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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
May 2012
Rabbi Rachel Goldenberg is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XI. Rachel has been the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth Shalom Rodfe Zedek since 2007. She currently serves as co-chair of Rabbis for Human Rights-North America. Rachel can be reached at: rabbirg@snet.net. When I started as the rabbi of my synagogue, the congregation had just come through a difficult period of instability of rabbinic leadership and of dysfunctional
May 2012
Naomi is a proud alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XIII. She is currently an Assistant Professor in Hebrew and Israeli Culture at The Ohio State University. Naomi can be reached at brenner.108@osu.edu. Recently, I was asked to answer questions and facilitate a discussion after a campus screening of the Israeli animated film Waltz with Bashir on Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. “College students won’t show up at a
May 2012
PENINA GRSSBERG IS AN ALUMNA OF THE THE WEXNER GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP, CLASS 5. PENINA IS AN EDUCATOR AND ACTIVE COMMUNAL VOLUNTEER IN NORTHERN NEW JERSEY. PENINA CAN BE REACHED AT: PENINAG@OPTONLINE.NET.? Beyond loosening my stiff back, yoga offers tools for navigating leadership challenges. Set an intention. At the start of a yoga practice, students consider what they want to get from the experience. Intentionality encourages me to make personal meaning
Dara is a Recruitment Consultant for DRG and has more than a decade of experience working with Jewish non-profits. Her work at DRG is focused in the areas of both informal and formal Jewish education, and in identifying a next generation of Jewish professional leadership. She can be reached at dklarfeld@drgnyc.com In the Jewish community, the crisis of executive leadership is very acute. Hundreds of Jewish organizations will, in the
May 2012
Chaim Gelfand is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program (Class 8). Chaim is the the School Rabbi for the two elementary schools of the Perelman Jewish Day School in suburban Philadelphia. Chaim can be reached at rabbi@pjds.org Nearly 15 years ago, I sat in a crowded Jerusalem synagogue as the Kabbalat Shabbat service began. Studying in Israel that year, I’d prayed there with some regularity. Familiar with the
May 2012
Dr. Stephen Hazan Arnoff is an alumnus of The Wexner Graduate Fellowship, (Class 13). Stephen has been Executive Director of the 14th Street Y in New York City since 2007. He also serves as Founding Director of LABA: The National Laboratory for New Jewish Culture which is housed at the Y. He writes and teaches widely on the intersection of traditional texts, the arts, popular culture, education, and Jewish communal
Apr 2012
Rebecca Meyer Carr is a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alumna, (Class III) and the Manager of the Patient Services department of HelpHOPELive, a nonprofit organization providing fundraising guidance to transplant and catastrophic injury patients. Rebecca can be reached at: rebeccamcarr@verizon.net. For many of us, asking for money is just part of what we do in our daily work lives. No matter how much training we’ve been given, or how often we’ve
Apr 2012
Menashe Bleiweiss is a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alumnus, Class III. He is a rebbe in Derech, a division of Ohr Somayach Yeshiva, a licensed tour guide, and directs a tour guide training program at Machon Lander. He lives with his wife and eight children in Telzstone, near Jerusalem. Menashe can be reached at jsisrael@netvision.net.il Pluralists tend to feel alienated by the many hierarchies in Torah and Jewish law. They prefer
Apr 2012
Gordon is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class I. He is currently serving in his twentieth year as Rabbinic Director at the Milken Community High School of Stephen Wise Temple. Gordon can be reached at gbernat- kunin@milkenschool.org Imagine a highly accomplished Jewish day school senior on her way to her Harvard interview. As she reviews her activities and achievements, pondering what might make her stand out, her
Apr 2012
Paula is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XI, and has served as rabbi at the Orangetown Jewish Center in Orangeburg, New York since ordination from JTS in 2004. Paula can be reached at: pmdrill@aol.com. When Jordan and I began his bar mitzvah lessons, I took a Torah from the ark, placed it into Jordan’s arms and asked him to repeat after me, “This is MY Torah.” I