Recently, Sandy Cardin and Lisa Eisen of the Schusterman Foundation sat with the fellows and members of the PresenTense Institute here in Jerusalem. The discussion focused on the future of our global Jewish community and philanthropy.
Sandy began by speaking about what he sees as the two great divides and one challenge we face:
The divides:
- the one, between the Orthodox and secular Jewish communities and how the twain just do not meet
- the other, between Israel and the Diaspora; what is the existing relationship between the two and how can understandings be created so conversations are possible.
The challenge:
- how to keep Judaism and Jewish life relevant, meaningful and vibrant 10, 20, even 100 years down the road.
Relative to this, the Shusterman Foundation often addresses the question of what can be done to stem the tide of assimilation. How can they make grants and take other actions to link the younger generation to the older generation. And lastly, how to integrate emerging leaders into existing organizations and frameworks.
Here what these two insightful professionals have to say on this and much more. The conversation was excellent; but fair warning, grab some coffee or tea, settle into a comfortable chair and relax. The video is 90 minutes – and worth every one!
[googlevideo]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7733275056533702530&q=presentense&ei=LYeQSMHwJITw2QKdtoyoBQ[/googlevideo]
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The divide between Orthodox and secular Jewish communities is a big issue and is causing victories for missionaries such as Jews for Jesus over Jews who do not feel the same amount of warmth from the community. Here is an article written by a Jewish Rabbi acknowledging this issue. http://shalomrav.blogware.com/ . Might be interesting.