Moving from "we to wii"...

South Africa, Canada, Israel, the United States, China. Author, mom, business leader, entrepreneur, wine maker, rabbi. Four days ago we had little in common. In our day to day lives we would have moved in very different circles and our paths probably would never have crossed. But this morning we awake with a common mission - to figure out what it means to revolutionize the Jewish world without losing track of our heredity, our history and what it is that makes us uniquely Jewish.

As you read in my previous entries, the first ½ of my trip was focused around the Presidential Conference. Although the theme of the event was “Facing Tomorrow” and the goal was to look to the future of Israel and the Jewish people, the voices were decidedly biased towards those of the past. At times it seemed more like parents bragging about what has been accomplished and day dreaming about what their grandchildren might do than developing a roadmap for the future. The intentions were pure and the speakers amazing, but the call to action for my generation was lacking. It felt like sitting on the outside looking in.

The second ½ of my time here was in stark contrast. I was one of 25 “young” Jewish leaders selected to participate in the “Global World Leaders Forum” sponsored by The Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI). It is worth mentioning for those who haven’t met me, I am 39 years old. Our group ranged in age from 30-50. To most that would seem far from “young leadership” but in Jewish philanthropic circles we are considered mere babes. To put this in perspective, the current Board of Governors (BOG) of JAFI has 2 people under the age of 50, and probably only a handful under 60. Is this how it should be, definitely not, but it is the current reality. Our mission was and is to change that reality.

Together for three days we were educated, we experienced and we strategized. We were given an inordinate amount of time, access and support from the current JAFI leadership, from the members of the BOG and from the JAFI professionals. We visited with IDF soldiers learning to reconnect to themselves Jewishly, met Ethiopian Olim taking their first steps in Israel, and left our mark on the ground by building a therapy garden for at risk youths. We saw where the Jewish people have come from and where we are going.

In addition to learning about others and the work of the Jewish philanthropic world we also learned about ourselves. As we strived to define our role as the “generation now” we learned we have very different views, goals and ideals. Some were looking for immediate hands on ways to act, others wanted to step back and be part of the bigger picture; some wanted to deal with the Jewish world from a tradition focused point of view, while others were looking for modernity and technology. We had different strengths, different weaknesses, different approaches, different interests. But at the end of the day what we came to stand on is that we have one core value that is what binds us – we want to be heard, we want to be involved, we want to leave our imprint on the future and we want to do this in a uniquely Jewish way.

I have been to these programs before. I have sat through Young Leadership training, I have been on the UJC Young Leadership Cabinet, I have filled the “young leadership seat” within Federations. And I have to admit I am cynical and jaded at this point in these programs. I have heard the rhetoric, I have been invited to the table. But each time it has been with the unspoken intent of being there to do it the “adult’s way”, to continue in the what has always been, to participate but not to change. The words have always said we want to look at the future, but the actions have been otherwise. Suggestions too often met with why we have to do it the way we have always done it.

So why do I feel differently this time? This is going to sound stupid, but it was the look in people’s eyes. In the eyes of my “team mates” I saw a passion and force which will not be extinguished; in the eyes of the JAFI leadership, especially Richie Pearlstone and Natan Sharansky, I saw a realization; and in the eyes of the attendees at the BOG closing plenary I quite honestly saw fear. The third was my “ah ha moment” that this truly was different. We were no longer the scared youth worried if we could fit into our parents and grandparents world, but our parents and grandparents were worried if they could fit into ours. It was the visual confirmation that they were realizing something Jerry Silverman said to us early in our sessions “the current leaders are guests in our century”.

Do I expect this to be an easy road, no. Do I have full confidence the realizations won’t subside and we won’t go back to the status quo, definitely not. And maybe it is the naivativity of supposed youth, the lack of sleep or the 14 year old scotch we shared, but as I look out at my last Jerusalem sunrise I believe that we are standing at a radical moment in Jewish philanthropy. And that unlike times of the past the success of this moment lies in our hands as “emerging” global leaders. It is our chance to grab the baton vs waiting for it to be handed to us. And I for one am ready to run with it.