May 12-14th 2019, 45 Jewish change-makers joined together to innovate Jewish life in Australia, in Sutton Forest, NSW. The group spent three days exploring how they can step up as leaders in the Australian Jewish community, and transform ‘talk’ into ‘action’.
Connecting across the generations and denominations, the group were inspired by keynote David Cygielman, Founder and CEO of Moishe House International, learnt from international guest Bradly Caro-Cook, CEO of Career Up Now, and engaged with the network during peer skill sessions, including “How to speak so people will listen”, “Leading Jewishly” and “The 3 Rs of volunteering.”
The retreat culminated in a Showcase session, where incredible Jewish ideations were pitched to the community. Some of the pitches were attempting to solve various concerns in the Jewish Community;
- How might we create greater levels of understanding of the experiences of LGBT Jews within the Orthodox/Religious Jewish community?
- Pitch included an idea to hold discussions and working groups to increase acceptance of LGBT Jews
- How might we change Jewish education for Jewish children to meet the needs of the 21st century?
- Pitch included an app to make Jewish learning accessible and;
- An alternative education Jewish school
- How might we break barriers between people with disabilities and people without disabilities in order to (increase awareness and) change mindset about disabilities?
- Pitch included an awareness building social campaign
- How might we engage young adults in the Jewish community and strengthen Jewish identity
- Pitch included a Jewish themed boardgame
- How might we facilitate the Jewish community to increase understanding between Jewish and Aboriginal communities and to further Aboriginal self-determination and empowerment on their terms?
- Pitch included a scoping phase for an initiative called It’s On Us (IOU) that will be guided by Aboriginal friends.
If any of these spark your interest contact Natalie for more information.
Rabbi Yaakov Glasman, St Kilda Hebrew Congregation, reflected on the retreat, writing, “[LaunchPad] is a brilliant platform for existing and emerging leaders to innovate, create and share ideas and practical solutions to address some of the burning issues facing the modern Jewish community. Meeting so many Jewish leaders from across Australia was an experience I’ll never forget. I learned so much from so many people and feel privileged to have been a part of such an amazing cohort of proud Jews!”
For more information about the retreat, find here the full program booklet and stay tuned for the LaunchPad video coming soon, highlighting the best moments of the retreat!
