THE JEWISH PEOPLE POLICY PLANNING INSTITUTE

JPPPI in the media

This year's Annual Assessment Executive Summary proceeds from a perception that the notion of the Jewish people comprised of Jewish communities around the world with a core state in Israel is one which shows signs of weakening and, perhaps therefore, is increasingly expressed by the more deeply affiliated members of organized Jewish communities as well as by some Israeli leaders.  It begins a series of tentative suggestions, based on the information and analyses provided in the material that follows, for a strategic agenda and policy direction.  In order to see the suggestions in perspective, they are followed by an updated table indicating a number of major characteristics of the Jewish People. Some of the salient features indicated in the table are then discussed in some detail.

            Following an analysis of the impact of the Second Lebanon War on Israel and American Jewry, as well as a survey of the condition of Jews in central Europe from 2000 until the present, the assessment turns to some societal aspects of the Jewish People. It presents a series of essays which examine Jewish socio-economic patterns; migration patterns; family patterns; religious patterns; and one aspect of Jewish culture, namely, cinema.

The primary objective of the Crisis Management project at the JPPPI is to improve the capability of Jewish leadership in Israel and throughout the world to address crises that may emerge involving the Jewish people. The crisis management project was concluded in December 2007. Community leaders and CEO's have been briefed and provided with the JPPPI's recommendations

This project is designed to outline various possible scenarios for the future of the Jewish people in the coming decades, up to 2025. These scenarios will help articulate policy recommendations and practical measures that can be undertaken by the Jewish people today to avoid perilous situations and catalyze favorable future developments.

This paper by Dr. Shalom Wald is the first written product of the "Improving the Standing of the Jewish People in Emerging Superpowers without Biblical Tradition" Project.