Contemporary Approaches to Lifelong Jewish Engagement Featured at Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) Convention Session
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As fewer families join synagogues and legacy Jewish organizations, AEPi is successfully bridging this gap and moving in the opposite direction—drawing more active adult members and their families. These efforts were highlighted at a panel on lifelong Jewish engagement during AEPi's recent annual convention in Houston, Texas. The event gathered over 600 AEPi brothers, alumni, and leaders from 85 Jewish and Israel organizations for a weekend focused on community and Jewish connection.
Included in this featured panel was Todd Sukol, executive director of the Mayberg Foundation. Along with Jason Feld, a founding partner of Kahana Feld, LLP, and Jay Feldman, executive director of AEPi Foundation, the panel and audience sketched a vision for what is now being referred to as “Next Chapter: The AEPi Experience After Graduation.” The three AEPi brothers discussed the “lifelong opportunities that AEPi members have to build community, deepen their Jewish connectivity, and support the future Jewish leadership experiences of incoming AEPi students,” as Jay reported.
Through its five core pillars of lifelong membership – Jewish engagement; professional and business networking; social opportunities; advocating for Israel and against antisemitism; and supporting undergraduate brothers – AEPi offers postgraduate Jewish men and their families exciting, content-rich engagement opportunities long beyond their college years – in many cases even if they did not belong to AEPi in their undergraduate years.
“AEPi is exploring building an infrastructure to help these men and their families have immersive, meaningful Jewish journeys, imbued with authentic Jewish wisdom and values, a commitment to the unity of all Jews, and an unshaking commitment to Israel,” Todd explained. “Next Chapter is a way of activating long-dormant members and giving them the gifts of Jewish wisdom and values, Jewish unity, and opportunities to stand up for Israel.”
The convention reaffirmed AEPi’s century-old values of brotherhood, tzedakah, and steadfast support for Jewish communities and Israel. Todd underscored the importance of the gathering, stating, “This group represents leaders in Jewish organizations, philanthropy, and Israel advocacy. With thousands of active undergraduates and nearly 100,000 alumni worldwide, AEPi remains a vital force for cultivating lifelong Jewish identity, engagement, and leadership.
“Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi) is the world’s premier Jewish college fraternity,” Feldman explained. “The weekend was dedicated to leadership development, Jewish engagement, Israel advocacy, and combating antisemitism, featuring breakout sessions from a range of partner organizations on philanthropy, antisemitism, and combating anti-Israel bias on social media,” he said.
“AEPi has tens of thousands of undergraduate members who are poised to be the next generation of Jewish community leaders,” said Mayberg Foundation Executive Director and AEPi member Todd Sukol. “We are proud of how these young men are embarking on Jewish journeys and standing up for Israel on campus and beyond.”