Director of JCC Association-Florence
G. Heller Research Center Will Present Findings from New Study
New York, NY – Later this month, when
hundreds of Jewish professionals from around the globe engaged
in communal, educational and social services converge on Jerusalem
for the eleventh Quadrennial Conference of the World Council
of Jewish Communal Service, their participation will be enriched
by the planning and presentations of four of their colleagues
from JCC Association: Professor Steven M. Cohen, director
of the JCC Association-Florence G. Heller Research Center
and a research professor of social policy at Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion; Alan Mann, executive
vice-president of community services and director of the Mandel
Center for Excellence in Leadership and Management; Patricia
Cipora Harte, vice-president, program services; and Richard
Juran, vice-president, JCC Association Israel Office.
Participants will attend workshops, lectures and seminars
on nine distinct professional tracks, organized around three
clusters – human services, Jewish education and community-building.
As co-chair of the Jewish education cluster, Mr. Juran lauded
his experience as “a very creative, productive collegial
process. The planning reflects the very rationale for the
conference – a global networking and collaboration among
Jewish communal service professionals who benefit from getting
to know one another, working together and gaining an understanding
of the larger, world-wide context in which we work.”
In his keynote address, to be presented at the opening plenary
on Sunday, June 24, Professor Cohen will focus on one of the
conference’s main themes: “Integration and Individualism:
Challenges to Jewish Identity and Community in the 21st Century.”
Cohen will be drawing from his recently published study, with
Ari Y. Kelman, entitled “The Continuity of Discontinuity:
How Young Jews Are Connecting, Creating, and Organizing Their
Own Jewish Lives.” Their research documented how young
adults are expressing their Jewish identities and connecting
to Jewish community through innovative channels of their own
creation, reflecting a contemporary world view of autonomy,
volunteerism, fluid boundaries among Jews of different streams
and between Jews and non-Jews, and a search for personal meaning.
Challenging traditional norms of Jewish identity and community-building,
today’s young adults are laying the foundation for new
forms of affiliation that Cohen and Kelman believe may precipitate
an exciting renewal of Jewish life and practice. Their study
involved an in-depth look at four initiatives that reflect
these trends: J-Dub Records, a New York-based label that first
marketed Chasidic reggae sensation Matisyahu; Storahtelling,
a musical theater venture that originated in Israel; Ikar,
a synagogue in Los Angeles; and The Salon in Toronto.
Cohen remarked that “unaffiliated does not mean unengaged,”
a phenomenon he believes has important implications for fundraising
and programming professionals in the organized Jewish world.
“We need to pay attention to the new currents emerging
from younger Jews,” he urged, predicting, “Their
cultural tendencies will have an impact on traditional institutions
when they move into them, if not already.”
Mr. Mann and Ms. Harte will each facilitate seminars in their
respective areas of expertise. Ms. Harte, who oversees adult
programming at JCC Association and consults to JCCs in North
America on adult programs, is part of a panel that will explore
educational journeys for adults. No longer just for kids,
Jewish living and learning offers opportunities for self-discovery,
positive experiential Jewish experiences, and life long learning
opportunities that enhance one’s sense of self. Ms.
Harte will focus on a new initiative being developed at JCC
Association, which will be an articulated program to reach
the adult population served by JCCs. Mann, a member of the
senior management team at JCC Association, will participate
in a panel that examines the specific skill sets for leadership
and management in today’s fast-paced, complex work environment.
Among the issues being considered are how to assess future
staffing needs and employ strategic thinking in staff preparation
and division of limited resources. His remarks will include
an overview of best practices in the field along with a theoretical
analysis. Mann will also be the main presenter at a session
for executive directors of the World Confederation of Jewish
Community Centers and the Joint Distribution Committee Mentoring
and Professional Exchange Project, “One Candle Lighting
Another.”
“The allusion to the candle,” explained Mann,
“is that one JCC can help another, just as one candle
can light another without diminishing its own light. In fact,
it (a JCC) may even become brighter in the process of sharing
information and resources.” Mann’s talk will describe
what JCC Association has learned through a major benchmarking
project in North America about how to measure excellence.
“What that involves,” he said, “is the gathering
and measurement of information and how to interpret and use
it to improve a JCC’s performance.”
Reporters/Editors: For photographs and
sources for feature stories, call JCC Association Communications
Manager Miriam Rinn at (212) 786-5092 or e-mail miriam@jcca.org.
###
JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
520 8th Ave., NY, NY 10018
212-786-5092
fax: 212-481-4174
send an e-mail
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