The 29th International Nahum Goldmann Fellowship brought together a diverse group of fellows and faculty from Israel and the Diaspora. The faculty, who represented the broadest diversity in religious and political affiliations, served as the integral scholarly foundation for the program. The Fellows were acutely challenged by the content of the sessions dealing with some of the most personal and polemical aspects of Jewish identity, community, and peoplehood.

In addition to the faculty led sessions, this NGF introduced nine Fellow-led electives which added to the rich content of the program. The sessions explored issues ranging from Jewish travelogues to abuse within Jewish community.

NGF 29 also welcomed the second cohort of alumni to the NGF Leadership Development Seminar. Building on the success of the program in Mexico last year, the 2017 Alumni Seminar began a day before the arrival of the rest of the fellows and ran concurrent with the rest of the program. The eight alumni selected to attend the Leadership Seminar participated in a unique leadership skills building workshop led by Professor Steven Windmueller and put their skills to work as facilitators of some of the larger group sessions.

Midst the lectures, workshops, and group sessions, the optional Fellow-led electives, the copious amounts of food and late-night schmoozing, NGF 29 participants built a warm and vibrant community. The Shabbat experience, under the direction of alumnus Rabbi Alon Meltzer from Australia, was exceptional. In the true spirit of the NGF, a Shabbat program was created with the input of the Fellows, that was meaningful, creative and inclusive. Additionally, the Saturday Night “Beit Café’ on the rooftop, and the Sunday night farewell program “The Land & Me” (that included the creation of a Klal Yisrael Cocktail), were successful innovations that added to the evolving program.