Polarization within the Jewish world needs immediate solutions to bridge the gaps forming quickly among our people. In response, Council Members Jessica Landes from Chile and Salomão Ioschpe from Brazil are building “The Joint Leadership Learning Initiative,” focused on collaborative learning that celebrates diversity and views disagreement as an asset for Jewish life.
The Jewish people are diverse in their thinking, diverse even in their hierarchy of values. Yet, when we succeed in uniting to act, we are capable of making unique contributions to the betterment of humanity, contributions that transform the Jewish heritage into a universal heritage.
We came to this conclusion as part of our work with the Global Council to solve one of the most complex challenges facing the Jewish people today: the growing polarization within Judaism, across communities, ideological movements, generations, and worldviews. Arriving at this realization served as our starting point for creating The Joint Leadership Learning Initiative, an innovative international leadership development program.
A fundamental question emerged during our team meetings: How can we strengthen the Jewish people’s ability to sustain its differences, which have long been a source of resilience and the foundation of its continuity and millennia-long survival, without losing its sense of shared destiny?
The answer led to a shift in perspective. Rather than seeking immediate solutions to polarization, our group discussed that it was necessary to invest in those who have the capacity to shape the conversations and decisions within our communities, specifically local leaders.
Thus, we began developing The Joint Leadership Learning Initiative as a space for intellectual and strategic development for Jewish communal and educational leaders, equipping them to navigate complexity, foster dialogue, and generate collaboration in contexts of diversity and, beyond that, in contexts of genuine disagreement.
Leading Through Diversity
The program is rooted in a distinctly Jewish idea: diversity is not a problem to be eliminated. From the earliest days of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel more than three thousand years ago to the many expressions of contemporary Jewish life, plurality has always been a defining characteristic of the Jewish people.
The program rests on two fundamental premises.
The first is that disagreement is not necessarily a force that should paralyze the Jewish people in pursuing collective action, particularly where unity is essential to preserving the unique contributions of Jewish heritage for the benefit of humanity.
The second premise is that a deeper and more thoughtful examination of our millennia-old history, which is simultaneously a history of profound disagreement and of the preservation of a single people across the centuries, can assist Jewish leaders. More specifically, our leaders need to understand, on the one hand, the boundaries between disagreement and diversity, and, on the other, what constitutes commitment to, or a threat against, this heritage and its future.
A Project Built Through Partnership
From the outset, we understood that a program of this nature would require the collaboration of institutions with complementary strengths.
For this reason, we invited Academia Judaica, an educational platform established in Brazil under the leadership of Mário Fleck and other collaborators, to serve as a strategic partner. Academia Judaica is dedicated to bringing the Jewish community closer to Judaism’s intellectual, philosophical, historical, and cultural heritage through courses, podcasts, and educational programs.
This partnership made it possible to combine the strategic work developed within Voice of the People and Academia Judaica’s educational and technological expertise, resulting in an international program specifically designed for this initiative.
Likewise, the renowned educator and scholar Dr. Marc J. Rosenstein, author of widely respected works on Jewish history and culture, including Turning Points in Jewish History, accepted the challenge of developing an original and exclusive curriculum for the program. The result is a learning journey that combines the history of the Jewish people and Jewish thought with open, honest, and intellectually rigorous discussions among participants in small, diverse groups, guided by the author and architect of the course himself.
A Pilot Program for Latin America
The inaugural cohort brings together participants from Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. More than a conventional course, this pilot project is intended to become a laboratory for collaborative learning. While participants will receive training, they will also play an active role in evaluating, refining, and adapting the model, enabling the initiative to be implemented in other Jewish communities across Latin America and, ultimately, in other regions.
Our vision is ambitious: to build a Latin American—and ultimately global—network of leaders capable of thinking collectively about the challenges facing the Jewish people from diverse realities, strengthening relationships that transcend national and institutional boundaries.
An Investment in the Future of the Jewish People
At a time when differences appear to be intensifying both within and beyond our communities, initiatives such as The Joint Leadership Learning Initiative remind us that leadership is about more than managing institutions. Above all, we need Jewish leaders who can create the conditions in which people holding different and even conflicting views can build a shared future through collective action.
The initiative also reflects one of the central messages of Voice of the People: the future of the Jewish people depends on developing leaders capable of transforming our differences into a source of creativity, learning, and collective action.
The strength of the Jewish people has never rested on everyone thinking alike. Throughout our history, our people have always relied on our ability to debate, disagree, and nevertheless continue building together. Now, we have leadership training that matches who our people are and what we need next.
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The Joint Leadership Learning Initiative is proud to introduce its inaugural cohort.
The pioneering nature of this initiative is reflected in the group below selected to participate in our first cohort. The program brings together ten Jewish leaders from across Latin America, representing different countries, professional backgrounds, and fields of expertise, all committed to strengthening Jewish life and building bridges across the diversity of our people.
The participants in this pilot project are:
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This article is part of Voice of the People’s series spotlighting initiatives and ideas developed by our first cohort. Subscribe today to our newsletter to receive updates like these right to your inbox!
