More than 150 Jewish leaders from all over the world collected in Haifa today to attend to important difficulties dealing with worldwide Jewry, as part of the Voice of the Individuals (VOP) effort led by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. The five-day convention, which started Sunday, marked the very first in-person conference of the council, that includes agents from Israel, The United States And Canada, and other Jewish neighborhoods worldwide.
The effort was created to promote deep discussions on immediate concerns, such as increasing antisemitism, Jewish identity, and common polarization. The delegates, chosen utilizing an algorithm to show the variety of Jewish voices, were divided into 5 working groups concentrated on crucial difficulties recognized through a pre-conference study. Nevertheless, organizers kept in mind that the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel had actually improved concerns, triggering lots of Jews to reassess their connection to their identity.
Israeli-Palestinian vlogger and business owner Nuseir Yassin, author and poet Aija Mayrock, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, and very first girl Michal Herzog, at the Voice of the Individuals conference in Haifa, March 5, 2025. (Dor Pazuelo)
VOP CEO Shirel Dagan-Levy highlighted the introduction of what she called “October 8 Jews”– people who, after October 7, felt a newly found connection to their Jewish heritage. “Now more than ever, we require this effort,” she stated at a press rundown Wednesday. “Lots of people who before October 7 never ever needed to handle their Jewish identity are now seeing it is deeply crucial to them. It’s incredible to see them as part of the discussion.”
The effort is structured as a six-month research-based task, instead of a short-term accelerator, with individuals anticipated to take part in substantial conversations before establishing services. “In some cases we do not settle on an issue, which’s what we desire the council to deal with,” Dagan-Levy stated. “We currently see stress in the space– we desire individuals to experience some pain due to the fact that if we keep simply speaking to individuals that appear like us and talk like us, that’s not going to cause alter.”
Herzog revealed self-confidence in the effort’s capacity to cause significant modification, comparing it to worldwide management online forums like the World Economic Online Forum. He stressed that the event itself was an action towards bridging spaces in between Israeli and Diaspora Jews. “The structure of this effort rests on our most considerable property as an individuals– the capability to take part in deep, cumulative discussion and, through it, drive joint action,” Herzog stated.
The effort’s findings and services might be embraced by significant Jewish companies, consisting of the World Zionist Company and the Jewish Company for Israel, to enhance Jewish common facilities around the world.