The establishment asks: Is Israel Relevant to the Next Gen?

The federated, organized community is going bananas trying to figure out how to impress upon us, the 'next generation' their views and values on Israel.

This time, though, the gennext was brought in on the discussion and was able to weigh in on their own terms... mostly.

Before the Federation's annual meeting, last week, a discussion was held with students at local universities, young professionals, and community leaders.


Surprisingly, the discussion was honest and progressive. I say surprisingly because I have been witness to a great many discussions on Israel, and a great many more programs lead by the community in terms of camps, youth groups, Sunday schools, etc. and there most programs are a means of getting a discussion from point A to point B.

After reviewing the podcast, its clear that this was a true discussion, no agenda, just, present an interesting viewpoint and let the target demographic tell you exactly the type of information that should be capitalized on.

Honest questions include, "Is a Pro-Palestinian stance necessarily anti-Zionist?" and "Is anti-Zionism anti-semitism?"
These are area which are worth our time and discussion, and I hope that this type of discussion occurs more as the Federation invests more resources in engaging the next generation.

Pictures and a podcast can be found here

Direct link to the podcast here

A video of Rabbi Davids' speech can be found here