This Sunday, March 22nd, the Skirball Center for Adult Jewish Learning and The Jewish Week will co-sponsor a community forum entitled Torah for Troubled Times: Jewish Values and the Financial Crisis. The event will take place beginning at 3:00 pm at 10 East 66th Street in Manhattan.

An opening panel will address urgent issues of the financial crisis, from a Jewish values perspective. Panelists are Shifra Bonznick (Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community), Professor Michael Chernick (Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion), Alan “Ace” Greenberg (Former Chair, Bear Stearns) and Scott Shay (Chair, Signature Bank). The discussion will be moderated by The Jewish Week’s Sandee Brawarsky.

According to Skirball Center Director, Rabbi Leon A. Morris, “People are looking for a source of strength at a time of financial uncertainty and loss. They are looking for ways to restore trust in the wake of the Madoff betrayal. We are addressing this need with a program that mines Jewish texts and ideas for wisdom on how to overcome this crisis.”

Here’s the registration link.

On the other side of “the pond” is a UK Conference on Leading your charity through the recession.

A full-day conference at Central Hall Westminster on Thursday 7th May, addressed by 25 leading experts in charity finance, strategy, fundraising, law and governance. Designed primarily for members of the board – including trustees, chief executives and finance directors the conference will examine:

• How can we reduce costs without jeopardizing services?
• Are our investments secure, and are they really performing as well as they should?
• Could we raise more funds from more sources, including major donors?
• Should we form a strategic partnership or merge with another charity?
• How can we use all the talents of the board, and pull together in challenging times?

For more information, here’s the conference brochure, Leading Charities.