CONSCIENCE + COMMUNITY

New Generations Canada  is an open and vibrant community of young professionals, social activists, and community leaders in their 20 to  40, who are committed to the work of the New Israel Fund of Canada, the leading Canadian organization promoting social justice and equality for all Israelis.

Today’s youth grapple with Israel in ways that previous generations did not, confronting a complex view of a country where inspiring successes are presented alongside pressing challenges to a truly just and equitable society.   The New Generations Canada program offers the next generation of Jews an opportunity to connect with Israel in a way that reflects progressive values—confronting orthodoxies, seeking alternatives, looking for meaning, and listening to a diversity of opinions.

Throughout the year, New Generations Canada offers a variety of programs that address the issues and challenges facing Israel today.  These include discussions with leading Israeli social activists, film screenings and social events. We invite you to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it our community.


Get Involved  

Attend events, help organize them, get the word out and “like” our Facebook page to get updates about our work in Israel and Canada.

Some past New Generations events:

April 23, 2013
Israel: Perceptions vs. Reality 

The New Generation group of the New Israel Fund of Canada (NIFC) was pleased to host Israel: Perceptions vs. Reality, an interactive discussion about young Canadians’ transformative experiences in Israel.

The event brought out five diverse and engaging speakers who all spent time living, working and volunteering in Israel with a wide variety of organizations.

Rabbi Aaron Levy (Moderator) is a leader in the revival of downtown Jewish life in Toronto. He is the founder and director of Makom: Creative Downtown Judaism, a grassroots community integrating arts, activism, spirituality, and learning. Aaron also teaches percussion and is a sought-out educator on a wide variety of Jewish topics, especially ethical eating, environmentalism, spirituality, pluralism, and social justice.  

Gillian Murphy is a 3^rd year university student at the Glendon College of York University studying Drama and Psychology. She is involved with The Mary Ward Centre for Truth and Justice and is also a Director of Youth Talks. Gillian traveled to Israel in July and August of 2012 with Operation Groundswell to learn more about Jewish-Arab equality. She came back with a new appreciation for Israel, its people, and its culture.

Jenny Issacs has been exploring her Jewish and Zionist identity together with other youth at weekly Hashomer Hatzair activities and at its summer camp, Camp Shomria. After high school, Jenny spent six months with Hashomer Hatzair’s gap-year program, Shnat Hachshara where she taught English at a community center in Ofakim.

Matt Gordner is a Trudeau Scholar at the Trudeau Foundation while pursuing a PhD at the University of Toronto’s Department of Political Science. In 2011-2012, Matt was a fellow in Israel with the Dorot Foundation. Presently, Matt is the Founder and Executive Director of The Peace by Piece Initiative, as well as a Senior Analyst at Consultancy Africa Intelligence.

Benjamin Langer is a medical student at Western and is working on refugee health issues both in Canada with the Canadian Federation of Medical Students and in Israel/Palestine with Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel). From 2009-2011, he pursued an MA at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel/Palestine. This past June-July, Ben worked in Tel Aviv with PHR-Israel. Benjamin also volunteered at the PHR-Israel Open Clinic for undocumented people and with ARDC's women's empowerment project.

Natasha Greenblatt is a graduate of the National Theatre School. She has played Anne Frank in Montreal and Hamilton, and won a Dora Award for Get Yourself Home Skyler James. Her first full-length play, The Peace Maker, was part of the 2013 Next Stage Festival. Natasha traveled to Israel and Palestine and volunteered with Project Hope in Nablus in 2009.

Moderated by Rabbi Aaron Levy of Makom Downtown Jewish Creative Center, the discussion focused on many of the domestic issues facing Israel today from Bedouin land rights to religious pluralism. The speakers spoke of their experience working and dealing with these issues and how this perception of the country came to change as they faced many of the realities of living in Israel. This NIFC New Generation provided a jumping off point for individuals interested in learning more about the many domestic issues facing Israel. In the future, we will be exploring these issues more in-depth through further programming.   

 "It was great to hear such a diverse range of thoughtful perspectives from the panel. Knowing that there are people in our community interested in sharing sometimes hard realities and seeing their openness to discussing ways to move forward, was really heartening for me" - Aaron Rotenberg

 Please check our Facebook page for more photo's and for upcoming information on event's in the future!

February 10, 2011
New Generations Informal Discussion with Nabila Espanioly

NIFC New Generations Canada partnered with Yalla Journal to present NIF Board Member Nabila Espanioly in downtown Toronto. With a crowd of over 40 people and standing room only, Nabila spoke about her life as a Palestinian-Israeli and the challenges she has faced throughout her life, all which have compelled her to establish many civil society organization in Israel. A fervent feminist, advocate for Palestinian-Israeli preschool children and citizens, Nabila spoke about the impact her work has had on her community and addressed the work that lies ahead.

July 14, 2010
Whose Zionism? A Conversation on Israel, Liberal Values and Jewish Community
The Kiever Synagogue, Toronto

New Generations Canada and Makom partnered to bring Whose Zionism? to young people in Toronto’s Jewish community. The event was an opportunity for participants to discuss their thoughts on the intersection between Israel, liberal values and Jewish community, in the inclusive and open setting of the Kiever Synagogue in the heart of Toronto’s developing Jewish downtown core.

With 60 participants, the discussion was dynamic and lively, using Peter Beinart’s ground-breaking article The Failure of the Jewish Establishment as a springboard. The program provided a safe space for young people in their 20s to 40s to engage each other and explore what Israel means to them, what struggles have developed in their relationship to the State, and how they view Jewish community in Toronto and beyond.
The participants were broken up in small facilitated dialogue groups, and within these clusters the range of discussion was diverse. Some groups discussed their relationship to the Jews in Israel as part of the Diaspora, and in others, the discussion focused more on recent political events and individual reactions.

The program, a New Generations Canada initiative, exceeded expectations both in terms of the number of attendees and the scope of discussion. Participants voiced their enthusiasm, commenting on the “need in the community for events like these,” and affirming that the event was “very engaging”. 
 

March 1, 2010

NIFC New Generations Event With Yohannes Bayu of the African Refugee Development Center
Scratch Gallery & Espresso Bar, Toronto

Social and spiritual activists as well as concerned young Canadians attended this unique opportunity to meet, discuss and engage Yohannes Bayu about the plight of African asylum seekers in Israel. 

Get Informed

Contact New Generations Canada staff to sign up to receive email invitations to events in your region.


See NIF and NIFC on the Ground

Join a New Generations Israel Trip. The trip is an 8-day study tour for those interested in learning about grassroots social activism and social change in Israel today.  The itinerary includes visits with New Israel Fund of Canada and NIF grantee organizations, discussions with activists and journalists, as well as social and cultural programs. If the timing of the New Generations trip is not convenient, please contact us about other NIFC study tours.