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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
For centuries, Jews have turned to the Mourner’s Kaddish upon experiencing loss. For three years, I co-edited an anthology, Kaddish: Women’s Voices, that explores what the recitation of Kaddish means specifically to women. I am delighted to share a bit about this special project. In Kaddish: Women’s Voices, women from around the world share their relationships with the family members they lost, how they struggled to balance the competing
Jun 2014
The following is a letter that Rabbi Elka Abrahamson, President of The Wexner Foundation, shared with the second cohort of the Wexner Service Corps, our Columbus-based teen service-learning initiative, on their final night of their Jewish service-learning trip to New Orleans last week: Dear Wexner Service Corps! I have to be in New York first thing tomorrow morning for an all day meeting and the last flight out meant my reluctant
Jun 2014
As the Wexner Israel Fellowship (WIF) year draws rapidly to its end, I remember one of my greatest laughs from the beginning of the year. We happily spotted the Kosher meat section in one of the supermarkets, just to discover that on one side of it rested sachets of clams and on the other side packages of bacon. Could I learn something from this kind of peaceful co-existence? At Harvard
Jun 2014
In 2012 I co-founded the Cleveland Jewish Arts & Culture Lab with Rabbi Zachary Truboff, a young Rabbi and Torah Scholar. Our premise is that the Arts can become an incredible source of creativity in the Jewish community providing an opportunity to “reinvent” tradition and the Torah for today. Simply stated, we facilitate a Jewish Artist Fellowship program for 10-14 Jewishly identified Clevelanders that culminates in an Exhibition of original
Jun 2014
Wexner fellows and alumni of all stripes were on hand for the 50th annual Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City, including these two next generation Jewish leaders: Noah Ives-Kurtzer, son of WGF alum Yehuda Kurtzer (Class 15) and Isiah Rosenn, son of WGF alumni Rabbis Jennie and David Rosenn (Classes 4 and 5 respectively). Rabbi David Rosenn, Executive Vice President at the New Israel Fund, leads NIF’s operations in
Jun 2014
On June 2, 2014, Professor Deborah E. Lipstadt, Ph.D., who has served as a faculty member for all three Wexner leadership programs, spoke at the Dedication of the Holocaust Memorial at the Ohio Statehouse. Deborah was introduced by Leslie H. Wexner; other speakers included Governor John R. Kasich and architect of the memorial, Daniel Libeskind. Here are her remarks: Thank you to my friend and compatriot Les Wexner for that
In my 1999 Wexner Graduate Fellowship application, I shared my dream to “open a group home and multi-service agency for Jews with developmental disabilities that would provide therapies, as well as social, religious, educational and recreational programming, vocational training and job placements.” 15 years ago, I could not have known that my quest would ultimately lead me to a community that was enabled by a Wexner Heritage alumnus with a
On Shabbat (May 23), a day in which we strive for peace and wholeness, our community was shattered by an unimaginable tragedy. As we mourn the loss of all those killed in the recent shooting in Isla Vista, we struggle to make sense of a senseless act. Santa Barbara, which is often seen as a picture-perfect oasis, has now been added to a list of cities that include Columbine, Aurora,
Pictured: Netaly Ophir-Flint, an alumna from Class 24, charged the new WIFP Class 26: “I have a final piece of advice for you. During the Wexner Fellowship year at the Kennedy School, decide to sleep one hour less every night. Take advantage of every learning opportunity during this transformative year!” Some of the New Wexner Israel Fellows Weigh in on Their Orientation and Year Ahead “Taking off from the
Jun 2014
No one ever described high school as the ‘best four years of your life.’ The pressure to fit in is tremendous, and gearing up for college can be overwhelming. This is also when Jewish involvement plummets among non-orthodox teenagers, following the bar/bat mitzvah. BBYO is working (and succeeding) at reversing this trend. What’s our ‘secret sauce’? We draw teens in through social experiences. They then develop authentic relationships which become