The National Makom Network Meeting took place recently in New York, with the participation of Makom professionals, cultural leaders and researchers. The schedule and several lecture summaries appear below.
Goals of the Network Meeting:
• to explore the growing phenomenon by which Jews define themselves based on culture and not necessarily on religion
• to tease out the role of culture in overall engagement with Israel
• to learn from community experience as to what it takes to bring Israeli culture to the public space – beyond Jewish institutions
• to understand the stumbling blocks between North American Jews and Israeli culture, and further think through the implications
Schedule (press on links for lecture summaries)
Thursday, June 8 2006
| Time |
Topic |
Presenters |
| 11:00 -11:30 |
Welcome & Introduction – why and what is Culture? |
Marion Blumenthal, Jonathan Ariel |
| 11:30 -1:00 |
Into the Public Square – taking Israel out on the town |
Rabbi Dr. Kerry Olitsky, Dr. Shlomi Ravid |
| 1:00 |
Working Lunch: Integrating Israel in culture – case study |
Tali Lidar |
2:00 -
3:30 |
The Place of Culture in Jewish Identity |
Prof. Steven Cohen |
| 4:00 - 6:00 |
"Wrestling and Hugging": dilemmas with artistic representation of Israel |
Robbie Gringras, Michael Fisher |
6:30 -
10:00 |
Dinner and Arts Event
"In Between Places: New Art from Israel" |
Exhibit of 15 of Israel's leading artists – Influenced by both East and West, the works deal with shifting landscapes, identity, spirituality, alienation, gender, and immigration |
Friday, June 9 2006
| Time |
Topic |
Presenters |
| 8:00 - 9:30 |
Capacity for Culture: Sharing communal experience and wisdom |
Track 1: Dr. Shlomi Ravid
Track 2: Sue Linzer & Michael Fisher |
| 9:45- 11:15 |
Resources – From Makom & others |
Esti Moskovitz & Israeli Cultural Attaché |
| 11:30-12:30 |
Summation (Israel Engagement = education + travel + culture) |
Jonathan Ariel |