Colloquium 1995: The Unaffiliated Jew

The first Colloquium sponsored by the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, Colloquium ’95 gathered intellectuals, writers, artists, professors and community leaders to discuss a crucial issue for Jewish survival – “The Unaffiliated Jew,” which in the United States has consistently been half of the American Jewish population. Who are unaffiliated Jews? What have they not found satisfying about the organized Jewish community? And what can we offer them in terms of reasons to be Jewish, and community connections for the 21st Century?

Video for each Colloquium presentation and the following panel discussion is now available on the IISHJ YouTube channel. Click here to see the complete playlist, or on each major speaker for that specific video.

Introduction
The opening of our first ever Colloquium.

Shoshana Cardin – Keynote Address
Shoshana Cardin’s keynote address at Colloquium 1995.

Yehuda Bauer – “The Unaffiliated Jew”
Yehuda Bauer’s presentation from Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Egon Mayer – “Who Is the Unaffiliated Jew?”
Egon Mayer’s presentation from Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Jenna Weissman Joselit – “The Unsynagogued”
Jenna Weissman Joselit’s presentation from Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Bernard Reisman – “What is the Agenda for Jews Today?”
Bernard Reisman’s presentation for Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Joel Feinberg – “The Claims of Jewish Ethnicity”
Joel Feinberg’s presentation from Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Norman Cantor – Colloquium 1995
Norman Cantor’s presentation for Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Anne Roiphe – “What Makes A Jew?”
Anne Roiphe’s presentation for Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

André Aciman – “The Unaffiliated Jew”
André Aciman shares his own story of being an unaffiliated Jew for Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Egon Friedler – “A Vindication of Jewish Optimism”
Egon Friedler’s presentation for Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Yaakov Malkin – “Why is it Worthwhile Being a Jew?”
Yaakov Malkin’s presentation for Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Rabbi Sherwin Wine – “How to Reach Unaffiliated Jews?” (1995)
Rabbi Sherwin Wine gives the final lecture of Colloquium 1995. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.

Closing Discussion
The closing discussion of Colloquium 1995.