American Jewish leaders spoke about how different Jewish movements can use their individual strengths to contribute to the Jewish community as a whole during a panel discussion Sunday. Five prominent figures in the Jewish world discussed issues facing modern American Jewry during the "All in the Family" event held in the Hassenfeld Conference Center.

Representatives of Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and transdenominational Judaism as well as a representative of a Jewish leadership foundation spoke to a crowd of around 200.

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, dean of the Hebrew College Rabbinical School, which is a transdenomination institution, said the American Jewish community needs to focus more on drawing in unobservant Jews, "people standing in the doorway," by discussing what it means to act in the image of God rather than the differences among movements.

Anisfeld said American Jews should not focus so much on identifying with movements, but rather on the Jewish values that unite them.

"We are responsible to walk in God's ways," she said. "We have to address the gaps between who we are and who we should be."

Arnold Eisen, the chancellor-elect of the conservative Jewish Theological Seminary, emphasized the importance of connecting all Jews to the Torah.

"You must be proud to hold on to a book that tells you who you are. . The Torah is not something to sit on a shelf-it is your life."

Jews of all movements should stick together and not let their differences divide them, the president of the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva University, Richard Joel, said.

"[Jews] are not mindless lemmings, but neither are [they] lonely entities," Joel said.

Divisions among American Jews has to do partially with the nature of the secular culture, said Larry Moses, president of the Wexner Foundation, an organization which trains future Jewish leaders in North America and Israel.

The fact that temples have to compete for members, rather than work together, causes Judaism to be "divided into dozens of pieces," Moses said.

Moses said the Jewish community must learn to "respectfully and lovingly disagree."

President of the Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Eric Yoffe said Jewish federations, such as those that oversee Jewish Community Centers, which promote Jewish cultural life, have failed to bring together all types of Jews.

Yoffe also said the Reform movement should focus more on Hebrew language education and outreach to the Jewish community as a whole.

"Outreach and language are rhetorical commitments; we need to take action," Yoffe added.The individual talks were followed by a brief panel discussion and questions from the audience.