"This generation defines itself less around affiliation and more around the journey," says Wayne Firestone about the college-age students he works with through Hillel, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world according to its Web site. Unlike their parents, who tended to classify themselves according to the various denominations of Judaism — orthodox, reform, conservative, etc. — today's young call themselves "just Jews," says Firestone, who is Hillel president and CEO.

Young Jews, like young people around the world, have multiple communities they can co-exist in, including communities online, and they have an increasingly global perspective. At the same time, young people who grew up in homes that were completely assimilated into American life are now more open to exploring what it means to be Jewish, Firestone says.

Conference invitees include writer and literary critic Leon Wieseltier, author Rebecca Goldstein, Emory University professor Deborah Lipstadt, Polish-Jewish activist Konstanty Gebert, Brussels parliament member Viviane Teitelbaum Hirsch, Mexican publisher Enrique Krauze and former Israeli Knesset member Avraham Burg.

---

E-mail: jarvik@desnews.com