Jewish Emergent Network announces (RE)VISION20/20 National Conference

From June 18 – 20, 2020 in Los Angeles, the Jewish Emergent Network will gather with thought leaders from around North America for (RE)VISION20/20, a dynamic, content-rich, Shabbat-based conference held at IKAR and co-hosted by the Jewish Emergent Network organizations: IKAR in L.A., Kavana in Seattle, The Kitchen in San Francisco, Mishkan in Chicago, Sixth & I in Washington, D.C., and Lab/Shul and Romemu in New York. The conference is co-chaired by Rabbi Noa Kushner of The Kitchen and Rabbi Shira Stutman of Sixth & I.

“People can come choose-their-own adventure as we dig deep into ritual and prayer, a diverse spectrum of music, approaches to creating radically welcoming spaces and programs, and strategies for navigating moral leadership,” says Melissa Balaban, Chair of the Network and CEO of IKAR. “We also invite people into our processes: our best practices, yes, but also how we fail forward and iterate.”

The three days of content will feature laboratories, galleries, interactive experiments, panels, guest speakers and other creative learning modules, with time built in for networking, davening, singing and creating community. Registration is open to the public: rabbis, cantors, Jewish professionals, educators, lay leaders, academics, philanthropists, activists and interested-folks-at-large from across the spectrum of practice are invited to register at www.JewishEmergentNetwork.org. Spots are limited!

(RE)VISION20/20 will also be the capstone of the Network’s hallmark rabbinic fellowship, as the Network designs a leadership development program for rabbinical students, set to launch in 2021. The rabbinic fellowship helped shape 14 members of the next generation of entrepreneurial, risk-taking, change-making rabbis, and among the myriad opportunities at the conference will be the chance to learn with both cohorts of the Network’s fellows.

The communities in the Network do not represent any one denomination or set of religious practices. What they share is a devotion to revitalizing the field of Jewish engagement, a commitment to approaches both traditionally rooted and creative, and a demonstrated success in attracting unaffiliated and disengaged Jews to a rich and meaningful Jewish practice. While each community is different in form and organizational structure, all have taken an entrepreneurial approach to this shared vision, operating outside of conventional institutional models, rethinking basic assumptions about ritual and spiritual practice, membership models, staff structures, the religious/cultural divide and physical space.

Funding for the Jewish Emergent Network and its rabbinic fellowship program has been generously provided through a grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation. Significant additional funding is provided by the Crown Family, the Charles H. Revson Foundation, Diane & Guilford Glazer Philanthropies, the William Davidson Foundation, the Righteous Persons Foundation, the Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah, and Natan. The Network is working with current funders and cultivating prospective funders in connection with its next major project.

Source: eJewish Philanthropy