The GA Turned to Tennessee in 2007: Top Speakers Included Rice, Dean

The UJC General Assembly – the largest annual gathering of Jewish leadership in the world – was a truly memorable event with a distinctive Southern flair. The GA took place Nov. 11-13 at Nashville 's magnificent Gaylord Opryland Hotel Resort and Convention Center, with multiple host communities helping to bring some down-home flavor to the GA. This year, we were guests of the Jewish federations of Chattanooga, Knoxville, Memphis and Nashville.

The GA always offers a wide spectrum of events and speakers that appeals to a broad range of participants, and this year offered an incredible array. (have fun with these Top 10 Reasons to Attend the GA). As always, the GA provided federation professionals of all levels with practical work tools they can apply at home; lend Jewish communal professionals and volunteers an opportunity to network with a diverse range of peers; and offer inspiring speakers and events.

U.S. Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice was among the headliners, appearing at the closing plenary to discuss the upcoming Middle East peace conference. Other important political figures speaking at the GA included Isaac 'Buzi' Herzog, Israel's minister of the Diaspora, Society and the Fight Against Anti-Semitism, and minister of Welfare and Social Services; Democratic National Committee Chair and former presidential candidate Howard Dean, whose 2004 campaign pioneered the use of online social networking; and Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen.

Those seeking a spiritual and intellectual context looked to GA's scholar-in-residence, Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter, a professor of Jewish history and thought at the Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University. A leading voice in the modern Orthodox movement, Rabbi Schacter offered provocative insights into our communal future.

We also met a group of exciting young Jewish leaders, who are finding bold new ways of evoking our ancient commandment of tikkun olam, repairing the world. They included Jonathan Greenblatt, co-founder of Ethos Water, a bottled water brand designed to help bring clean water to children around the world; Dany Gliksberg, of Israel's Ayalim Association, which brings young volunteers to work in underdeveloped communities in an Israeli version of Americorps; Sarah Chasin, a dynamic college student whose life was changed after she helped other people rebuild their lives in the wake of Hurricane Katrina; and Ari Sandel, whose “West Bank Story” about peace and competing falafel stands won an Academy Award for short films (loved the clip you saw at the GA? Buy the DVD here)

Many of you also wanted concrete take-home value from your GA experience. As in past years, we provided you with some fascinating speakers and useful resources – such as business guru Marshall Goldsmith, an executive coach and trainer whose “ What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful ” became America's best-selling business guide, and Bruce Pearl, coach of the Tennessee Volunteers basketball powerhouse and a motivational speaker, who partly attributes his success to “Jewish guilt and fear of losing.”

But these were just some of the 2007 GA headliners. In between the major plenaries and forums were the smaller kinds of tachlis, (nuts and bolts) breakout meetings that equip Jewish professionals with plenty of practical, added value.. As you peruse the GA schedule, you'll get a taste of the variety of breakouts we offered, from “How do we measure success?” to “Building the base: Donor Acquisition & Retention” to “ Why Do Overseas Funds Matter.”

Some of these sessions were built around UJC's new operational strategy (view video), not only providing our system with an in-depth look at this bold outline for reshaping the UJC/Federation continental system, but providing a key opportunity for us to work collaboratively to meet the challenges and opportunities before us.

We promised that the GA will be infused with a down-home tone, and we delivered on that too. The host community event at the famed Grand Ole Opry House included country western stars and other musicians, like Israeli hip-hop violinist Miri Ben-Ari. There was also a wonderful program that revealed what artists like Josh Groban, Tim McGraw, Garth Brooks, Ricky Martin, Christina Aguilera, Kenny Rogers and Wynonna Judd share (hint: it has something to do with the Jewish people).

There were many memorable moments that weren't on the official program as well – from a giveaway of a Toyota minivan to a participating Jewish federation (congratulations, Collier County (Naples), Florida!), to an opportunity to be featured in a video in which your community leaders discuss with the federation world their own challenges and opportunities. As they say in Nashville, "Shalom y'all, and see you at next year's GA in Jerusalem!" (Nov. 16-19, 2008. Take a  moment to mark it on your calendars)

The 2007 UJC General Assembly in Nashville was held on November 11-13.