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CLAL Convenes Young "Silicon Alley" Entrepreneurs for Dialogue on Ethical, Communal and Spiritual Reinvention

By Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs

In a time of unprecedented technological change, the boundaries and definitions of community, family, citizenship, relationships and religion are being redrawn every day. Those who know this best are the ones generating the changes -- the people who devote their time, skill and energy to reinventing and challenging existing modes.

On November 30, 2000, CLAL brought together a group of young Internet professionals for the first in a series of informal conversations on spiritual reflection in an age of redefinition. Led by CLAL Senior Fellow Rabbi Jennifer E. Krause, the gathering look ed at how technology has affected "inner" and "outer" beliefs and practices, what forms a community, personal identity, and religious and spiritual issues in a new age. Through creative, animated conversations, stimulated by Jewish texts, participants began to imagine new roadmaps for building the future.

"When you bring together imaginative, talented people who share an entrepreneurial spirit, the conversations takes their own direction," said Rabbi Krause, who leads a similar program in San Francisco. "Questions arise that generate new ideas and perspectives. By creating the space, time and opportunity for innovative thinking, often something magical and unexpected emerges."

In the first session, participants decided on the goals for the series. Topics were generated for future conversations, using tools and resources from an inherited Jewish wisdom.

The "Silicon Alley" program represents a good example of CLAL's commitment to building dynamic Jewish leadership for the 21st century. Through a series of salon-style programs of study and dialogue, new conversations emanate that encourage fresh forms of Jewish thought and practice; generate new possibilities for Jewish communal involvement; and translate participants' public and private lives into action.