Among the educational leaders who spoke on the future of Jewish education in the Diaspora were Chaim Botwinick, Scott Goldberg, Richard Joel, Nathan Lewin, Yisrael Rich, Jacob Schachter, David Schnall, Daniel Sperber, Pinchos Hecht, Barry Levy, Ronald Price, Mark Rosen, Yosef Rosenblum, and Naftali Rothenberg.

The idea for the conference came from Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar, spiritual leader of The Shul in Bal Harbour, Florida, who turned to the Lookstein Center to conceptualize and organize the conference. It was held in partnership with the Center for the Advancement of Jewish Education at Florida International University; the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration at Yeshiva University; and Chabad of South Dade. Generous additional funding came from Targum Shlishi: An Aryeh and Raquel Rubin Foundation, and Citibank Surfside Financial Center.

Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Natan Sharansky, speaking by live video broadcast from Israel on "Reclaiming Human Rights as a Jewish Value", warned conference participants that "the onslaught of anti-Israel propaganda in the media and on campuses poses a concrete threat to the self-perception and healthy Jewish identity of our youth. “We must teach Israel's political case in the Arab-Israel conflict," he said, "as part of every Jewish day school education."

Rabbi Professor Daniel Sperber, President of the Institute for Advanced Torah Studies at Bar-Ilan University and the chairman of Israel's national religious state school system, told conference participants in a keynote address that the connecting of halacha to real life in the modern age was key to successful Jewish education. "By demonstrating to our students the intellectual and moral power of halacha as it relates, for example, to the most difficult ethical and bio-ethical situations of the modern age, we can open a pathway to their hearts," he said.

Brad Hammer of Shalom TV, a cable television channel that aims to offer on-demand Jewish programming, was ecstatic about his participation in the conference. "I came to rub-elbows with the senior educators. Aside from making excellent professional contacts, this conference was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life!" he said. "A great deal of wise thought went into this gathering."

To read the schedule and abstracts, go to www.lookstein.org/jeseminar.pdf.

Back to press releases.