The visit of Pope Francis to Israel on May 25 - 26 will mark an important milestone in the deepening relationship between the Catholic Church, Israel , and the Jewish people. In 1965, the Second Vatican Council adopted Nostra Aetate ("In our time"), a statement of doctrine which rejected the charge of deicide, condemned all forms of anti-Semitism, and reaffirmed the permanence of spiritual relationship between God and historic Israel. But

Pictured: Wexner Service Corps members prepare a greenhouse for an organic garden at a local community center. Click here to watch a brief video and learn more about the Wexner Service Corps.  I am grateful for a very rewarding and beautiful completion of our Wexner Service Corps year (you can see all of my WSC posts here).Today, we had our final volunteering session. We went to St. Stephens Community Center

It was a snowy day in February, but that did not deter forty Jewish communal professionals and rabbis from coming together for a retreat sponsored by The Wexner Graduate Fellowship Alumni Collaboration Grants created in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation. In Philadelphia, a team of Wexner Graduate Fellowship alumni convened a day of learning and sharing of professional expertise stretching across denominational lines and loyalties. When the call for Wexner

This essay is from The Peoplehood Papers, Volume 12 - For Whom Are We Responsible? - published by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education. It is instructive to note that within Judaism there have always been Universalistic and Particularistic dimensions, and this dual approach to the world finds expression in the concept of covenant (brit) that appears at the very beginning of the Bible. This notion maintains that God stands

Pictured: Israeli-Angelinos at a Tzav8 rally in Los Angeles, home to the largest  Israeli population outside of Israel.  A couple of weeks ago I was invited to participate in a conference titled "The Global Israeli Leadership Summit" in London. The conference was a gathering of Israeli community leaders in the Diaspora and brought together Israelis living in 13 different countries for a summit aimed at strengthening Israeli communities outside of

The annual AIPAC Policy Conference held in Washington, DC this past March was the first AIPAC Conference attended by a current cohort of the Wexner Israel Fellowship. Cohorts usually go to Washington over our Spring Break to meet with politicians and policy makers, which gives Israeli Fellows powerful insight into how the US Government works. This year was special because we decided to time the trip to overlap with the

Pictured: Elisa Spungen Bildner (WHA, Metrowest) and Rob Bildner (WHA, Metrowest) receiving the Shapiro Prize At its annual conference in March in Miami, The Jewish Funders Network awarded Foundation for Jewish Camp the inaugural Sidney Shapiro Prize for Excellence in Philanthropic Collaboration, which acknowledges partnerships of forward-thinking Jewish funders. The award recognizes FJC’s founders, Elisa Spungen Bildner and Robert Bildner, The Wexner Foundation, and The Samuel Bronfman Foundation as the

From Left to Right: Avi Narrow-Tilonsky (Class 20); Esther Reed (Class 9); Elana Paru, (Class 7); Ami Hersh (Class 19); Lucy Tannen (Class 1). The following remarks were given at the 2014 Wexner Graduate Fellowship Alumni Institute Opening Session  in Glen Cove, NY. I met Phil Miller (WGFA Class 2), just a year ago, when the Wexner Mentoring Program commenced.  I had no idea what to expect from him, or

HEARD 'ROUND WEXWORLD I am inviting people from the embassy community to my seder in Islamabad -- plus a Pakistani academic who researches perceptions of the Holocaust in Pakistan and Iran, and a Pakistani Jew I read about through a posting of Jeremy Bandler’s (WGFA, Class 10) and reached out to via twitter @Jew_Pakistani.   I got matzah via Amazon.com, and the USAID Mission Director supplied me with matzah meal for

“In every generation all of us are obliged to regard ourselves as if we ourselves went forth from the land of Egypt” Exodus 13:8 These words we read on Passover ring especially true to me through my work on human trafficking as the Chair of the President’s Advisory Council on Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Most of us believe that slavery is something of the past, or happens in lands