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Nov 2015
As the world mourns the loss of innocent life in Paris, I, like many, struggle to confront my feelings; Paris, Jerusalem, New York City and so many places around the world, have witnessed a common evil that must be confronted by a unified civil world. As we all declare our solidarity, sympathy and empathy with Paris and her citizens, we must question what it really means to do so. Yes,
Nov 2015
Pictured from right to left: Marcia Cohodes, WHP Alum (Minneapolis), Stephen Hazan Arnoff, WGF Alum (Class 13) and Ofer Chen, current WIF (Class 27), meet each other at The Wexner Foundation Reception. Ofer Chen, current WIF (Class 27): My favorite thing about the GA was the feeling of a special connection bonding all participants from so many places and opinions into one community, and allowing each of us to approach others and
Nov 2015
Celebrating Mordy's JPRO Young Professionals Award at the Wexner Reception at the GA. Pictured (from left to right): Rabbi Jay Moses (Director, Wexner Heritage Program; WGF Alum, Class 5), Jordanna Birnbaum Amsel (WGF Fellow, Class 27), Cynthia Bernstein (WGF Alum, Class 22), Rabbi Elka Abrahamson (President, The Wexner Foundation), Mordy Walfish (WGF Alum, Class 22) and Or Mars (Director, Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program; WGF Alum, Class 6). The following is
Photo and article reprinted with permission from The Jewish Journal I have a vivid memory of sitting in my yeshiva high school principal’s office, imploring him to start teaching the girls Mishnah and Gemara, to offer a little more respect to our intellects and our souls by giving us access to all the Jewish texts that form the basis of our heritage, of what we were expected to live every
Nov 2015
Recently, I was sifting through photos of National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) volunteers meeting with young girls in the lines at Ellis Island to save them from becoming victims of sex trafficking, and had an "aha moment" — one of those moments where we become fully clear and grateful about how and why we are committing our lives to Jewish service. I had accepted the role of NCJW’s Associate Director
Nov 2015
I just started a blog a few days ago. The focus will be on investing in Israel -- for profit and for idea -- with stories ranging from investing in Israeli ventures, stocks, as well as in people, philanthropic projects and Israeli organizations. I want to explore all the various ways of investing in Israel's present and future for my own selfish reasons, as someone for whom Israel's strength and prosperity are
Oct 2015
Reposted with thanks to The Forward Sunday was the 12th of Cheshvan, a grim anniversary: 20 years since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin. He was shot on a Saturday night after the world’s synagogues read the Torah portion Lech Lecha, the first night of the week looking toward the next reading, VaYera, the “binding of Isaac.” But in real life, unlike in the biblical story of human sacrifice, no angel
Jews plan to land a spacecraft on the moon. Sounds like an Ephraim Kishon satire, a Mel Brooks screenplay or perhaps a Sholem Aleichem short story that could have been titled – “Yidden Shikn a Kleyn Shifl Tsu di Levona”. But this is no satire and, as time will tell, no fiction. This is the very serious goal of SpaceIL (pronounced Space-ai-el) -- an Israeli NPO/NGO (non-profit/non-government organization), and one
Oct 2015
Collaboration begins with the assumption that everyone is a potential ally. Valley Beit Midrash and PJ Library in Phoenix recently joined forces based on the principle that we deliver more to the Jewish community as ALLIES than we could do alone. Our organizations are now partners in the Phoenix community for delivering educational content & programming to families, children and adults. Imagine our Jewish communities where we all view each
Oct 2015
I just returned from Belarus. I went back to my father's hometown of Brest Litovsk, to shoot segments of a documentary, "Sacred Names", that I have been working on for the past couple years. As I continue my discovery into this opaque part of my past, I started helping the local Jewish community to build a memorial. Out of the 32,000 Jews who lived in Brest during the war, only about