For ten years, the Z3 Project – which began at the Oshman Family JCC as a conference and has now grown to include Leadership Labs and a think tank – has been empowering Jewish community leaders and lay people to reimagine Jewish engagement for the 21st century by uniting Jewish people across the diaspora and in Israel through meaningful dialogue. The Project is guided by three principles: unity not uniformity, engaging as equal partners, and diversity of voices.
For six of Z3’s ten years, the Tucson J has brought a cohort from the community to the conference to experience this powerful, inspiring, and sometimes even uncomfortable work. For the last several years, fueled by the growth of the Weintraub Israel Center, a partnership between Jewish Philanthropies of Southern Arizona and the J, the J adopted Z3 as a platform for engagement here in Tucson, using its guiding principles as an intentional framework for Jewish Life and Israel programming.
This year, eight professionals and lay leaders from the Tucson J community joined over 1,000 at the conference in Palo Alto on November 17. Participants spent time in pre-conference learning and defining goals and outcomes, and after, met for a debriefing session to share takeaways that will become actionable steps as the J continues to animate the Z3 platform in our local community. The theme of the 2024 conference was “Our Future Starts Now” and, in contrast to last year’s event which took place just over a month after October 7 with an expected amount of pain and uncertainty, the message was one of hope, unity, determination, and action.
Powerful keynote speeches were delivered by former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who drove home the importance of sending American Jewish youth to Israel to cultivate a strong cultural and national identity; and Adela Cojab, a legal advocate and activist known for leading the charge on a successful Title VI complaint with the Office of Civil Rights that led to her NYU campus revising its discrimination and harassment policies to include antisemitism – a lamppost case that led to reforms on other campuses across the country. Other highlights included hearing testimonies urging action from a number of family members of victims of October 7 and breakout sessions the group split up to attend, including, “Talking Dugri: Are Peace and Coexistence Possible”, “What Are We Teaching Our Kids”, “Safeguarding Our Future: Alliances or Isolation”, “Understanding the Mayhem of the Middle East”, “The Elections Are Over. Now What?” and more.
While topics were explored with nuance and from many angles and voices, common threads were found in the emphasis on living proud Jewish lives and instilling in our children that same pride, the importance of education and conversation, and leaning into the work ahead by creating a strong sense of shared purpose and identity. Zack Bodner, founder of Z3 and CEO of the Oshman Family JCC, summed up the conference with the simple but impactful idea that Deep Jewish Knowledge plus Interpersonal Connection equals Jewish Pride.
The Tucson J believes in the power of the Z3 framework to strengthen the bonds of Jewish Peoplehood, the idea that Jews around the globe are connected to each other through shared text, history and culture, and the opportunity to forge allyship with the broader community. With this in mind, as the J and the Weintraub Israel Center implement more opportunities using the Z3 framework, there will be a strong focus on creating experiences where people can develop a personal connection with Israel and Israelis.
Tamar Kugler, Tucson J board member and Z3 attendee said, “We came back with a message of hope. For us, for our children, for our people in Israel. But to make this hope come true, we need to take responsibility for our joint future. We need to work for the future of Jews in the diaspora, and for Israel.”
