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. Conceived to create the Dow Jones of Jewish Peoplehood, the Index’s first goal is to provide a quantitative reference point documenting the state of intra-Jewish relations around the world. The PI will be based on a standardized survey conducted across multiple Jewish communities as well as a broader set of measures of inter-communal and intra-communal relationships.

During this past summer a pilot was launched in order to develop a representative sample of those willing to be long-term participants in a series of surveys. Following are some very preliminary findings from Israeli participants as to how close they feel to Jews worldwide:

Showing a strong general Jewish commitment,

• 83% support Jewish culture;
• 82% support help for Jews in need; and
• 81% support Jewish education.

Comparing these numbers to a broader society,

• 80% support culture;
• 85% support general education; and
• 68% support all people in need.

This initial survey indicated a strong commitment by Israeli Jews to Israeli Jews, with 92% indicating they feel close compared to 80% to other Jews around the world. Out of those Israelis not indicating a closeness to other Jews, a large percentage are Haredim.

We’ll have more about the Jewish Peoplehood Closeness Index down the road.