The recently opened Tisch Center for Jewish Dialogue at the ANU Museum in Tel Aviv brought together a cohort of Israeli and Diaspora millennial Jews last week, encouraging them to debate not only the burning issues of the day but broader, philosophical questions about the nature of Israel’s relationship with Jewish communities around the world, particularly the United States, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.

Future Jewish leaders: The Israeli participants mostly serve as advisors to politicians or in mid-level positions within government ministries, while the North American participants hold positions within Jewish organizations – Jewish federations, the Anti-Defamation League, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Israel Policy Forum and others. Organizers said the goal of the meet-up was two-fold: to get the participants, particularly the Israelis, to think seriously about the relationship between Israel and the Diaspora and to create a connection between the participants who are all on track to hold influential roles in Israeli and American Jewish life in the years to come.

The nature of the relationship: The discussions during the conference were held in accordance with Chatham House Rule, meaning the specifics of the conversations cannot be shared, but they broadly dealt with both specific issues of the day, notably the ongoing debate over the government’s proposed judicial overhaul, and larger questions about the responsibility that Israeli and North American communities have to one another. Throughout the conversations, it was evident that these latter dilemmas were more deeply understood and thought through by the American participants than the Israelis, though this is at least partially due to the nature of their positions in American Jewish organizations, many of which dealt specifically with the Israeli-American Jewry relationship. Many of the Israelis, meanwhile, held posts that were more domestically focused.

How we talk: Tisch Center Director Tracy Frydberg said that going forward she hopes that the participants continue to remain in contact with one another and deepen their ties. More broadly, she said she hopes to develop a better way for Diaspora Jews to communicate with the Israeli government in a productive way. “I think that you have to build that basis in order to really have a conversation, not just on whether I’m for or against the judicial reform, but what is the framework that allows us to communicate,” she said.

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“In recent years, it seems as if an endless stream of natural and human-made disasters dominates news cycles. Pernicious hate crimes, mass shootings, the pandemic and war in Ukraine – not to mention devastating floods, earthquakes and wildfires – are all humanitarian disasters that ravage communities,” writes Charlotte Friedman, a program officer in the Center for Designed Philanthropy of the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

The urge to help: “In the aftermath of these tragedies, human nature and compassion kick in. We feel the urge to take immediate action and help. We want to offer support to communities in need. But, all too often, we don’t know where to start.”

Donors have many questions: “Many of us ask questions such as: How can I ensure my dollars are used appropriately? When is the best time to give after a disaster? How can I identify reputable organizations responding to a disaster? How can I mobilize my community to help?”

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“In recent decades, our Jewish communities have been quite effective at giving kids a meaningful relationship with the ‘positive’ elements of Judaism, such as enjoying Shabbat dinner, lighting Hanukkah candles and having a meaningful family Passover seder. While I wholeheartedly support all of this, I believe we are often missing teaching a key developmental value of the Jewish tradition: boundaries,” writes Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, president and dean of Valley Beit Midrash in Scottsdale, Ariz., in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

Excesses: “It is no secret that adults in America have long struggled with boundaries: regarding touch and sexuality, eating and drinking, online oversharing and taking work with them everywhere they go. And, as our kids get older, they too will slowly get introduced to these excesses.”

Practicing restraint: “For example, we learn from the Torah not to gossip, not to mistreat our parents, not to cheat in business matters and not to oppress workers. More broadly, though, by learning practices of restraint — such as not eating certain foods or accepting a mandate of rest on Shabbat — we are training ourselves to be less tempted by our baser desires to do whatever we please, and we’re making room for what is truly good in our lives.”

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