership. Jessica Warren summed it up by saying, “they are not looking for institutional affiliation (as previous generations) but they do want to be part of a community.”
More on the NextGen and what they had to say in Nashville Monday and Tuesday.
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What’s more interestng is how aftr years of neglecting these people and their initiatives, UJC and the Federations are trying to co-opt, imitate and claim them. Nobody could call Dan Sieradski part of the system, but UJC goes out of its way to show how on the ball it is by showcasing them and them trumpeting its doing so.
Ho-hum. It should be de-rigeur and THATS the point. Supporting and funding these initiatives that already define our generation and its relationship to Judaism should be a normal part of Jewish life, not just something to showcase as “look how hip we are by inviting these people to speak at our convention…”
My two cents.
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