If you've ever been to one of those giant auto shows where hundreds of gleaming new car models are lavishly displayed in a convention hall the size of Montana, you've got an idea of what it felt like last Sunday morning when I entered the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly (commonly known as the "GA"), which is being held this year at the Baltimore Convention Center.
The scores of booths laid out in giant rows are what the organizers call The GA Marketplace, a modern-day shuk of Jewish causes where advocates seduce you with free chocolate or other goodies so that you'll hear about some new village they're building in Africa, or some new Web site that will "revolutionize" Jewish education, or some new movement that will attract the "new generation."
Not all causes in the shuk are revolutionary. Many booths promote venerable institutions like the "Joint" (JDC) or Hillel, various marketing vendors or even book publishers (yes, they still have those). But regardless of the causes, the larger-than-life quality of the assembly gives the enterprise a certain grandeur and headiness.
You feel this headiness when you attend the GA's many conferences, which are spread out over three days and attract top speakers from the Jewish world.
You can tell from their titles that the conferences deal only with the big stuff: "Words of Hate, Words of Hope: When External Events Shape Jewish Identity," "Can the Jewish World Leverage Israeli Expertise in the Developing World," "Legacy Versus Innovation: A False Dichotomy" and "Connecting the Dots in the Global Jewish Network," among many others.
While I certainly enjoyed the conferences, I have to say that what stuck with me the most -- besides the fact that I collected a briefcase full of business cards and brochures -- was my Sunday encounter in the shuk with three Jews.
These are not the kind of Jews I might bump into in my Pico-Robertson neighborhood.
One was a Karaite Jew, the other a Humanistic Jew and the third a leader of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Jews.
I had heard of Karaite Jews, but I had never met one. So, when I saw a Karaite banner over one of the booths, I didn't need any chocolate to draw me in...
displayed in a convention hall the size of Montana, you've got an idea of what it felt like last Sunday morning when I entered the Jewish Federations of North America's General Assembly (commonly known as the "GA"), which is being held this year at the Baltimore Convention Center.
