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Oct 2009
Marcia Cohodes is a a Wexner Heritage Alumna from Minneapolis and member of the Wexner Alumni Forum She is retired from a career in investment banking. She is an advocate for individuals with disabilities in the Jewish community and a member of the UJC Disability Workgroup. She can be reached at macohodes@earthlink.net. In 1993, our oldest child was born and, as I held this tiny miracle of life, I imagined
Sep 2009
Sandy Antignas is an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program. He is Chief Operating Officer of Steel Partners LLC, an investment firm in NYC, and he leads a planning and grant making cluster at UJA-Federation of New York focusing on Jewish Peoplehood. He can be reached at santignas@sokho.com While leadership transitions, from one generation to the next are continuous, recently I have been struck by them and my place in
Allan Finkelstein is President and CEO of the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America. Allan can be reached at JCCAL@jcca.org. At the end of Ha’azinu, this week’s Torah portion, Moses comes down from the mountain and concludes his instructions to the Israelites and says,” Take to your heart all the words that I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children that they may observe faithfully all
Sep 2009
Allan Finkelstein is President and CEO of the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America. Allan can be reached at JCCAL@jcca.org. At the end of Ha’azinu, this week’s Torah portion, Moses comes down from the mountain and concludes his instructions to the Israelites and says,” Take to your heart all the words that I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children that they may observe faithfully all
Fred Zeidman is an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program and a prominent Houston businessman. He is chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Fred can be reached at fzeidman@xroadsllc.com. Everyone has a favorite permutation of the joke: A gathering of Jews produces more opinions than the number gathered. (My favorite: The United States has one president and 300 million constituents; Israel has one constituent and 6 million prime
Sep 2009
Hindy Poupko is a Davidson Scholar completing her double masters in Public Policy and Israel Studies at New York University. She is the Executive Director of the Council of Young Jewish Presidents and the Director of Israel and International Affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York. Hindy can be reached at hindypoupko@aim.com Shortly after getting married, when my aspirations for working within the Jewish world crystallized, I
Reuven Avital is a Wexner Israel Fellowship alumnus who volunteers in several not-for-profits, including programs for students from weak backgrounds and from Ethiopian families and a home in the Negev for severely brain damaged patients. He is a director in several medical device and pharmaceutical companies developing new technologies in Israel and the US. He can be reached at avital3@014.net.il In April 2008, a Wexner alumni trip to Eastern Europe
Sep 2009
Rachel Lerner is a Davidson Scholar in the Wexner Graduate Fellows/Davidson Scholars Program. Rachel is pursuing an EdD in the Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary. She can be reached at rachelalerner@gmail.com. I watched in awe as students ran community-wide Israel education programs, brought new members into their clubs, led hikes for other students at the school-wide Shabbaton and most of all, slowly began to
Aug 2009
Caron Blau Rothstein is a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alumna and the Outreach & Engagement Coordinator of Congregation Neveh Shalom in Portland, Oregon. She can be reached at caron13@comcast.net. Over the years, I have had to learn how to balance my leadership in varied professional situations with my other life roles—wife, mother, adult daughter, friend, congregant, volunteer, etc. I thought I was pretty adept at the work-life balance until I was
Aug 2009
“Shoftim v’shortrim titen lecha” “And you shall appoint judges and guards for yourselves throughout the Land and they shall judge the Nation with justice.” We are not simply to appoint judges but rather to appoint judges FOR OURSELVES. The Kli Yakar commentator suggests we are commanded to draw ourselves to introspection and self evaluation. Our sages understand the use of this reflexive text as if it said “before you ensure