An introduction to the mission and platform of PresenTense, through the examination of two types of Judaism and Zionism: that which survives, and that which inspires.
1. What is
Shai Davis
Director of Communications
shaidavis@presentense.org
introduction of self
pt comes to answer a question
2. he average
hat does t
W
ink it means
student th
e” Jewish?
to “b
think about the average college student -- or any young, ‘desirable’ semi-afiliated Jew that
organizations try to reach.
3. fighting
anti-semitism assimilation
they broadcast 2 general messages: be jewish by fighting anti-semitism and assimilation (or
put more positively, be proud of being Jewish and marry Jewish).
4. ?
why
...but
but we don’t enough ask the obvious question: why? why fight the trends? why no go darwin-
style into the dark night?
5. Well, what’s the point of a Jewish state?
What’s the point of a Jewish people?
to answer that, we need to consider the most basic questions
7. a tale of 2 conferences
2 conferences. both met in the same building, a few months apart.
the GA - meets to discuss the basic challenges facing Jewry and Israel. Issues of money and security are paramount.
the president’s conference - on the other hand - brought together the leaders of google, facebook, yahoo, and 7 nobel laureates to discuss the
possibilities for the future. Our tomorrow - issues of technology, medicine, culture, etc. that eect not just the Jews but the world at large.
Solutions coming from israel for the good of the globe.
so we have challenges vs possibilities
which is more jewish?
8. in fact, there are 2 approaches to “being” Jewish - internal and external
9. israel is home to 2 types of zionism
israel is home to 2 types of zionism
this dichotomy is reflected in the 2 historic zionisms (broadly speaking):
israel for the sake of jewish security and
israel for something greater - as a platform to solve global issues.
12. Jewry is a social network.
the jewish ppl is social network:
nodes, language, culture, even an ‘operating system’
we can put it to work to get our ideas, our solutions out there
13. PresenTense Leverages the Jewish Platform
that’s what PT is doing.
we began 2.5 years by asking why be jewish
14. PresenTense Magazine
the magazine provided a forum for young (=optimistic, innovative, fresh) Jews to exchange
ideas about issues at their heart
15. 8 issues to date, 232 contributors this year, 30K readership
ad-supported, volunteer driven
open-source
16. PresenTense Summer Institute
now answering the question of HOW to get these ideas going
6 weeks, jerusalem, 16 fellows, marketing, networking, business models, plans, pitches
27 ventures launched to date, 11 have received funding or have been acquired by other
organizations
mentors, coaches, faculty - top of their industries
