Colloquium 2014
Evolution or Revolution?
Intermarriage, Jewish Culture and the Future of Jewish Community
What will be the Jewish character of the State of Israel?
How has freedom and intermarriage changed Jewish identity?
Are Jewish denominations a thing of the past?
Will the future of Jewish community be an evolution or a revolution?
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 title for that specific video.
Rabbi Adam Chalom -Why Bother Being Anything
At the opening Shabbat celebration of Colloquium 2014: “Evolution or Revolution? Intermarriage, Jewish Culture and the Future of Jewish Community,” Rabbi Adam Chalom, Dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, answers a key question for the future of Jewish identity: why bother?
Rabbi Sivan Maas – Intermarriage in Israel
At the opening session of Colloquium 2014, Rabbi Sivan Malkin Maas, Dean of Tmura-IISHJ in Jerusalem, explored the history of intermarriage and its present in contemporary Israel. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.
Keren McGinity – The Gendered Reality of Jewish Intermarriage in America
Keren McGinity, author of “Still Jewish: A History of Jewish Women and Intermarriage” and “Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage and Fatherhood,” offered her fascinating insights on the history and lived experience of Jewish intermarriage. To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.
Ordination of Rabbi Edward J. Klein
Years of study and hard work culminate in rabbinic ordination for Rabbi Edward J. Klein (Queens, NY). Mazel Tov!
Rabbinic Ordination of Rabbi Susan Averbach
At the 2014 Colloquium of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism (www.iishj.org), Rabbi Susan Averbach offers her thoughts on a famous Talmudic story as well as her vision for her rabbinate.
Paul Golin – Post Denominational Judaism
Paul Golin, Assistant Executive Director of the Jewish Outreach Institute, explores the contemporary reality and future possibilities of “Post-Denominational Judaism.” To see the panel’s response to this presentation, click here.
Rabbi Adam Chalom – Jewish Futures
At the closing session of Colloquium 2014, Rabbi Adam Chalom, Dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, describes the need for revolution in Jewish community and identity for a vibrant Jewish future.
COLLOQUIUM 2014 PRESENTERS
Paul Golin
Associate Executive Director of the Jewish Outreach Institute. Co-author of 20 Things Grandparents Can Do (and Not Do) with their Grandchildren Jewish Identity (2007) and How To Raise Jewish Children…Even If You’re Not Jewish Yourself (2010). Featured Speaker at Colloquium 2012 – watch his presentation on “An Optimistic Jewish Future” here.
Rabbi Sivan Mass
The first Israeli rabbi ordained by the International Institute for Secular Humanistic Judaism, she is Dean of Tmura-IISHJ in Jerusalem and director of “The Secular Library,” publishing works on Judaism as culture. She has previously run a kibbutz educational system and served as a Jewish Agency emissary to the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit. A featured speaker at past IISHJ Colloquia, watch her 2012 presentation here.
Karen McGinity
Affiliated with the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute and the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. Director of Love and Tradition: Intermarriage Insights for a Jewish Future. Author of Still Jewish: A History of Women and Intermarriage in America (2009) and Marrying Out: Jewish Men, Intermarriage, and Fatherhood (2014).
Rabbi Adam Chalom
Dean for North America of the International Institute for Secular Humansitic Judaism and Rabbi of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation in north suburban Chicago. Blogs at Shalom from Rabbi Chalom, speaks on The Kol Hadash Podcast. A featured speaker at several past Colloquia, watch his concluding remarks from 2012 on “The Power of ‘Half Jewish’” here.