By Lianne Kolirin
A new council has gathered in Israel to attempt to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the global Jewish community today.
The representatives were recruited from all over the world by an algorithm built to ensure the diversity of the Voice of the People (VoP) council.
The initiative, which seeks to unite and empower Jewish communities, is the brainchild of the Israeli president Isaac Herzog. His vision, originally outlined in April 2023, was to engage a diverse range of Jewish voices to work together to identify, discuss and creatively address the most pressing immediate and long-term challenges affecting the Jewish people.
But the establishment of the council, which had been due to launch at the end of that year, was put on ice after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 that year, triggering the war in Gaza.
In a changed world that saw the conflict deepening and antisemitism surging globally, the concept was revived last spring. The organisers, many of whom were recruited from Israel’s thriving high-tech sector, then embarked on the process of recruiting the councillors — 50 from Israel, 50 from North America and 50 from the rest of the world.
The rigorous application process was in part determined by an algorithm that was designed to recruit a diverse and inclusive cohort based on a wide range of parameters, including gender, professional background, denominational affiliation and geographical location. As such, the council features members ranging from the editor of an Ultra-Orthodox Haredi newspaper to LGBTQI+ advocates.
The council has been divided into 10 groups of 15 that will spend the next two years working on one of five specific issues that emerged from a survey of 10,000 Jewish respondents. These are: antisemitism, polarisation within the Jewish world, Israel’s relationship with global Jewry, relations between Jews and non-Jews, and Jewish identity and heritage. The project hopes to turn talk into action and “meaningful change” for Jewish communities.
President Herzog attended twice during the week — once at the start and again on the final night. “As a nation, we are facing challenging times, with our foremost mission being the return of all the hostages to their homes,” he said at the start.
“I welcome the convening of the council of the Voice of the People initiative especially during these difficult days, as we work toward a better future for the Jewish people in Israel and the diaspora.”
In an on-the-record briefing with journalists last week, he said the events of October represented a “sea change”. He told reporters that he and his wife had visited more than 1,000 bereaved families over the past year and that he had just come from the shiva — mourning period and commemoration — for one of the hostages whose body was released last week.
“Our nation has shown such immense resilience together and we should discuss how we deal with it further. What is the future of Jewish life anywhere around the globe? How do we develop it, enhance it?” he said.
“I said to myself that there has to be a place where we can detach a little bit from the organised Jewish world and arrange a programme that enables people to think together and dream big and be able to produce outputs that the Jewish world can use — brilliant ideas, great ideas, things that we haven’t thought about.”
The conference was hosted in the northern city of Haifa, known for its diverse population who coexist peacefully.
The councillors had initially met online last month but were now meeting each other for the first time. From here onwards, they will meet on a monthly basis online across multiple time zones.
Dr Efrat Sopher, one of the UK council members, is a Middle East and foreign policy analyst who serves on the executive committee of the World Jewish Congress. She has been assigned to tackle relations between Jews and non-Jews, which she said was her preferred subject. “I really believe that interfaith work can serve as a wonderful avenue to pursue diplomacy,” she said at the end of the conference.
Dr Sopher told the Religion Media Centre she was first inspired to apply after hearing President Herzog address the congress about the concept.
“It’s more than just bringing people together,” she said. “That call for unity is something that I believe really affects the national security of Israel and it strengthens the security of Jewish communities across the world.”
Dan Sacker, former adviser to the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, is another one of the British councillors. He said the conference was “intellectually very stimulating and really made you think”, especially given the “different experiences and different perspectives” of the representatives.
“We’re 150 people,” he said. “We’re not arrogant enough to think we’re going to solve these issues. We’re not. But I think the purpose of this is if we can move the dial just a little bit then that is progress and it’s progress coming from a different range of voices at different points in their careers which I think can only be positive.”
Mr Sacker, now working as a strategic communications consultant, told the RMC that his former boss and mentor — Rabbi Sacks — would have “absolutely loved” the idea. “He was all about seeking out different opinions, talking, listening, thinking. His perspective was all about bridging relations between Israel and the diaspora, secular and religious, and Jewish and non-Jewish.”
Also channelling Rabbi Sacks was Shirel Dagan-Levy, the chief executive of VoP. In her closing remarks at the conference on Thursday, she referred to a quote from Rabbi Sacks which she felt was written for the initiative.
“In times of challenge and uncertainty,” the Rabbi had said, “it is upon us to seek common ground, to build bridges, and to forge covenants of meaning. For this is the strength of the Jewish people: the ability to argue, yet also to unite; to be different from one another, yet deeply committed to one another.
“And when we act together — with respect, trust, and shared responsibility — there is no limit to what we can achieve.”
Lianne Kolirin is a freelance journalist whose trip was facilitated by the event organisers
