West Coast General Assembly great opportunity for Portlanders

By Toshio Suzuki

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"It's exciting to be in a room with 3,000, 4,000 Jews and the prime minister," said JFGP's Associate Vice President Laurie Rogoway, speaking of the opportunity at this year's United Jewish Communities General Assembly, Nov. 12-15.
The opportunity for Portland's Jewish community is especially high this year because the Jewish gathering is on the West Coast at the L.A. Convention Center and the Westin Bonaventure Hotel.
The General Assembly brings together all of the Jewish federations in North America for what JFGP Executive Vice President Charles Schiffman calls "a volunteer driven conference."
Each day will offer attendees dozens of different lecture topics, such as: Will Life Ever be Normal in Israel; Israel the Brand; Anti-Zionism as the New Anti-Semitism; Iran: What are the Options; In the Footsteps of Ben Gurion; and Delivering the Jewish Future.
The rock stars of this four-day conference come from all genres and areas of expertise. Sunday, Nov. 12, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is scheduled to speak on the event's primary slogan, Together on the Front Line: One People, One Destiny. Monday the 13th, Likud party leader and former prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, also approaches a speech with the preface On the Front Line: Israel and World Jewry Together. The following day, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is the government representative.

Other highlighted events include Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel, who will speak of Israel innovation and investment; and Fareed Zakaria, author and editor of Newsweek International and host of the TV show Foreign Exchange.
The breadth of speakers and presentations is so vast there are also opportunities to meet the Mayor of Los Angeles, the wife of kidnapped Israeli soldier Ehud Goldwasser, scientists, filmmakers and Tel Aviv scholars.
For a look at some of the less pressing but equally inspiring aspects of Jewish living there is a Tuesday lecture entitled Culture, Culture, Culture. Or, for an even more transparent example of Jewish culture, a Monday evening concert at Frank Gehry's Walt Disney Concert Hall will feature members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, an 85-voice chorus and performers like Theodore Bikel, Leonard Nimoy and Cantor Alberto Mizrahi.
Registration for the UJC General Assembly can be made online at ujc.org/ga. The conference costs $525 for U.S. residents and only $150 for attendees under age 30.