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Jewish Public Forum: Imagining the Jewish Future

By Andrew Silow-Carroll, Communications Director

Intellectual creativity, deep engagement and true relationship were the hallmarks of a two-day seminar that culminated the first year of the Jewish Public Forum at CLAL. Nineteen participants representing fields as diverse as journalism, cosmology, Jewish history, nonprofit management, international affairs and sociology joined CLAL for a far-ranging conversation on the future of Jewish community, civic engagement and spiritual renewal. The seminar, titled "Leadership and Civic Engagement in a Time of Great Change," was held June 14-15 in New York City.

The Jewish Public Forum at CLAL was made possible through the generosity of the Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Foundation. It was established to generate new ideas about the Jewish and American future by including the voices of leading figures in academia, business, politics, media and non-profit work, most of whom have not been involved in organized Jewish life. In its first year, the Jewish Public Forum conducted a series of seminars and consultations on the topic of leadership. These meetings confirmed the central premise of the Jewish Public Forum: At a time of complex and unprecedented challenges to building communities and bringing about change, it is necessary for Jewish leaders to include new voices, and to build trust and relationships among individuals with increasingly diverse types of expertise.

Participants at the June seminar were asked to envision the possibilities for new Jewish organizations and approaches and a role for CLAL and the Jewish Public Forum in facilitating the changes that are inevitable in the next few years. Conversations took place in large groups, in smaller breakout sessions, over meals and even during casual strolls in Central Park. Participants were impressed by the cross-fertilization of ideas that CLAL had brought about. "I benefited immensely," said Dr. Shepherd Forman, the Director of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University. "I came in as a substantial skeptic, but I was turned around to what this kind of conversation can accomplish."

In a report to the Katz foundation, CLAL Senior Fellow Dr. Shari Cohen, who directs the Jewish Public Forum at CLAL as it enters its second year, detailed the accomplishments of the project and its plans for the future: "First, we built a network of incredibly smart, talented and successful people who are excited about using their expertise to better Jewish life and possibly finding a place for themselves in that life. Second, we learned how to structure conversations that yielded important new ideas and genuine conversation. Over the next year, the Jewish Public Forum will work to deepen relationships with network members, focus greater time and energy on research and publications, and continue the ongoing seminar process."