YU and CJF Hold 3rd Annual ChampionsGate Conference

From July 20 to July 22, a group of about 210 leaders of the American Jewish community gathered at the ChampionsGate resort in Orlando, Florida. The group was comprised of lay leaders, pulpit Rabbis, heads of schools, and heads of other non-profit organizations, as well as staff, faculty, and students from YU and the Center for the Jewish Future. The attendees participated in a leadership conference entitled "Shleimut: 'Self, Institution, and Community'".

This conference was actually the third such held at ChampionsGate, with the conference being held there the previous two summers. The conference is the brainchild of Ira Mitzner, a trustee of YU from Houston, Texas. Noah Cheses (YC '08 RIETS '11), a Wexner Fellow who attended the conference, described it as "a General Assembly for Modern Orthodoxy."

One of the main purposes of the conference was to bring together leaders from Modern Orthodox communities all over America, and facilitate the development of relationships between the leaders of these communities. About half of the attendees came from the New York metropolitan area, and the other half came from other Jewish communities across America. "It was empowering to bring these people together, to bring peer groups from different places to share experiences," said Rabbi Ari Rockoff, Director of Community Initiatives at the Center for the Jewish Future and the main organizer of the conference. Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, Senior Scholar at the CJF and University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought, also attended the conference. "The broad geographical representation was extraordinary," he said. "People from different communities met one another for the first time."

One of this year's conference's buzzwords was 'collaboration'. Leaders of one community connecting with leaders from a different community resulted in a sense of broader collaboration. This was also facilitated by various YU and CJF administrators. For example, Rabbi Josh Joseph, Chief of Staff and Deputy to the President, monitored a board on which attendees recorded specific issues which their community faces, and organized group meetings between leaders of communities which face similar problems.

The conference also sought to address practical problems confronting Jewish communities across America. The organizers of the conference chose specific issues for the attendees to discuss, such as fundraising and sexual education, which were often based on their experiences from the previous two conferences. Some issues were chosen by reexamining transcripts of the previous two ChampionsGate conferences. Others, such as the rising costs of tuition for Jewish day schools, were submitted by attendees of the previous two conferences, who had received the schedule in advance in order to give feedback about the programming.

Even so, no one expected that these major issues would be resolved after a three day conference. Rabbi Leonard Matanky, Head of School of Ida Crown Jewish Academy and Rabbi of Congregation K.I.N.S. in Chicago, attended the conference. He acknowledged that it is impossible to answer these questions in such a short time. "But by raising the issues, and bringing together people who are committed to leading lives that make a difference, solutions can ultimately be found," he said.

To this end, another goal of the conference was to make Jewish leaders realize that YU could be a valuable resource in confronting the broader problems of the Modern Orthodox community. "People felt that YU could play a role in tangible ways," Rabbi Schacter said. "It's important for people to have a direct connection with President Joel, Rabbi Brander, and others from our institution." "One of the most important aspects of the conference is the commitment of Yeshiva to make a difference beyond 185th and Amsterdam," said Rabbi Matanky.

Dr. Phil Goldmeier, a lay leader in Detroit who also attended the conference, agreed with this sentiment. "The conference let people know that YU is interested in servicing the needs of other communities."

Yeshiva president Richard Joel also believes that YU has a place in the affairs of the broader Jewish community. "Since Yeshiva University is a university without walls, I am delighted that our educational impact is felt throughout the Jewish world," he declared. "Convening leadership to provoke the continuing growth of the ideas and ideals of our Yeshiva is a key part of our mission."

By all accounts, the attendees left the conference in high spirits. "I found it energizing, to the point where I came back and felt like I couldn't explain it to other people," Dr. Goldmeier said. "It was very nice to come out with a positive feeling about YU again, which had been gone for a long time." Avi Amsalem (YC '09), who attended the conference both to help out with the logistics and to talk about the YU Medical Ethics Society, also saw the effect that the conference had on the attendees. "The overall impression that I got from the conference attendees is that they were blown away," he said.

Amsalem did, however, have some criticism of the conference, namely in terms of the lack of student involvement. Many times during the conference, there was discussion of the future. In fact, the conference's final session was entitled "Machar [tomorrow]…when the real work begins!" In this vein, Amsalem told some of the organizers of the conference that he felt there should be more of a student presence at the conference. "There should be a student constituency as well," he said. "The future leaders should be there."

Still, most felt that the conference was overwhelmingly successful, and needs to be followed up in practical ways. "The conference shouldn't just be a once-a-year experience," Rabbi Rockoff said. The CJF plans to host two follow-up conferences during the year which will deal with individual issues. Cheses said, "this is the beginning of something great."