Judaism2030, the Jewish Outreach Institute’s North American Conference, opens today in New York City. On the agenda, questions such as
What do we want the North American Jewish Community to look like in the year 2030?
How can we ensure that the timeless messages embedded in the Jewish tradition continue to resonate for future generations?
For two days, the Jewish Outreach Institute (JOI) will bring together forward-thinking visionaries with on-the-ground practitioners from organizations across denominational and institutional lines to grapple with these questions, explore the future landscape of the Jewish community and determine the practical steps we can take to ensure that we remain a vibrant and positive force in the world.
The conference is scheduled in a format that will move from theoretical “vision sessions” to practical applications to the development of both communal and individual plans for implementation. Four broad themes – Spirituality, Belonging, Globalism and Peoplehood – will be investigated, providing conference attendees an opportunity to tackle some of the most substantial issues facing the Jewish community today.
Presenters include:
- Dr. Marvin Cetron, one of the preeminent forecaster-futurists in the world, will lead the keynote session on what the future might look like and where we might fit it;
- Ruth Messinger, CEO of the American Jewish World Service, will speak about the responsibility Jews have to the world;
- Dr. Jonathan Woocher, Chief Ideas Officer of JESNA and Director of the Lippman Kanfer Institute, will share his impressions of how we can use an understanding of “peoplehood” to create the future we want for the Jewish community;
- Roger Bennett from the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies; Andy Bachman from Brooklyn Jews; Shawn Landres from Jumpstart; Esther Safran Foer from Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Idit Klein from Keshet, and more.
Because Judaism2030 is currently filled to capacity, JOI will be live-streaming several sessions (which you can access here) including the keynote address and the four “vision” sessions corresponding to each conference theme.
In addition, JOI, in partnership with eJewish Philanthropy, will be making available remarks from a number of speakers on this website. The first, As the Generational Winds Blow by Dr. David Elcott and Stuart Himmelfarb, can be found here.
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As a Jew living in a far away country, I have always wondered what consideration has been given to the Jewish Communities in far flung lands.
New Zealand with a population of about 7,000 admitted Jews live from hand to mouth culturally and religiously. There are but two Hebrew Day Schools in the country. Two Orthodox Congregations that at least have minyanim on Shabbat. A Chabad congregation that on rare occasion has a minyan. Two Liberal Congregations that do function.
When New Zealand Jewry was fighting to save shechita, (Kosher Slaughter)hardly any organization lifted a finger to help either morally or financially. Our legal efforts in this battle still goes on as do the mounting costs. Yet, no one seems willing to lend a hand, or even think about communities other than in Israel, the US, Canada, and the UK for the most part.
We need consideration as well.