There is a famous line in the 1989 movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, he will come.” Fast forward 27 years.  In two short months, Camp Ramah in Northern California will open its gates to more than 230 campers (and counting) who have signed up for our inaugural summer.  Dayenu.  We have built it together as a community, and campers and staff are really coming. After literally walking the

Two guiding tenets of “Wexnerism” are teaching and learning.  As members of the Wexner Heritage Program, we were privileged to study with the best Judaic studies teachers in North America.  We didn’t learn just for the sake of learning; we learned so that we could teach others.  Teaching and learning are two of the most venerated values of Judaism.  The ultimate source text for this is, of course, the first

Rabbi Abby Sosland explores shame in our society and the Jewish community in this honest and engaging ELI Talk about achievement, failure, leadership, narcissism and courage.  Shared here with thanks to ELI Talks. Abby Sosland, an alum of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship (Class 6), is Morah Ruchanit (Spiritual Advisor) of Schechter Westchester, where she teaches Bible, Talmud, prayer and philosophy.  Her writing has been published widely, including the chapter on

The Wexner Heritage Atlanta 10 class gathered last week at the home of David and Debbie Kurzweil to catch up socially and to share thoughts on our recent Jewish community involvement.   From leading the creation of Atlanta's new MACoM Community Mikvah to ensuring the successful merger of two Atlanta day schools, the members and spouses of Atlanta's 2010 Wexner class are keeping busy, serving their Jewish community and having

Yitz and Blu Greenberg capturing what may be their first selfie at one of the many Wexner Heritage Summer Institutes they have attended over the last 30 years. I’m guessing that few people in this world just happen to write a book while in the process of writing another book.  But as our teacher, Rabbi Irving “Yitz” Greenberg, says, this book basically wrote itself, emerging from a lifetime of teaching

We met when we were both in the Wexner Heritage Program and became friends when our daughters attended the same Jewish day school.  Since we’re both actively involved in Jewish life, we had a deep understanding that Judaism embodies rich content for how to live a meaningful and holy life and how to raise children with a deep sense of values and purpose.  We wanted to share that rich content

The Wexner Foundation has always focused on developing talented leaders. In the last few years we have expanded our reach, launching Wexner Senior Leaders, for Israel’s most influential senior leaders in the public sector, and Wexner Summits: the Network in Action, allowing our alumni from all programs to work together to tackle major problems in the Jewish world.  We have also piloted an important program to support emerging young professionals working

Some of the Montreal Wexner Heritage alumni recently brought Rabbi Jonathan Sacks to town for several teaching engagements that were shared with the greater Jewish community.  Additionally, we were fortunate enough to get to study in an intimate group with him over breakfast. Rabbi Sacks shared with us a very empowering message that he had learned as a child from his father.  He would ask many questions about Judaism, and

A year ago, we embarked on a new project in Toronto to model the power of interdenominational conversations and to facilitate a wide spectrum of Jews talking to each other about big ideas. Could four rabbis — Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist — sit together and discuss substantive issues of modern Jewish life in a public forum?  The result was “Young Rabbis Speak,” a four-part series focusing on Jewish Text

Link to photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/48256970@N00/sets/72157663753137944