BJPA & Jewish Community Events

Coming Up

• Jewish Futures Conference

  June 4, 2012 , 3:30 PM , Columbia University, New York City
  The Jewish Education Project and JESNA's Lippman Kanfer Institute

  Third Jewish Futures Conference: Community and the Cloud Monday, June 4th 2012, 3:30-7:00 pm
  Columbia University, New York City How will the evolving nature of belonging, membership, and affiliation influence Jewish communities of the future? How will Jewish life and learning be impacted as we move into an increasingly networked world?   The Jewish Futures Conference brings together visionary thinkers, passionate individuals, and inspiring presentations in a conference designed to shift the horizon of our thinking in Jewish education. New ways of connecting are simultaneously posing challenges to traditional institutions and offering new opportunities for forging community and undertaking Jewish learning both locally and globally. The Jewish Futures Conference provides a space to imagine, learn and engage in purposeful and courageous conversation about the future of Jewish community and education and how it can thrive in today's and tomorrow's world. More information: http://jewishfutures.net/

• New CAJE 3 Conference

  August 5, 2012 , Montclair State University
  

   NewCAJE3 will take place August 5-8, 2012 at the beautiful Montclair State University Campus, located in New Jersey, and just two stops on the Commuter rail from Manhattan. If you are a first time attendee and want to know what a NewCAJE conference is like, take a look at last year's program book and pictures. You can find the link to the NewCAJE2 conference on the bottom right of the page at www.newcaje.org. Register by May 18th to take advantage of Early Bird Discount Pricing. NewCAJE is pleased to offer a variety of conference attendee packages, for both those who are traveling in for the conference and for those who choose to commute. For more information, visit www.newcaje.org.

Past Events

• Now What? The Future of New Jewish Culture

  May 15, 2012 , 7:00 PM , The Theater at the 14th Street Y, 344 East 14th Street (between 1st and 2nd Avenues), NYC, 10003
  

  "Now What? The Future of New Jewish Culture" takes a critical look at the New Jewish Culture movement of the last ten years and its precarious position today. This town hall-style event takes place May 15 at 7pm and is hosted by the 14th Street Y. "Now What?" is the first event presented by Speakers' Lab, a new public programming initiative of the Posen Foundation U.S., and is presented in collaboration with The Jewish Daily Forward.

  After a decade of flourishing Jewish creativity, major Jewish cultural enterprises are being forced to scale back operations or close entirely. Using recent funding cuts as a springboard to examine the most pressing issues facing new Jewish arts and culture, "Now What?" addresses:

  --- New perspectives on American Jewish identity --- Waning support for quality Jewish art and culture --- Strategies for cultivating Jewish art and culture in the future

  Among the panelists are Jewish artists, funders, presenters and critics, including: Alana Newhouse, Editor-in-Chief of Tablet Magazine; Jody Rosen, music critic for Slate Magazine; Elise Bernhardt, President and CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Culture; Ari Roth, Artistic Director of Theater J; Peter L. Stein, former Executive Director and current advisor and consultant to the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival; Stephen Hazan Arnoff, Executive Director of the 14th Street Y and LABA: The National Laboratory for New Jewish Culture; Daniel Sieradski, organizer of Occupy Judaism; David Jordan Harris, Executive Director of Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council; and Rokhl Kafrissen, Yiddish arts critic. The discussion is moderated by Dan Friedman, Arts and Culture Editor at The Jewish Daily Forward."

  Seating is limited and pre-registration encouraged.

  Sign-up at www.speakerslab.org or by calling 212-564-6711 x 305.

• Alisa Rubin Kurshan on Jewish Peoplehood at NYU Wagner

  April 26, 2012 , 6:00 PM , Rudin Forum, NYU Wagner, 295 Lafayette St., 2nd Floor, 10012
  NYU Wagner/Skirball Dual Degree Program in Nonprofit Management & Judaic Studies

  The 6th Annual Hannah Engle z"l Memorial Lecture: Jewish Peoplehood in a Time of Personal Autonomy

  Speaker: Alisa Rubin Kurshan Senior VP for Strategic Planning & Organizational Resources, UJA-Federation of NY

  RSVP at http://wagner.nyu.edu/events

• Taub Centers -- Israeli Society: Current Trends and Future Prospects

  April 15, 2012 , Greenberg Lounge (NYU), 40 Washington Square South
  

   Israeli Society: Current Trends and Future Prospects

  A joint conference by the two Centers commemorating Henry Taub: the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel, and the NYU Taub Center for Israel Studies. Presenters:

  • Dan Ben-David, Executive Director, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel.
  • Lauren Benton, Dean for the Humanities, NYU
  • Dov Chernichovsky, Chair, Health Policy Program, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel and Ben-Gurion University
  • Ayal Kimhi, Chair, Labor Policy Program, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel and Hebrew University
  • Michal Koreh New York University
  • Michael Shalev, Chair, Welfare Policy Program, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel and Hebrew University
  • Yossi Shavit, Chair, Education Policy Program, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel and Tel-Aviv University
  • Eran Yashiv, Chair, Economic Policy Program, Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel and Tel-Aviv University
  • Ronald Zweig, Director, Taub Center for Israel Studies, NYU 

  Morning session: 10:30 am - 1pm
  Afternoon session: 2pm-4pm
  Concluding lecture: 4:30 pm

  Space is limited and advance registration is required Please register at (fas.taubcenter@nyu.edu) or by phone (212-998-8981)

• Dual Language Public Schools: Policy, Practice, & Implications for Research

  March 26, 2012 , 3:00 PM , NYU Wagner, Rudin Forum (295 Lafayette St, 2nd Floor, 10012)
  

  How do dual language public schools advance the cultural horizons of their students and work for a healthier society at large? These schools engage the interest and concerns of numerous stakeholders, among them: educators, parents, scholars, and ethnic/religious communities. Can they, do they and should they serve as vehicles for cultural preservation and identity transmission?

  Join a diverse group of scholars and practitioners as we discuss:

  --Major objectives of dual language public schools, both in terms of the student and the larger society.

  --The major objections to dual language public schools and impediments to their growth and success.

  --Creating a research agenda to advance the discourse on the dialectic above.

  RSVP at wagner.nyu.edu/events.

• NYU: The Forward's Jane Eisner on Salary & Gender in the Jewish Community

  February 2, 2012 , 6:30 PM , NYU King Juan Carlos Center, 53 Washington Square South, 2nd Floor Library, 10012
  

  Jane Eisner, editor of The Forward, will be coming to talk with Wagner/Skirball dual degree students and alumni and friends of the program about issues relating to salary and gender inequality in the Jewish professional field. Attendees are asked to read the following articles published by The Forward in December as preparation for the discussion:

  www.forward.com/articles/147588/ www.forward.com/articles/147568/ www.forward.com/articles/147550/

  RSVP at: http://wagner.nyu.edu/events/

  More about the dual degree program: http://wagner.nyu.edu/dualdegrees/jewish-nonprofit.php

• Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Lecture & Film on Women's Exclusion in Israel

  January 23, 2012 , 7:00 PM , Wasserman Cinematheque, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
  

  The HBI Project on Gender, Culture, Religion, and the Law (GCRL) will host an evening to explore how women are "separate and unequal" in Israeli public life.

  The evening will begin with the New England premiere of the Anat Zuria film "Black Bus," which documents the rise of sex segregation in Orthodox life, and will culminate with the 4th Annual Diane Markowicz Memorial Lecture on Gender and Human Rights. Noted legal historian Pnina Lahav will trace the relationship between women's exclusion in religious and public spheres, both in Israel and in the Jewish diaspora.

  For more information or to make a reservation: (781)-736-2064 or hbi@brandeis.edu.

  The Black Bus film trailer: http://youtu.be/CeIcuOuxQoI

  The Diane (Dina) Markowicz Memorial Lecture on Gender and Human Rights was created by GCRL founder and chair Sylvia Neil and her husband Dan Fischel in memory of Sylvia's late sister, Diane, to honor her commitment to gender equality and social justice.

  email: hbi@brandeis.edu phone: 781-736-2064 web: http://www.brandeis.edu/hbi

• Jewish Values, Jewish Interests: Negotiating the Tension

  December 5, 2011 , 5:00 PM , NYU Vanderbilt Hall, 40 Washington Sq South, Room 218
  

  How should Jews and Jewish leaders relate to the larger society and broader world? Prof. Ruth Wisse (Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature, and Professor of Comparative Literature, at Harvard University) and Rabbi Joy Levitt (Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan) will discuss both real and putative tensions between expressing Jewish values and advancing Jewish interests. BJPA Director Prof. Steven M. Cohen will moderate.

  This event celebrates the complete digital collection of the Journal of Jewish Communal Service on bjpa.org, and honors JJCS Managing Editor Gail Chalew for her 20+ years of service. The event is co-sponsored by the Jewish Communal Service Association of North America and the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner.

  Free and open to the public, but RSVP is required via http://wagner.nyu.edu/events/bjpa-12-05-2011

• Yeshiva U: Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks & Rabbi Meir Soloveichik: "Faith and Democracy in America and Europe"

  October 28, 2011 , 10:00 AM , Weissberg Commons, Yeshiva University, 2495 Amsterdam Ave.
  Jonathan Sacks; Meir Soloveichik

  For more information, contact the Straus Center at Yeshiva University: strauscenter@yu.edu

• Conference at Brandeis: Socio-Demography of American Jewry

  October 23, 2011 , Brandeis University (Oct 23-24)
  

  To assess current understandings of the socio-demography of American Jewry, Brandeis will host a conference of research scholars and policy makers to take stock of current knowledge, consider future research, and engage producers of research and policy makers in conversation about the usefulness of the information being generated.

  The specific goals of the conference are to assess the current state of knowledge about the size and characteristics of the American Jewish community, illuminate current socio-demographic research, and consider how the findings of demographic research can be used by scholars, funders, and policy organizations concerned with the Jewish community. One outcome will be a scholarly publication summarizing current research and application. But, more importantly, the conference also aspires to foster better informed dialogue about American Jewry and enhanced development and use of socio-demographic research.

  This conference is co-sponsored by BJPA, among others.

  For more information, visit http://www.brandeis.edu/ssri/demographyconf/index.html

• 92Y: Eliot Spitzer and Alan Dershowitz: A Turning Point for the Middle East and the World

  October 2, 2011 , 7:00 PM , 92Y Kaufmann Concert Hall, Lexington Avenue at 92nd St
  Eliot Spitzer; Alan Dershowitz

  To order tickets, visit http://bit.ly/q0PZCx

• Lecture at Bard: "How the Protocols of Zion Set the Stage for Post-9/11 Conspiracism"

  September 22, 2011 , 6:15 PM , Bard Globalization and International Affairs: 36 West 44th St. Suite 1011, between 5th and 6th Ave
  Jonathan Kay

  Jonathan Kay, Columnist for the National Post, Visiting Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and author of "Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America's Growing Conspiracist Underground" will deliver a lecture at Bard Globalization and International Affairs entitled "Warrant for Genocide, Blueprint for Paranoia: How the Protocols of Zion Set the Stage for Post-9/11 Conspiracism."

  The event is part of the Tenth Year Anniversary edition of The James Clarke Chace Memorial Speaker Series.

  The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP, please email bgia@bard.edu or call 646-839-9262.

• Fields of Engagement: Debating Key Questions of Research and Jewish Education

  September 19, 2011 , 5:00 PM , NYU Wagner, Rudin Forum
  

  Who and what is driving the Jewish education agenda? How has research in Jewish education contributed to the development of contemporary Jewish life? How can research connect to new ideas and new technologies? Dr. Lisa Grant and Dr. Alex Pomson will address these and other questions at this symposium celebrating the publication of the International Handbook of Jewish Education. Prof. Steven M. Cohen of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner will moderate. Light refreshments will be served. Click here to RSVP.

• Ukeles Associates, Inc. 25th Anniversary Forum and Celebration

  September 14, 2011 , 1:30 PM , NYU Wagner
  

  This forum explores the frontiers of Jewish policy research and celebrates the 25th anniversary of Ukeles Associates.

  By invitation only.

• NYC Jewish Tech Meetup with guest speaker Micah Sifry

  August 18, 2011 , 7:00 PM , Makom Hadash 125 Maiden Lane Ste 8B New York, NY 10038
  Micah Sifry

  Discover what's happening at the intersection of Jewish life and technology at this monthly gathering of Jewish technology professionals.

  The NYC Jewish Tech Meetup offers guest speakers, networking opportunities, and seasonal hackathons. Connect with your peers, hear the latest from the field, and explore opportunities for collaboration.

  Micah L. Sifry is a co-founder and executive editor of the Personal Democracy Forum and its blog TechPresident, which covers the ways technology is changing politics. In addition to organizing the annual Personal Democracy Forum conference with his partner Andrew Rasiej, he consults on how political organizations, campaigns, non-profits and media entities can adapt to and thrive in a networked world. His book, "Wikileaks and the Age of Transparency" is currently available from Or Books.

  Light, kosher refreshments will be served.

  For more information or to RSVP

• NYC Jewish Tech Meetup

  July 21, 2011 , 7:00 PM , Makom Hadash 125 Maiden Lane Ste 8B New York, NY 10038
  Daniel Sieradski

  Discover what's happening at the intersection of Jewish life and technology at this monthly gathering of Jewish technology professionals. The NYC Jewish Tech Meetup offers guest speakers, networking opportunities, and seasonal hackathons. Connect with your peers, hear the latest from the field, and explore opportunities for collaboration.

  For more information or to RSVP

• Call for Abstracts: Jewish Service Learning

  July 14, 2011 , 9:00 AM
  

  The Jewish Communal Service Association in partnership with Repair the World invites submission of abstracts for a special issue of the Journal of Jewish Communal Service, to be published winter 2012, on the topic of Jewish service-learning. To be considered, abstracts must be submitted with a working title via e-mail by July 14, 2011 at 9:00AM EDT to the Journal’s project manager Ruthie Warshenbrot at ruthie@werepair.org, and must be submitted as double-spaced Microsoft Word documents of no more than 350 words in length. Collaborative works written by multiple authors will be considered. Click here for complete information.    

• Love, Hate, and the Jewish State 4.0: Airing the Dirty Laundry

  June 29, 2011 , 7:00 PM , The JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave at 76th Street
  New Israel Fund

  Being critical of the status quo is an inherent part of social change – we identify problems in our world that we hope to solve or improve. But free expression of critical views of the Jewish state inside and outside of Jewish communities often invokes complicated rules against "airing our dirty laundry." Recent events, such as the near-revocation of Tony Kushner's honorary doctorate degree, have shed light on the tense atmosphere around the discourse on Israel in the American Jewish community. Join us for the fourth in a series of highly interactive, non-persuasive, open discussions with a diverse group of people in their 20s and 30s. Followed by a reception.

  Cost: $10

  Purchase tickets online by Monday, June 27.

• Inaugural Jewish Tech Meetup

  June 16, 2011 , 7:00 PM , Makom Hadash 125 Maiden Lane Ste 8B New York, NY
  Host: Daniel Sieradski

  Join us for our first Jewish Tech Meetup at Makom Hadash, the premier co-working space for innovative Jewish organizations in NYC.

  Speaker/topic TBA.

  Light, kosher refreshments will be served.

  Discover what's happening at the intersection of Jewish life and technology at this monthly gathering of Jewish technology professionals. The NYC Jewish Tech Meetup offers guest speakers, networking opportunities, and seasonal hackathons. Connect with your peers, hear the latest from the field, and explore opportunities for collaboration.

  RSVP required: space is limited.

• JCSA Annual Program: 2020 Visioning: Focusing on our Future

  June 3, 2011 , 8:30 AM , UJA-Federation of New York 130 E59th Street New York, NY 10022
  Keynoter: David Harris. Responses by: John Ruskay and Sarah Berman

  Change is constant and as Jewish professional leaders, we must anticipate and prepare to meet the ever evolving needs of our community. Key questions to consider are: How will we acquire the needed data? What are the boundaries of a community? What will be Israel's role in North American Jewish identity? How can we anticipate communal needs and provide the support necessary to obtain our collective vision of a vibrant Jewish future? What is our vision for 2020 and how can we focus on our future? These are just some of the issues that will be explored at JCSA's full day Annual Program being held on June 3rd at the UJA-Federation of New York. David Harris, Executive Director of the American Jewish Committee will address the topic of 2020 visioning and responses will be given by Dr. John Ruskay, Executive Vice President and CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York and Sara Berman, Hebrew Charter School Pioneer. Join JCSA for our Annual national conference entitled 2020 Visioning: Focusing on Our Future and learn from a wide variety of professionals and thought leaders in our field. Afternoon workshop presenters include: Maggie Bar Tura, Jacob Berkman, David Bryfman, Alex Budnitsky, William Daroff, Jane Eisner, Mike Kanarick, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, Alana Newhouse, Leonard Petlakh, Gaby Schoenfeld, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, Daniel Septimus, Dan Sieradski, Jos Thalheimer and Samantha Wolthius.

  For more information or to register: JCSA Event Home

• Judaism 2030: A Working Conference for a Vibrant Jewish Future

  May 23, 2011 , 9:00 AM , The Conference Center, 130 E. 59th Street, NY NY 10022
  Jewish Outreach Institute

  The Jewish Outreach Institute will convene a pioneering conference on May 23-24 in New York. Judaism 2030: A Working Conference for a Vibrant Jewish Future will explore what needs to take place over the next 20 years to ensure a vibrant Jewish future.

  Jewish communal professionals and volunteer leaders from across North America will tackle some of the most substantial issues facing American Judaism today. Don't miss the opportunity to be part of this conversation with forward-thinking visionaries and on-the-ground practitioners to shape specific action plans what will drive the Jewish future!

  For more information and to register, visit Judaism 2030

• Berman Summer Research Fellowship Applications

  April 15, 2011
  

  Applicants in any department or college are eligible to apply for one of the Mandell L. Berman Research Fellowships* to be awarded by the North American Jewish Data Bank for the summer of 2011. The fellowship pays a stipend of $1,800.

  The North American Jewish Data Bank is the central repository of social scientific studies of North American Jewry (including the United States and Canada). The Data Bank's primary functions are to (1) acquire, archive, and disseminate quantitative data sets and reports, both contemporary and historical, and (2) encourage utilization of the archive through training and providing information about methods for studying Jewish communities. We archive the National Jewish Population Surveys of 1971, 1990 and 2000-01, along with several other national data sets from the United States and Canada, as well as over 200 local Jewish community studies. The Data Bank is the sole distributor of the NJPS 2000-01 dataset and has a large collection of related material. The North American Jewish Data Bank is a collaborative project of the Jewish Federations of North American (formerly United Jewish Communities) and the University of Connecticut's Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life and Roper Center for Public Opinion Research.

  To apply:

  o Applicants should submit a brief proposal (two pages strongly recommended) describing an original research project that they will carry out utilizing and/or expanding upon the data files in the Berman Institute – North American Jewish Data Bank. The use of Data Bank data is central to the proposed research and the delineation of policy implications from the analysis is essential, but other data sources may be brought to bear on the topic of research.

  Full application requirements and more information.

• Berman Foundation Dissertation Fellowships Application

  April 7, 2011
  

  The Association for Jewish Studies is pleased to announce the call for submissions for the Berman Foundation Dissertation Fellowships in Support of Research in the Social Scientific Study of the Contemporary American Jewish Community. The application deadline is April 7, 2011. The Berman Fellowships – two awards of $16,000 for the 2011-12 academic year – aim to support the development and expansion of the field of the social scientific study of Jewish Americans and the contemporary Jewish-American experience; enhance funding opportunities for up-and-coming scholars in the midst of institutional cutbacks in higher education; and encourage graduate students in sociology, social psychology, social anthropology, demography, contemporary history, social work, political science, geography and education to expand their research to include the study of North American Jewry. Fellowships will be awarded for one academic year, with the possibility of renewal for a second year. Preference will be given to applicants seeking support for doctoral research, but requests for funding to support the writing phase of the dissertation will also be considered. Support for this project is generously provided by the Mandell L. and Madeleine H. Berman Foundation. Further information, including application instructions, can be found on the AJS website. Please contact Karen Terry, AJS Program and Membership Coordinator, at ajs@ajs.cjh.org or 917.606.8249 if you have any questions regarding the application process or fellowship program.

• The Palestinians and the American Jewish Community: A Challenging Relationship

  March 2, 2011 , 12:15 PM , Via live streaming on ustream.tv
  PLO Representative to the United States Maen Areikat

  The Ambassador will engage with a diverse representation of people highly involved in Jewish communal life or in the academic study of Israel and the Middle East. Clearly, questions pertaining to the American Jewish relationship with Israel are high on the American Jewish communal policy agenda and the Ambassador will address one component of this relationship. This event, in line with the missions of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive at NYU Wagner and the Taub Center, seeks to elevate and inform discourse on Jewish communal policy.

  (Please note: Ustream shows about 30 seconds of advertising before beginning to stream the event, so please allow time for that. After that, it is possible to close the ad that appears along the bottom of the screen).

  Hosted by the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner and the Taub Center for Israel Studies at New York University.

• Textual Ecstasy and Spiritual Struggle: Serving the Soul of the Practicing Rabbi

  November 30, 2010 , 4:00 PM , Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St., 2nd floor, New York
  Introduction by Rabbi Professor David Ellenson. Presentation by Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi and conversation with Rabbi Dr. Elliot Cosgrove

  Jewish spiritual leadership in an age of uncertainty, experimentation, and creativity has led rabbis across the denominational spectrum to seek significant additional training and spiritual development. What role is text study playing in these initiatives and how does it serve the rabbinic soul in our time? What role does scholarship play? Spiritual practice? Political/social action? Given the intensity of these initiatives and their indisputable impact on the rabbi, what is the impact on the communities they serve and on North American Jewry as a whole? Please RSVP

• Resisting Re-ghettoization: From Without and Within

  November 4, 2010
  Yossi Klein Halevi

• Middle East Peace Negotiations: Is There A Chance For Success?

  October 6, 2010 , 12:00 PM , Webinar
  David Makovsky

  David Makovsky is the Ziegler distinguished fellow and director of The Washington Institute's Project on the Middle East Peace Process. He is also an adjunct lecturer in Middle Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is the co-author with Dennis Ross of the recently released book, Myths, Illusions, and Peace: Finding a New Direction in the Middle East (Viking/Penguin), as well as many other publications. Click here to RSVP or for more information.

• Baby Boomers, Public Service, and Minority Communities: A Case Study of the Jewish Community in the United States

  September 21, 2010 , 4:00 PM , The Puck Building, The Rudin Family Forum for Civic Dialogue, 2nd Floor 295 Lafayette Street, New York, NY 10012-9604
  David M. Elcott, Roberta Leiner, Stuart Himmelfarb, and Gary Rosenblatt

  Public service organizations of all kinds have an unprecedented opportunity to harness the expertise and talents of Baby Boomers as they age, since it's a generation that wants to keep working or to volunteer in public service. But a new study finds that as Baby Boomers invigorate and redefine the 60-to-80 year old stage of life in the coming years, there is relatively little understanding of how record numbers of engaged older workers and volunteers will affect America's labor force, or what ethnic and religious communities and voluntary institutions of all kinds could do to mobilize, train, and absorb them. In particular, given national efforts to engage Baby Boomers, minority communities may suffer a loss of leadership, talent and funding as Baby Boomers look outside their religious or ethnic communities for meaningful work and volunteer opportunities.

  Join us for a lively discussion with Dr. Elcott and community leaders about the findings from a nationwide survey of 34 metropolitan Jewish communities and more than 6,500 people. The event will highlight the unique demands that Baby Boomers' interests and needs may place on the institutions, agencies and federations of the Jewish community of North America.

  Speakers:

  David M. Elcott, PhD, Henry and Marilyn Taub Professor of Practice in Public Service and Leadership at NYU Wagner and author of "Baby Boomers, Public Service, and Minority Communities: A Case Study of the Jewish Community in the United States"

  Roberta Leiner, Managing Director of the Caring Commission, UJA-Federation of New York

  Stuart Himmelfarb, Chief Marketing Officer, UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, and Board Co-chair, The Jewish Week

  Moderator: Gary Rosenblatt, Editor and Chief of The Jewish Week, the largest Jewish newspaper in the United States

  RSVP by September 17, 2010

• Love, Hate, & the Jewish State

  June 24, 2010 , 7:00 PM , The JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave at 76th Street, $10
  Sponsored by the New Israel Fund and Makom

  Social justice and Israel are often polarizing and separate conversations. Israel's Jewish character affects government policy, life-cycle events, state symbols, and everyday life for both Jews and non-Jews. Join us for the third in a series of highly interactive, non-persuasive, open discussions with a diverse group of people in their 20s and 30s. The program will be followed by a reception. Hosted by Joel Chasnoff, Comedian and Author of The 188th Crybaby Brigade: A Skinny Jewish Kid from Chicago Fights Hezbollah

  In cooperation with Bnai Jeshurun's Tziurim, Brooklyn Jews, Encounter, the Foundation for Jewish Culture, Hazon, J Street NYC, the JCC in Manhattan, JDub Records, Jewcy.com, Jewschool.com, Kehillat Hadar, Pursue: Action for a Just World, Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, and Zeek.

• Policy implications: Changing conceptions of Jewish Peoplehood and what to do about them - Interrogating Jewish Peoplehood, 4 of 4

  May 10, 2010
  Presentation by Dr. Jack Ukeles, followed by discussion

  What practices and policies should be pursued to strengthen commitment to Jewish Peoplehood or, perhaps, to re-fashion Peoplehood commitment in ways that may make it more suitable to the current moment?

  Dr. Ukeles has conducted more than 100 policy-oriented research studies for Jewish communal and other non-profit agencies in the US and abroad

  By invitation only

• Technology and Jewish Education: New Dawn or False Dawn for Jewish Learning

  May 5, 2010 , 4:30 PM , NYU
  Symposium presented by the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner and JESNA's Lippman Kanfer Institute

  New communications technologies are dramatically transforming nearly every dimension of our lives - how we work, how we play, how we connect, how we consume, and - some would say - how we learn. In Jewish education today technology is being used to expand access to texts and a wide range of information and experiences, to connect students and teachers across time and space, and to allow learners to take greater control and exercise greater creativity in their learning. At the same time, some observers worry that technology is undermining vital elements of Jewish education as we have practiced it for millennia - the authority of scholars and teachers, the close and critical reading of texts, the discerning analysis of argument - and fostering the illusion that real learning can be done with just a mouse click on a Google search result.

  This symposium will explore the impact of technology on Jewish education and the policy implications of the ongoing technological revolution for the Jewish community. What steps are needed to maximize the positive benefits of technology, while minimizing its potential negative impacts? Where, how, and how much should we be investing in this area? How can entrepreneurs and innovators, established institutions, and funders work together to achieve the best results?

• "Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us about Building Vibrant Jewish Communities"

  April 27, 2010 , 7:30 PM , The Jewish Theological Seminary, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street), New York City
  A Conversation With Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen, and Professor Steven M. Cohen on the publication of Elie Kaunfer's new book

  How will the independent minyan movement affect the traditional American Jewish community? What does this new movement imply for the future of synagogues and Jewish education? Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen, and Professor Steven M. Cohen will discuss these issues and others raised in Rabbi Kaunfer's new book Empowered Judaism: What Independent Minyanim Can Teach Us about Building Vibrant Jewish Communities. JTS Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen will moderate.

  Cosponsored by JTS and BJPA. Reservations required: publicevents@jtsa.edu or call (212) 280-6093. Please arrive 15 minutes early and bring a photo ID.

• Challenges to Jewish Peoplehood - Or, why Israel may now present an obstacle to identification with the Jewish People - Interrogating Jewish Peoplehood, 3 of 4

  April 21, 2010
  Presentation by Jay Michaelson, followed by discussion

  To what extent is it suffering from a connection with increasingly unpopular and uninspiring images of Israel, particularly among younger Jewish leaders today?

  Jay Michaelson, a doctoral student in Jewish Thought at The Hebrew University, is a columnist for The Forward, The Huffington Post, and Tikkun.  He is also the executive director of Nehirim: GLBT Jewish Culture & Spirituality.

  By invitation only

• Challenging Jewish Peoplehood - Or, why younger Jewish leaders seem to care less about Jewish Peoplehood - Interrogating Jewish Peoplehood, 2 of 4

  April 12, 2010
  Presentation by Prof. Sarah Benor, followed by discussion

  For engaged Jews today, particularly younger Jews, to what extent is Jewish Peoplehood an outmoded concept, increasingly challenged by contemporary notions of Jewish engagement?

  Prof. Benor, Assistant Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at HUC-JIR, LA, has written about American Jewish language, culture, and society. She has recently completed an ethnographic study of Jewish leaders in their 20s and 30s as part of a research team led by Prof. Jack Wertheimer and supported by the Avi Chai Foundation.

  By invitation only

• Human Rights in the Jewish Tradition: Implications for Israel's Identity as a Jewish and Democratic State

  March 5, 2010
  Presentation and Q&A by Prof. Yedidia Stern

  Israel exists in a state of tension between the universalistic principles implicit in its democratic character and the particularistic concerns inherent in its definition as the Jewish State. Many critics, both in Israel and elsewhere, see an irresolvable contradiction between the two. At the center of the debate lie human rights-an indispensable ingredient of democracy seen by many to be at odds with Judaism. However, argues Professor Yedidia Stern, Vice President of the Israel Democracy Institute, a new field of intellectual inquiry promises to demonstrate the falseness of this dichotomy and build a bridge of ideas across Israel's divided society by uncovering the lost roots of human rights doctrine in the Jewish tradition.

  By invitation only

• "What do we mean by 'Jewish Peoplehood' - and should it matter?" Interrogating Jewish Peoplehood 1 of 4

  March 1, 2010
  Presentation by Prof. Sylvia Barack Fishman, followed by discussion

  How have ideas of Jewish Peoplehood changed when Jews lived in diverse situations? Today, does the concept of Jewish Peoplehood make a sense in the real world--and should it? How is feeling part of "the Jewish people" connected--or not--to other expressions of Jewishness?  Prof. Fishman, Chair of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University, is the author of well-known studies on varieties of Jewishness, conversion, intermarriage, Jewish feminism and Jewish culture.

  By invitation only

• Impact or Bias? Measuring Cause and Effect in Jewish Education

  February 1, 2010 , 5:00 PM , NYU Wagner, Puck Building, 295 Lafayette St, 2nd floor. Also via webinar
  Lecture and Webinar by Dr. Adam Gamoran, Professor of Sociology and Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin

  Education researchers have become increasingly aware of the challenges of measuring the impact of educational practices, programs, and policies. Too often what appears to be cause and effect may actually reflect pre-existing differences between program participants and non-participants. A variety of strategies are available to surmount this challenge, but the strategies are often costly and difficult to implement. Examples from general and Jewish education will highlight the challenges, identify strategies that respond to the challenges, and suggest how the difficulties posed by these strategies may be addressed.

• bjpa.org Opening Reception

  November 11, 2009 , NYU Woolworth Building
  

  We are marking the opening of the new site with a presentation and discussion led by Ruth Messinger, president of the American Jewish World Service, on the topic of "Repairing the World for its own Sake: A Principled View of Justice," together with our honored guest, communal leader and philanthropist Bill Berman, who has lent his support and name to our project. By invitation only.

• Reception in Honor of Bill Berman: At the United Jewish Communities 2009 General Assembly

  November 8, 2009 , 5:45 PM , Marriott Wardman Park, Washington D.C.
  

  Those attending the GA, are invited to join us in honoring communal leader and philanthropist Bill Berman and his newest project – the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner.

• Gender Matters: A New Framework for Understanding Jewish Intermarriage Over Time

  June 22, 2009
  A Webinar with Dr. Keren McGinity

  Dr. Keren McGinity is the Berman Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan's Frankel Center for Judaic Studies. She discussed her book, Still Jewish (NYU Press 2009), the first history of Jewish intermarried women, and her research with Harriet Hartman, Professor of Sociology at Rowan University, and Steven M. Cohen, Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy at HUC-JIR and BJPA Director. This unique event was co-sponsored by the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry and hosted by the Jewish Women's Archive, who also published this follow-up interview.

• The Israel = Apartheid Equation: Perspectives of a South African-Born Israeli Zionist

  May 7, 2009
  A Discussion with Professor Gideon Shimoni

  Professor Gideon Shimoni served as the Head of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University and is the author of a comprehensive work entitled The Zionist Ideology. His most recent book is Community and Conscience: The Jews in Apartheid South Africa. In this intimate, invitation-only seminar, Professor Shimoni shared his reflections on how the discourse of apartheid is used and mis-used in discussions of the Israeli politics.

• Doing More With Less: Can Jewish and Other Nonprofits Create Improvement Opportunities out of Economic Crisis?

  March 4, 2009
  Panel Discussion with Jacob B. Ukeles & Barbara J. Cohn Berman

  BJPA and NYU Wagner hosted representatives from philanthropies, nonprofit organizations, and the general public to this open forum. Referring to his experience as NYC's first Deputy Director of Operations and Deputy Director of the Emergency Financial Control Board during the city's 1975 fiscal crisis and his long experience and expertise in the not for profit sector, Jack Ukeles shared advice on how nonprofits can best respond to the current economic downturn. Barbara J. Cohn Berman offered thoughts on the best implementation of processes of change, considering questions of law, personnel, morale, and client relations. Barbara J. Cohn Berman offered thoughts on the best implementation of processes of change, considering questions of law, personnel, morale, and client relations. Ukeles and Berman produced a written version of their talk, published by the BJPA. This event was also featured on the Wagner blog and Ukeles later answered some follow-up questions with the Jerusalem Post's Shmuel Rosner.

• Public Forum on American Jews and the Presidential Election: How Jews and Non-Jews Differ in Their Public Values and Intentions

  October 27, 2008
  Panel Discussion with Professor Steven M. Cohen & Professor Samuel J. Abrams

  BJPA's inaugural event: Professor Cohen and Professor Abrams discussed the results of two parallel national surveys of Jews and non-Jews. These surveys explored variations not only in intention to vote, but also how and why Jews differ from the rest of the electorate. They produced two reports based on their research: "American Jews and the 2008 Presidential Election: As Democratic and Liberal as Ever?" and "Israel Off Their Minds: The Diminished Place of Israel in the Political Thinking of Young Jews".