Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA)

Strategic Alliances for a Secure, Connected, and Prosperous Region

Menu

Virtual Reality Comes to Canadian Jewry: The Case of the Canadian Jewish Congress Plenary

February 11, 1999 | Prof. Ira Robinson

This article deals with the issue of the changing nature of the "public square" of contemporary Jewry through an account of the Canadian Jewish Congress Plenary Assembly in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1998. The CJC Plenary has historically been, par excellence, Canadian Jewry's "public square." The program of the 1998 Plenary differed from that of previous Plenaries in that a major portion of the event's schedule was shifted from "traditional" activities, such as speeches and resolutions, to a "talk show" format of sessions on issues of contemporary Jewish concern. This major shift in format raises questions - most particularly that of the control of public discourse in the Jewish polity.