4 Reason to Attend the Jewish Futures Conference
Next Thursday, May 30, over 50 Jewish educators will gather at Leichtag Commons in Encinitas, CA for the first-ever Jewish Futures Conference on the West Coast, sponsored by the Jewish Education Project. The intention behind this conference is to start to answer the question of how Jewish education can address major contemporary power dynamics that affect our communities: Sexual Victimization, Racial Inequity and Immigrant Justice. The conference will feature nationally renowned speakers who will bridge the gap between education and power.
But how can you know if this conference is for you?
Inherently, this conference is for anybody who wants to discuss “Power,” how to challenge it and how to shift it. Whether you’re new to Jewish education, a seasoned educator, or anyone who works in a Jewish space, here are four reasons why you should attend JFC!
1. It’s an opportunity to learn about Jewish education! For someone with little-to-no experience in Jewish education, this conference will introduce social justice values, beliefs and ethics – so essential in Jewish tradition – and show how they can apply to contemporary issues. For those who work in Jewish education, take this time to apply your knowledge to these important dynamics that influence all of our environments whether we notice them or not.
2. We’ll meet incredible speakers who have made this work part of their lives:
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- At the intersection of Jewish education and legal responsibilities, Guila Benchimol will bring over a decade of research on gender-based violence to inform our understanding of, and response to, such violence in the Jewish community and our own organizations. You can read more about her here.
- Our Racial Inequity panel will address how educators and educational spaces can become more racially aware and inclusive, especially as we realize that the Jewish community is more racially diverse than we thought.
- Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz will explain the humanitarian crisis at the US/Mexico border through a lens of power dynamics. He’ll introduce ancient and modern Jewish texts to illustrate educational approaches to address this imbalance. You can more about him here.
Check out our featured speakers, and openers from The Jewish Education Project and Leichtag Foundation!
There are many more reasons to attend the Jewish Futures Conference, but we hope that these might entice you, whether you’re brand-new to Jewish education or a Jewish ed veteran. You have a place here and you will be seen here! Hopefully, we’ll be seeing you soon!
Stacie and Jeff Cook understand commitment. They live it.
Black, Jewish and Queer. These three identities weave the fabric of who I am, but it took a long time to believe that they could exist together.
Lee and Toni Leichtag established the Leichtag Foundation in 1991 following the sale of their business. Lee and Toni were lifelong entrepreneurs with a passion for innovation and for supporting talent. They believed that only with big risk comes big reward. Both born to families in poverty, Toni to a single mother, they strongly believed in helping those most in need and most vulnerable in our community. While they supported many causes, their strongest support was for young children and the elderly, two demographics who particularly lack voice in our society.
Lifelong Baltimoreans, Rabbi George and Alison Wielechowski and their sons, 11-year-old Lennon and 9-year-old Gideon, are more than pursuing the good life in Southern California. Having moved to San Diego more than three years ago, they are fulfilling a lifelong dream.
You would think that as the executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride, Fernando Zweifach López Jr., who uses the pronoun they, has done all the coming out they possibly can. A queer, non-binary individual who has worked for many years on civil rights issues, López also speaks openly and often about their father’s family, Mexican-American migrant workers who tilled the fields of rural California.