As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20. But what about foresight? Although no one is truly clairvoyant, thou shalt not under estimate visionaries. A century ago, the Jewish world dealt with communal changes like ones we see today: assimilation, reform, political ferment. The world wars had yet to break out, the Zionist movement was still in an infant stage and, needless to say, the state of Israel did not exist because the Ottomans were still in charge of the region. No one could have possibly imagined the world of 2010, much less 1948. Or could they?

Topics under discussion will center on the picture of how Israel and the Diaspora may change over this century, the larger geopolitical framework that will be involved, and whether peace will ever reign.

Likewise, foresight is legal blindness. Yet we can attempt to divine the glimmers from the void. In that vein we at Leadel, for our pilot panel at the IDC-Herzliya, are hosting an event that will do just that. What will be the state of Jewish peoplehood — and the state of Israel — in the next hundred years? The logical starting point is to ask, What is the state of the Jewish people today? Extrapolating from there, based on the best research and insights, will be a distinguished panel composed of Professor David Passig, a world-renowned futurist; Leah Biteolin, Youth Futures Coordinator at the Jewish Agency; and Haim Assa, a top-flight mathematician and military systems analyst.

The topics under discussion will center on the picture of how Israel and the Diaspora may change over this century, the larger geopolitical framework that will be involved, and whether peace will ever reign. In this reporter's opinion, the most fascinating question of all may be what form Jewishness itself will take. Given the rate of intermarriage, for example, will we remain a people at all? (A study done in 2000 doesn't think it is as high as we assume.) Given the precariousness of Israel's standing in the world, will democracy here wither away? Some say it already is beginning to be chipped at. These are questions many would like to see raised and vigorously debated.  

European participants will be hosted by the Zionist Federation of Great Britain and Israel Connect. The event will be also be screened by the Jerusalem Post, Jerusalem Online, Shalom Life and Jewlicious. Moderators will be Leah Stern, faculty member at the Sammy Ofer School of Communications at the IDC and correspondent for CNN, and Tomer Marshall, the managing director of Leadel. This panel is a continuation of "Leadel LIVE" events hosted by Israeli Minister for Information and Diaspora Yuli Edelstein. Connecting leading political figures to communities of the Diaspora, Leadel continues to experiment and create a format of processing and sharing Jewish media and information sessions that reach beyond borders. See you at the IDC. If not be sure to tune in here! The panel is scheduled for Thursday, 22 April, from 11:30 to 13:00 (Israel time), so adjust your clock accordingly.