Zev Eleff is a Wexner Davidson Scholar who will begin his studies at Columbia Teachers College this fall.  He can be reached at Eleff@yu.edu The fact of the matter is that teaching and reaching second-semester high school seniors is a nearly impossible task.  And, for a 23-year-old collegian in his first attempt at managing a classroom, the attempt appeared to be a fool's errand.  Nevertheless, I had to try.  During

Rabbi Jill Jacobs is the Rabbi-in-Residence of the Jewish Funds for Justice and the author of There Shall be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law and Tradition (Jewish Lights 2009) and is an alum of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship program (Class 11).  She can be reached at jjacobs@jewishjustice.org. The following is an excerpt from Rabbi Jacobs’ book: There Shall be No Needy: Pursuing Social Justice through Jewish Law

Terry Rubenstein is the the Executive Vice President of the Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family Charitable Funds. She has held many lay appointments and was formerly a home builder and newspaper reporter. She has three children and three grandchildren. She can be reached at TMR@magnajm.com A few years ago I was asked to chair an initiative for United Jewish Communities called Gender Equity and Organizational Effectiveness. Supported by Shifra Bronznick,

Howard E. Charish is  Executive Vice President of the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey and  is a Wexner Graduate Fellows/Davidson Scholars faculty member.  He can be reached at howardc@ujannj.org It was during a recent mission to Cuba that I understood a phenomenon that I had experienced during my professional career but had not consciously identified.  If I could summarize it in one word, it would be RESILIENCE. In an

By Rafi Cashman is a Davidson Scholar beginning a PhD in Education at the University of Toronto in the fall.  He can be reached at raficashman@gmail.com.  Next to the mass grave of Tikochin in Poland, I told a story to the student-participants of the March of the Living, for whom I was the rabbi, where I tried to inspire them to reflect on the possibilities and opportunities life made available

Alan Solow is Chair of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and JCC Association of North America. He is also a trustee of UJC, a member of the Executive Committee of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, a member of the Board of Sinai Health Systems and a board member at CLAL. Professionally, he is the Vice Chair of the Restructuring Group at DLA Piper LLP (US),

Avi Killip is a Wexner Graduate Fellow who has just completed an eighteen-month rabbinic internship at Conservative Synagogue in Atlanta and will begin studying at Hebrew College Rabbinical School in the fall. He can be reached at avikillip@gmail.com. There is a man at synagogue named Hirsch who occasionally, after practicing his layning, will accidentally put the Torah back upside-down. Let me start over. There is a man at synagogue who

Daniel Perla is a former stock analyst and money manager currently studying in the beit midrash program at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. He is President of The Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, and he can be reached at danperla@gmail.com In preparation for last week’s fast day in commemoration of Shiva Asar B’Tamuz (the 17th of Tamuz), I re-read the Talmudic story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza (Gittin, Chapter 5). A certain man

Dinah Jacobs is the Academic Director of the Kellogg Management Education for Jewish Leaders (KJL). Formerly the Corporate Director of Customer Affairs at a global financial institution for 17 years, she is a recognized expert in building customer-centered organizations.  She and her husband regularly host Shabbat dinners at Kellogg where more than 100 students and faculty celebrate and learn together. She can be reached at dinah-jacobs@kellogg.northwestern.edu Rabbis report they spend

Wexner Alumni are making their mark on the Jewish world, one issue at a time. Be it in North America or Israel, be social action, education, or advocacy, our constituents apply Jewish passion and knowledge while exercising leadership. In this new segment of our newsletter, we hope to periodically profile alumni of all 3 Wexner initiatives who are blazing new paths in the Jewish world, and in so doing, highlight