Michael Lichtenstein, Jonathan Boyd & More…

From Michael Lichtenstein to other Jewish educators, December is a busy month. JPR’s Executive Director, Jonathan Boyd, presented four key sessions at Limmud conference in December.  The week-long event, which is probably the largest Jewish educational conference in Europe, offers its 2,500 participants a vast range of opportunities to explore Jewish life in multiple ways with some of the world’s leading Jewish thinkers and educators.

The JPR sessions are:

JEWISH LIFE IN EUROPE: IMMINENT CATASTROPHE OR IMPENDING RENAISSANCE?
Monday 23 December, 9.20am
Many commentators on European Jewry have started to claim that Jewish life in Europe is “dying a slow death” and facing “bleak prospects” due to a rising tide of antisemitism. But others vehemently disagree, maintaining that clear signs of a renaissance can be seen. Using the latest available data, we will assess the competing claims.

FIVE CHALLENGES FACING THE JEWISH PEOPLE
Tuesday 24 December, 9.20am
The question of how Jewishness is transmitted to the next generation has been a constant throughout Jewish history, but the context in which this is done changes continually over time. This session uses contemporary sociological literature to explore some of the particular challenges facing the Jewish People today, and discusses what might be done to overcome them.

NUMBER CRUNCHING THE JEWISH FUTURE
Wednesday 25 December, 9.20am
Demographic data provide us with unique views of Jewish life, and tell us a great deal about who Jews are and where they are heading. During this session, we will look at several examples of key demographic data, and consider what they tell us about the state of the Jewish world – now and in the future.

WHAT KIND OF JEWISH GRANDCHILDREN WILL WE HAVE? THE FUTURE OF THE BRITISH JEWISH COMMUNITY
Wednesday 25 December, 1.30pm
Throughout 2013, our research team has been heavily engaged in analysing and interpreting data from the 2011 UK Census, unquestionably the best dataset we have ever had on Jews in Britain. It allows us to see the UK Jewish population in completely new ways, sheds new light on how the community is changing, and provides us with a fantastic tool for policy development. In this session, we will present what we have learned so far, and consider the implications for the future of British Jewry.

Source: http://www.jewocity.com/blog/michael-lichtenstein-jonathan-boyd-more/10760