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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
Feb 2011
Rabbi Joe Kanofsky is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class XI. Joe is the rabbi of Kehillat Shaarei Torah in Toronto, Canada
Feb 2011
Ed Rettig is an Alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class II. He is the Director of AJC-Jerusalem, the Israel office of the American Jewish Committee. Ed can be reached at rettige@ajc.org.il. In those classic movie scenes the officer cries “follow me” and leads the charge. For rare individuals that is an option. For me, leadership seems more a process (I speak as a balding, overweight, middle aged, Jewish
Feb 2011
Jenny Solomon is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class X. Jenny serves as a rabbi, teaching, counseling, and leading prayer at Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh and in the greater Triangle Jewish Community. She is also building the first community mikveh in Eastern North Carolina. She can be reached at rabbijsolomon@gmail.com At a recent colloquium on the pursuit of happiness at Emory University, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Feb 2011
Joe Septimus is a Wexner Heritage Alumnus from New York IV. Joe presented this piece at a Memorial Service for Debbie Friedman held at Central Synagogue on January 27, 2011. He can be reached at joe@septimus.com. Debbie was my friend. Not the famous Debbie Friedman, who inspired a generation. But the private one; humble, vulnerable loving and funny. The one at our family shabbos table. The one who enjoyed being
Feb 2011
Rabbi Audrey Marcus Berkman is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XV. She serves as Rabbi of Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Havurah in Newton, MA, and as Jewish Chaplain at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. She can be reached at audmar98@yahoo.com. I recently served on the beit din for the conversion to Judaism of a German man whose parents had been members of the Nazi party. During our conversation, I bore witness
Jan 2011
Ami Hersh is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program (Class XIX). Ami is the Assistant Director of the Ramah Day Camp in Nyack and a 4th year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He can be reached at Ami@ramahnyack.org. As part of my internship at a Synagogue this year there have been many highlights. The opportunity to teach a class entitled “Text and Context,” has stood out.
Jan 2011
Rabbi Esther Reed is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program and the Associate Director for Jewish Campus Life at Rutgers Hillel. She wrote the chapter on Conservative Judaism in the second edition of Jewish U: A Contemporary Guide for the Jewish College Student (2010). Esther can be reached at rabbireed@rutgershillel.org . Lately several different congregations in my area have asked me to speak to juniors and seniors in
Jan 2011
Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah, 25 years after its release, remains the most powerful Holocaust film ever made. Reprinted With Permission From The Tablet Magazine Deborah Lipstadt is the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. She is the author of History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving. Her latest book, The Eichmann Trial, will be published by Nextbook Press in 2011.
Stu Seltzer is an alumna of the Wexner Heritage Program, Westchester/New York ’07. Stu is currently Co-chair of the UJA Federation campaign for Westchester County, NY. He can be reached at stuseltzer@aol.com. “Donate a Torah in Germany? I can’t even bring myself to buy a German car.” This was my reaction when my friend Jon Spielman first invited my family to join him on his trip to dedicate a Torah
Jan 2011
Etta Zimmerman is a Wexner Heritage Alumna, Boca Raton 07. She serves as a member of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and is a past Chair of the Board of Director’s for the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County. Etta can be reached at ezboca@bellsouth.net. I often wish that Oprah was Jewish, hence the Oprah effect of bringing to light the significant needs of our times and helping