The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) will convene its annual General Assembly in Washington DC, from November 16 to 18.
Among the assembly's headline speakers are former Chicago mayor and US ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, bestselling author and podcaster Dan Senor, and Central Synagogue Senior Rabbi Angela Buchdahl.
Positioned as the premier gathering of North American Jewish communal leadership, this year’s conference will focus on three themes that organizers say define the moment for global Jewry: rebuilding Israel, community security, and driving Jewish engagement.
The gathering comes two years after the October 7 massacre and as the last living hostages have returned home, with organizers framing the event as the opening of a new chapter for Jewish communities in Israel, the United States, Canada, and beyond.
“Two years after the October 7th attacks, with the last living hostages finally home and the war coming to an end, our community is opening a new chapter in which we must both continue confronting the monumental challenges we face and leverage our powerful resilience to build a stronger and safer Jewish future,” said Shira Hutt, JFNA’s executive vice president. “At critical moments such as these, the General Assembly is vital to our mission to build flourishing Jewish communities, bringing together leaders from across the United States, Canada, and Israel to ensure that we not only survive, but thrive.”
Emanuel will discuss the Jewish community and today’s political environment in a conversation moderated by CNN contributor Scott Jennings and Fox News’s Jessica Tarlov. Senor will speak about what comes next for Israel and the surge of engagement in Jewish life. Olivia Reingold of The Free Press will examine media bias and misinformation.
The Assembly will also mark 30 years since the assassination of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, featuring reflections by his granddaughter, Noa Rothman, and a debate on the future of a two-state solution three decades after his murder. That session, presented with the journal Sapir, will feature Israel Policy Forum chief policy officer Michael Koplow and Commentary editor John Podhoretz, moderated by former Channel 13 News anchor Tamar Ish-Shalom.
Rabbi Buchdahl, whose forthcoming book is titled Heart of a Stranger, will serve as scholar-in-residence. She is the first woman to lead Central Synagogue in its 180-year history.
Other featured speakers include Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the former IDF spokesperson who led the military’s strategic communications during the Israel-Hamas War, former White House speechwriter and award-winning author Sarah Hurwitz, and Shalom Hartman Institute scholar Dr. Micah Goodman.
Pushing back against antisemitism and Israel's media war
According to JFNA, plenaries and breakouts will address Israel’s information war online and in the media, pushing back against antisemitism in education, understanding Iran’s global reach, the mental health crisis in Israel, and how to sustain and deepen the “surge” in Jewish engagement seen across communities over the past two years.
“As our world continues to rapidly evolve, it is more important than ever for the Jewish community to gather at forums such as the General Assembly that provide opportunities to engage with our most pressing issues,” said conference co-chairs Joan Lubar and John Crouch of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“We look forward to welcoming nearly 2,000 of our community members as we work to build our collective future around the values we all hold dear.”
The General Assembly regularly attracts federation professionals, lay leaders, philanthropists, rabbis and educators, and Israeli and North American policymakers. Organizers said they expect robust participation this year given the shifting security, diplomatic, and communal landscape and the need to translate emergency solidarity into long-term strategy and investment.