Targeting Jews - again

Once again, Jews have been targeted simply for being Jews.

This time, the victims were in Mumbai.

Though some in the media were slow to identify what should have been obvious - the New York Times speculated that it might have been an "accidental hostage scene"- they weren't killed randomly. They were sought out in a carefully planned operation.

The jihadist murderers were looking for Jews, and found them.

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A Jewish political platform

It's election season. So it's the perfect time to set forth my political platform. It's the platform I'd present if we had, let's call them, Jewish elections.

First, let's get really serious about seeking to engage young Jews. Birthright has been an extraordinary success. But alone, it can't carry the Jewish future. We need to retool from top to bottom.

We need to find language with which to speak to young Jews, too many of whom are drifting off the reservation. Strikingly, many are seeking community, spirituality and connection, yet claiming they can't find it in the Jewish world. How unfortunate! It's all there, but sometimes too opaque, too unreachable, too diluted.

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Leaders and leadership: Is something missing?

It's become an energizing habit of mine to attend the annual Summer University organized by the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS). Hundreds of young people from across Europe gather in a picturesque spot for a week of studying and socializing.

This year, I addressed the students on the subject of leadership. When I asked them to identify individuals currently in the public arena - elected officials, moral voices, persons of conscience - whom they admired, there was a moment's silence. Then came a torrent of names. But when put to a vote, only four people enjoyed any widespread support. Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama ranked at the top, followed by Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.

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Are we one people?

How naïve I've been all these years!

I actually thought that Jews meant it when they spoke of "one people" and repeated the injunction, "All Jews are responsible one for the other."

It helped that this is the spirit in which I was raised. I was surrounded by all kinds of Jews - unbelieving and observant, knowledgeable and unschooled, native and foreign-born, Sephardi and Ashkenazi, engaged and apathetic. I always assumed that, in spite of our differences, or perhaps because of them, we were all one community.

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A Cri de Coeur from two Jewish generations

I've never visualized myself as a matchmaker, but in this particular case, I'm more than happy to give it a try.

Last week, AJC held its 102nd Annual Meeting. Among the more than 1,200 registrants, we had large contingents of Jewish leaders from literally dozens of countries. Similarly, we were blessed by the presence of young Jewish leaders, many representing student and youth groups from around the world.

In the interstices of the five-day meeting, I met privately with as many of these individuals and groups as possible. It's important to know what's on their minds and to see where, if at all, we might be in a position to help.

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