More than 2,000 Jewish communal leaders and activists from the United States and Canada are scheduled to attend the 53rd General Assembly of the Council of Jewish Federations in Toronto November 14-18, it was announced here by Shoshana Cardin, chairperson of the GA program committee.
According to the preliminary program of the GA, speakers at the gathering will include many of the foremost scholars, political and spiritual leaders in the U.S. and Canada. Among them are Dr. Joseph Yerushalmi of Columbia University; Dr. Gerson Cohen, chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America; Mendel Kaplan, world chairman of Keren Hayesod; Rabbi Gunther Plaut, president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis; and Leon Dulzin, chairman of the Jewish Agency and World Zionist Organization Executives.
A highlight of the Assembly will be an address by former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who will discuss “A Global Perspective on Jewish Concerns.” Major issues confronting North American Jewish communities will be explored in depth at Assembly forums: Ethiopian Jewry and Syrian Jewry; Religion in Politics; Prospects for Peace in the Middle East in the Aftermath of Israeli and U.S. Elections; Jewish Education and Culture; Preparing for the 90’s; Soviet Jewry; Sephardic Jewry; Latin American Jewry; Black-Jewish Relations; and The Arab World.
A key theme of the General Assembly will be “The Community Leader as a Learning Person.” In addition to plenaries and forums, workshops are planned to explore major items on the agenda of North American Jewish Federations. These include:
The Jewish family, Israel-diaspora relations, the Jewish community and the general community, arts and culture, Federation-synagogue relations, community planning, leadership development, child day care, and college services.
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