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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
Mar 2012
David A. Mersky is Managing Director of Mersky, Jaffe & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm that solves problems in marketing, communication and resource development for non-profit organizations and private businesses. He can be reached at: www.merskyjaffe.com. The single most important committee of a nonprofit organization's board is its committee on governance and leadership development (whatever it may be called). It is charged with identifying and successfully engaging the future leadership
Michael is a graduate student at Emory University getting his PhD in American Religious Cultures. His work focuses on North American Jews and therapeutic culture. He is a Fellow of the Tam Institute of Jewish Studies at Emory, and an alumnus of the Atlanta 2005 Wexner Heritage Program. Purim was wonderful this year. My three children really get into the joy of the holiday. They eagerly anticipate shaloch manot deliveries,
Mar 2012
Barb, a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alumna of Class IV, is the Director of Education at Temple Israel in Memphis, Tennessee. She is the mother of three inspirational teenagers. Barb can be reached at: barbg@timemphis.org. I had a personal milestone recently. My youngest child became bar mitzvah. People were congratulating me and joking that the next big thing I would have to do is a wedding. It made me laugh, and
Mar 2012
Justus Baird is an alumnus of The Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XV and the rabbi and director of the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Seminary in New York. He can be reached at: jbaird@auburnseminary.org In recent years I developed a new respect for the idea embodied in the line of prayer 'Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came to be' (Baruch she-amar v'hayah ha-olam). My younger
Mar 2012
Liz is a current Wexner Graduate Fellow (Class XXIII) and a second-year rabbinical student at HUC-JIR in New York. Liz can be reached at lizraeli@gmail.com. I have been thinking about what makes a text holy. At my core, I am a librarian’s daughter. So during winter vacation, when I reorganized all of the books in my room, I arranged them topically, like a microcosmic and eclectic Dewey Decimal system. Various
David is an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program, Chicago 2006, a financial advisor on the North Shore of Chicago and teacher of spirituality classes in the Jewish community. He can be reached at dstrulow@gmail.com. What I’ve been thinking about lately is my enduring need to connect my lifelong study and practice of Judaism with spirituality. By way of background, I feel like I woke up one day to a
Feb 2012
Miriam is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, (Class IX) and currently serves as the Director of Educational Engagement at the Center for Jewish Education in Baltimore where she tries to creatively, thoughtfully and passionately inspire families to connect with Judaism and Jewish community through meaningful encounters with our tradition and our people. Miriam can be reached at: miriamburg@yahoo.com. My son has decided that he is going to be
Feb 2012
Barry is a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alumnus and currently serves as the Head of School at Fuchs Mizrachi in Cleveland. OH. Barry can be reached at bkislowicz@fuchsmizrachi.org When it comes to day schools it seems that the buzz word of the moment is Sustainability: the rising price of tuition, the inability of families to afford our day schools, and the struggle for institutional fundraising to keep up with the cost
Feb 2012
Rabbi Carol Davidson is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class II. Rabbi Davidson is the Associate Executive Director for External Affairs at the Jewish Board of Family & Children’s Services. Rabbi Carol Davidson can be reached at: cdavidson@jbfcs.org. Once a year, UJA Federation of NY sends the email to our CEO and me, telling us it’s “that time of year again.” For once, they are not referring to
Feb 2012
Allison is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XIV, and a Jewish Educator. She is currently working with a fellow Class XIV Graduate Fellowship alumna, Orit Kent, on the Beit Midrash Research Project at Brandeis University, developing, researching, and teaching a “Havruta-Inspired Pedagogy.” Allison can be reached at alltcook@earthlink.net. Last month I made what felt like a triumphant return to Israel after too many years. This time I
Wexner Heritage Program nominations are now open for its upcoming cohorts in Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area. Nominate a Jewish lay leader today!