Fay-Ann Brodie is an alumna of the Wexner Heritage Washington DC 03 group.  She is the owner of FAB Travel in Potomac, MD.  Fay-Ann can be reached at FaBrodie@gmail.com.  Two texts:  From the Haggadah: “In every generation it is a person’s duty to regard himself as though he  personally had come out of Egypt, as it is written : “You shall tell your child on that day: This is on

Apr 2009

Beyond Bracelets

Rabbi Jay Moses, an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, is the Director of the Wexner Heritage Program.  He can be reached at jmoses@wexner.net Many of today’s Jewish leaders—including some of us on the staff of the Wexner Foundation—came of age in an era where the primary task of Jewish leadership in North America was clear: a couple million of our brothers and sisters were living under an oppressive

1960 - Montreal My father is carrying heavy, worn boxes of dishes, pots, pans and silverware back and forth from some deep back room closet in our flat. Both of my grandmothers and my mother are battling for their territory in the kitchen. An enormous silver thing gets clamped onto the counter top that morphs fish into gefilte fish in one grind. “Don’t get near it, you’ll hurt yourself!” Not

Dr. Erica Brown is the Director for Adult Education at The Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning and the Scholar-in-Residence for The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. She is the author of the book, Inspired Leadership: A Jewish Perspective and Jewish Boredom (forthcoming) and co-author of The Case for Jewish Peoplehood. She can be reached at ebrown@pjll.org Fire is both attractive and repellent, mesmerizing and useful, an instrument of danger

Mar 2009

Sweet(er) Dreams

The darkening sky behind me represents a heavenly mechitzah dividing Martin Luther King Day from Inauguration Day. I stand humbly at the edge of both occasions, profoundly aware of the awesome destination confluence of these two occasions, one just ending and one about to dawn, represent for our nation and for this world. When you lie your head down upon your pillow tonight, remember that it is a good night

Mar 2009

Term Limits

David diamond is a Wexner Heritage alumnus and president of B’nai David-Judea Congregation (www.bnaidavid.com), a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Los Angeles. He can be reached at Ddiam2021@gmail.com I have three months left. This June, my two-year term as shul president will come to an end. When this first occurred to me I admit I was relieved. The position is a drain on my family life. It‘s a drain on my

Rabbi Jen Krause is the author of The Answer: Making Sense of Life, One Question at a Time (Penguin), whose works and commentary also have been featured in Newsweek, the New York Times, Jewish Woman, and O, The Oprah Magazine. She teaches and lectures across North America, and serves as the High Holidays rabbi at Manhattan's 92nd Street Y. She can be reached at jkrause2@nyc.rr.com If ever there were a

Rabbi Elka Abrahamson is the President of The Wexner Foundation. She can be reached at eabrahamson@wexner.net This reflection was originally written for the Chag V’Chesed series for American Jewish World Service On the 14th of Adar, under the light of the final full moon of winter, Jewish communities around the globe celebrate wildly as Megillat Esther, the Scroll that tells the Purim tale, is chanted in its unique melody. Seated

Rabbi Jay Moses is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program (Class 5). He is the Director of the Wexner Heritage Program in The Foundation’s New York office. Jay can be reached a jmoses@wexner.net. By all rights of literary logic, this week’s Torah portion has been given the wrong name. The prior portion, Terumah, is a detailed description of the Tabernacle, the various materials that must be used to

Rae Ringel, an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, is President of The Ringel Group LLC, an executive coaching and leadership training firm in Washington, DC. She has more than 15 years of experience working with Jewish communal organizations, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and entrepreneurial start-ups. She can be reached at Rae@Ringelgroup.com For generations, tzedakah has been a pillar of the Jewish community. The rabbis of classical Judaism praised