BJPA Events
Coming Up
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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 discussionFor 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
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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 discussionTo 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
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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 InstituteNew 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?
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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 discussionWhat 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
Past Events
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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 SternIsrael 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
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"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 discussionHow 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
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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 WisconsinEducation 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.
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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.
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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.
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Gender Matters: A New Framework for Understanding Jewish Intermarriage Over Time
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.
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The Israel = Apartheid Equation: Perspectives of a South African-Born Israeli Zionist
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.
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Doing More With Less: Can Jewish and Other Nonprofits Create Improvement Opportunities out of Economic Crisis?
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.
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Public Forum on American Jews and the Presidential Election: How Jews and Non-Jews Differ in Their Public Values and Intentions
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".
