They're young, restless, indifferent, alienated, and automonous. Where are young American Jews? How do they think about Israel, the organized Jewish community, their own identities? How, if at all, do we successfully transmit to them the passion for Jewish life and for Israel that characterized prior generations - or has too much already changed?

The Young and Restless: Where are Young American Jews? is the topic of a forum with five notable Jewish experts on Thursday, May 24 at 7:30pm at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center in Newton.

Panelists: Peter Beinart is a senior political writer for The Daily Beast and contributor to Time, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. John Ruskay is CEO of United Jewish Appeal – Federation of New York. Orthodox Rabbi Avi Weiss (Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, NY) is ranked by Newsweek as one of the 15 most prominent US rabbis. He was an early leader of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry and is a leading advocate for equality of Jewish women. Rabbi Margie Klein of Congregation Sha’arei Shalom (Ashland, MA), is one of America’s leading young Jewish voices and founder of the Moishe/Kavod House in Brookline, dedicated to social justice. The discussion will be moderated by Leonard Fein, an author and essayist whose columns have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, and The Nation.  

The event is part of the Hot Buttons, Cool Conversations lecture series sponsored by Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston Ryna Greenbaum JCC Center for the Arts. The series is underwritten by The Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation with additional donor support from Carolynn H. Levy and Alan Sharaf. Cost is $15. Students and seniors: $12. For tickets, contact 617-965-5226, boxoffice@jccgb.org or visit www.bostonjcc.org/artsevents