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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
Jun 2011
Melissa is an alumna of Wexner Heritage Chicago 1 and a Los Angeles Endeavor member. She can be reached at Melissa_Patack@mpaa.org As part of the Los Angeles-Tel Aviv Partnership, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, my children’s school, the Rabbi Jacob Pressman Academy of Temple Beth Am, has a 6th grade exchange program with the Magen School in Maoz Aviv. The Pressman-Magen exchange has flourished for 13
Jun 2011
Chana Zelig is a visual artist and Wexner Heritage Alumna from Chicago. She works on large public installations and private commissions, and is a speaker and writer on advancing a new generation of Jewish art and aesthetics. Chana can be reached at chanazelig@gmail.com, or through her website, chanazelig.com. “The root of creativity is discontent with mere being, with just being around in the world.” (Abraham Joshua Heschel) I started my
Jun 2011
Rabbi Lisa Grushcow is an Alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class XII. She is the Rabbi at Congregation Rodeph Sholom in Manhattan. Lisa can be reached at rabbigrushcow@crsnyc.org. I lead a parenting group called “How to Raise a Mentsch.” (The irony: How often have I rushed my seven year old in the morning, yelling “Ariella! Hurry up! I have to teach the parenting class!”). We read parenting books
Jun 2011
Jan Uhrbach is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class X. She is the founding Rabbi of the Conservative Synagogue of the Hamptons in Sag Harbor, a member of the Wexner Heritage faculty, and a renowned teacher of Torah in NYC. She was a member of the editorial committee for Machzor Lev Shalem (Rabbinical Assembly of the Conservative Movement, 2010), and currently works as an associate editor on
Jun 2011
Amit David is a Wexner Israel Fellow, Class 22. Today is Amit’s commencement day at Harvard. He will receive a master’s degree in public administration. Upon receiving his degree, Amit will to return to Israel where he will continue his lifelong service in the Israeli Defense Force. He can be reached at david.amit@gmail.com. The following is a journal account of Amit’s trek to the 2011 Boston Marathon. July 12, 2010
Jun 2011
Shoshana Friedman is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XXII and studies at the Hebrew College Rabbinical School. She can be reached at shoshana friedman@yahoo.com. Mordy Walfish is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XXII and the Assistant Director of the Berman Jewish Policy Archive (www.bjpa.org) and an MPA candidate in Nonprofit Management at New York University. He can be reached at mordecaiwalfish@gmail.com. This past WGF Winter Institute, many
Sarah is a Wexner Graduate Fellow alumna, Class XI; she is an Associate Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles. She has published widely on Jewish language and identity, and her book, Becoming Frum: How Newcomers Learn the Language and Culture of Orthodox Judaism, is forthcoming with Rutgers University Press. She can be reached at sbenor.huc@gmail.com. Continuity. Outreach. Pluralism. Innovation. Linking the
May 2011
Joe is a Wexner Heritage (Philadelphia 1) alumnus . He collaborated with Jerry L. Jennings to write I Choose Life: Two Linked Stories of Holocaust Survival and Rebirth (Xlibris 2009), from which this piece is adapted. Joe can be reached at JFinkelstein@BlankRome.com. On May 5 of each year, my father, Sol Finkelstein, declares, “Today is my birthday.” Although he was born in September, Sol counts the start of his life
May 2011
Dr. Yossi Chajes is an alumnus of Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class IV, and he is a professor of Jewish Thought and History at the University of Haifa. He can be reached at chajes11@gmail.com. Over the past decade, I’ve led High Holiday services in stunningly diverse religious contexts. My challenge has been to distill and express what is most meaningful to me in the dovening within very different pre-existing frameworks. Recently,
Akiva Herzfeld is an alumnus of Wexner Graduate Fellowship Class XVI and and a graduate of YCT Rabbinical School. He is the rabbi of Congregation Shaarey Tphiloh in Portland, Maine, rabbiherzfeld@gmail.com When the angel of death came to take away the life of Shloime Feivel ben Rav Moishe Ahrun, Sid Levine, Sid fought him off with a smile, a few old Jewish jokes, and with a needle and thread. Sid