This year marked the first in recent memory that the GA of the United Jewish Communities focused on the so-called next generation. As you’ve already heard from Leah Stern, there was quite a bit of youthful energy on site, and I was privileged to have participated on the same Peoplehood panel that Leah was on. At that panel, researcher David Bryfman noted that by using the term next generation we’re by definition creating barriers between the previous generation and our own, when we should be breaking down those barriers. (A paraphrase, but I thought it was an interesting point.)

On Monday morning, I was honored to have been part of a plenary that centered on innovative activities and initiatives that we are involved with: speaking after Ari Sandel of West Bank Story, Sarah Chasin, a college student who helped Katrina victims, Dany and Matan from Ayalim, and Idit Klein from Keshet; and then introducing – in front of a crowd of a few thousand people – Mobius for his speech about where the next great Jewish idea will come from, was a highlight of my November on the road (L.A., San Francisco, New Jersey, and Nashville… I think it’s over now).

Here are (what the video company employed by UJC considered) the highlights of my speech. The complete speech is available on my blog.

Thanks to Jewtube for making it embeddable.

About the author

Esther Kustanowitz

For more posts by Esther, see EstherK.com, MyUrbanKvetch.com and JDatersAnonymous.com.

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