Leaders and experts in the local Jewish community gathered to discuss Jewish pluralism and the future of Judaism at Brandeis and in America during Sunday's conference, "The Now Project," which was the first conference of its kind. The event consisted of speakers and discussion groups dedicated to encouraging unity among sects of Judaism.

Brandeis is a microcosm of the American Jewish community, according to Anna Bessendorf '15, who founded the project with Sara Fried '15 and Jessica Goldberg '13. "It's rich with diversity of practice and belief ... and people are truly encouraged to follow their own paths," she said during her speech opening the conference.

However, Bessendorf's one complaint about the Jewish community is its lack of cohesiveness between denominations. "Even though we pray in different places, use different tunes and approach texts in different ways, we could and should use those differences to grow and learn from one another," she said.

The Now Project's goal is to facilitate conversations and encourage collaboration between different Jewish groups in order to achieve a more pluralistic community, she said. In order to further its goal, Bessendorf said the Now Project will continue to host events throughout the school year including a lecture with Yehuda Kurtzer of Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and the Day of Social Action at 'Deis Impact 2014.

According to Bessendorf in her speech, the Now Project is not an academic conference, only reviewing closed issues that don't apply to the present. Instead, it is a symposium where "we can examine a living, breathing community that continues to grow and flourish," she said.

Senior Vice President for Students and Enrollment Andrew Flagel said in his speech at the event that he found a large disconnect in the Jewish community when he went to college. "I didn't go to the same camps, I didn't sing the same songs and I didn't practice [Judaism] in the same way. So, I really felt lost and walked away from participating in the Jewish community for nearly a decade."

He stressed the importance of a pluralistic Jewish community, so that everybody feels that they have a place to belong. "Even if we're not immediately family, the welcoming of each other [into the community] is very important," he said.

"We share with all universities a need to constantly review how we are making our campus as welcoming and comfortable as possible to students of all backgrounds," Flagel wrote in an email to the Justice. "While it is only one among many such issues, as the only non-sectarian university founded by the Jewish community, we have a distinctive role to play by convening our diverse Jewish community."

Ethan Stein '15, the president of the Brandeis Orthodox Organization, spoke at the event about how different Jewish groups do not always understand each other. "We do not always see eye to eye, nor do we have to, but we have to be able to appreciate and understand where each side is coming from," he said. "It is and will continue to be extremely hard to foster that unity when there is that disconnect within the denominations and communities."

According to Bessendorf, Flagel was a big supporter of the Now Project's creation.

Viktoria Bedo '15 spoke at the event about growing up in Hungary, where the Jewish community didn't suit her. "I can't leave every Jewish community that is not up to my standards." Instead, she said, "We will have to create the communities we can see ourselves in."

She said conversations among different Jewish groups are a start to creating these communities. "Without conversations, there are no visions," she said.

Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Elyse Winick '86 said that she saw the Jewish community unite when she was a student at Brandeis during a Jewish activism campaign, pushing for freedom for refuseniks in the former Soviet Union.

Winick envisions a future where Jews can unite in times of peace and "not only when there's an enemy at the door," she said. "We will find out what it means to be part of one community, and because we're at Brandeis, so will everyone else."

Student Union President Ricky Rosen '14 said in his speech that the best way to create a unified Jewish community is to realize the differences among its members. "There's no cookie-cutter image of what a Jew is," he said. "There are many ways to be a Jew, and the sooner we realize that, the sooner we can come together for Judaism to be a cohesive unit."