Photo courtesy of Claudine and Stephen Bronfman

By Stephen and Claudine Bronfman

Why are we chairing GEN J?

Because we are excited to be taking our extraordinary Jewish community in a direction that reflects the ideas and aspirations of a new generation. We want to bring our Jewish experience, which is dynamic and inclusive, to community life in Montreal.

The generations that preceded ours built an extraordinary network of institutions suited to their needs. The time has come for our generation to step forth and modernize our community in such a way that it responds to our needs and exudes our pride in being Jewish.

Now, we are embarking on an effort to strengthen Jewish life and connections, to inspire and mobilize our next generation, and to secure the future of Jewish Montreal. We want our Jewish day schools to be centres of excellence, second to no other schools in the Diaspora. We want every Jewish child in our community to be enriched by Jewish arts and culture. We want young adults to be inspired by travel to Israel. We want young families to realize that participation in Jewish life will broaden their outlook. We want young Jews to appreciate their heritage and to offer them new opportunities for exploration. We want to give Jews new reasons to fall in love with Judaism.

Ours is a world of unprecedented choices. We are more open to the world, and the world is open to us as never before. This is both a blessing and a challenge. If we are to be Jews it will be because we have chosen to live Jewishly and to partake in Jewish experiences. GEN J is the vehicle that promises to inspire the next generation and revolutionize our community.

We invite you to join us on this journey.