Colloquium ’95

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?

You can read more about Colloquium '95, including synopses of the major speakers, in the introduction to the printed volume The Unaffiliated Jew (IISHJ/Milan Press, $14.95) which can be purchased online at Amazon.com or from the IISHJ.

Colloquium '95 is also available on DVD from the IISHJ (phone order or publications catalog), which includes all major sessions of the conference, introductions before and panel discussions after each presentation.

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.

André Aciman – Then-assistant professor in French literature at Princeton University, Andre Aciman is the author of many works, including Out of Egypt: A Memoir (1995).

Yehuda Amichai – Then-Israel's greatest contemporary poet, Yehuda Amichai had received every major Israeli literary award for poetry, including the Bialik Prize (1975) and the Israel Prize (1981). [now deceased]

Yehuda Bauer – Renowned expert on the Holocaust and global Antisemitism, author of many works including The Holocaust in Historical Perspective.

Norman Cantor – Professor of history, sociology and comparative literature at New York University, author of many works on medieval and Jewish history including The Sacred Chain. [now deceased]

Shoshana Cardin – Then-National Vice-Chair of United Jewish Appeal, and past chair of CLAL – National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.

Joel Feinberg – Professor emeritus of Philosophy and Law at the University of Arizona, author of many works including The Constitutional Relevance of Moral Rights. [now deceased]

Egon Friedler – Journalist for El Pais newspaper in Montevideo, Uruguay and active participant in secular and Humanistic Judaism in Latin America.

Jenna Weissman Joselit – then-professor in the religion department at New York University, author of many works including The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture 1880-1950.

Felice Pazner Malkin – A widely-exhibited artist, founded the Rothschild Center for Art Studies in Haifa and the Arab-Jewish Art Center for the Buber institute of the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

Yaakov Malkin – author and lecturer in aesthetics and rhetoric of the performing arts at Tel Aviv University, founder of the first Community Centers in Israel and the Arab/Jewish Center "Hagefen House" in Haifa.

Egon Mayer – Professor of sociology at Brooklyn College, director of the Center for Jewish Studies of the Graduate School of the City University of New York, and director of the Jewish Outreach Institute. [now deceased]

Bernard Reisman – Klutznik Professor of Contemporary Studies at the Hornstein Program in Jewish Communal Service at Brandeis University, author of The Chavurah: A Contemporary Jewish Experience (1977).

Anne Roiphe – celebrated essayist, journalist and author on Jewish issues. Author of, among many others, Season for Healing: Reflections on the Holocaust.

Charles Silberman – writer and economist, active in the Reconstructionist movement and author of many works including A Certain People: American Jews and their Lives Today (1985).

Joan Micklin Silver – writer and director of film, television and theater. Successful films include Hester Street (1975) and Crossing Delancy (1988).

Sherwin Wine – Rabbi of the Birmingham Temple in suburban Detroit and founder of Humanistic Judaism.