8000 Walton Parkway, Suite 110
New Albany, Ohio 43054
614 939-6060
Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
Oct 2010
Rabbi Jennie Roseenn is a Wexner Graduate Fellowship Alumna, Class IV. She is the Program Director for Jewish Life and Values at the Nathan Cummings Foundation. Jennie can be reached at jennie.rosenn@nathancummings.org. It happened nearly twenty years ago, and I hope I will never forget it. I had just finished my first year of rabbinical school and was serving as the student rabbi of a congregation on Cape Cod for
Sep 2010
Raquel Ukeles is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program and a Golda Meir postdoctoral fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the academic director of www.intellectualencounters.org, on philosophy and science in the world of medieval Islam. Raquel can be reached at rukeles@gmail.com. As a veteran participant in inter-religious programs, I’ve learned a tremendous amount by watching the successes and mistakes of others. For example, the most
Sep 2010
Scott Hurley is an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program, San Francisco 08 and JCC President on the San Francisco Peninsula. Scott can be reached at scott.hartley@fox-shjeflo.com. I chose Judaism because my family was going to be in the Jewish community and I wanted to be an official member instead of a long term guest. I was drawn to the Jewish values of family, education and the importance of leading
Sep 2010
Rachel Alexander is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program, Class XIII. Rachel is currently the Director of Development for the New York Campaign of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. She can be reached at ralexander@hillel.org. “Leadership is about making a positive difference for and with others. Leadership is about the integrity of one’s character, the caliber of one’s capabilities, and the effectiveness of one’s collaboration
Sep 2010
Josh is is the Campus Rabbi at Fiedler Hillel at Northwestern University and an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program. Josh can be reached at rabbijosh@northwestern.edu. Recently I co-chaired a conference sponsored by Hillel with funding from the Jim Joseph Foundation called Toward a Third Space: A New Dimension in Jewish Education for Emerging Adults. While Hillel and JJF were the official conveners of the gathering, many of us
Sep 2010
Emeri S. Handler is an alumna of the Wexner Heritage Program, San Francisco 08. She currently serves on the boards of the Oshman Family JCC and Moving Traditions, an organization inspiring teens to look more deeply at Judaism using gender as the framework. She can be reached at emeri@thehandlerfamily.com. My grandmother Goldie, zichrono l’vracha, was 98 when she passed away last fall, erev Rosh Hashanah. She was widowed soon after
Sep 2010
Margaret Jelinek Lewis is an alumna of the Wexner Heritage Program from Houston and a professor of psychology and human sexuality at Lonestar College – Tomball in Tomball, Texas. She can be reached at msjlewis@me.com Last night at Open House in my child’s Jewish day school, parents listened intently as the teachers talked about math and social studies, but when they mentioned that this was the year the kids would
Sep 2010
Rabbi Joseph Berman is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program. Joseph received ordination in June from the Hebrew College Rabbinical School in Newton, MA. In the Fall, Joseph will become the Rabbi of Temple B’nai Israel in Revere, MA. He can be reached at joseph.berman@gmail.com. “Youth Force, the teen organizers from Dorchester who led a class about restoring funding for youth jobs, have requested your help,” I
Sep 2010
Rabbi Marion Lev-Cohen is a Wexner Heritage Alumni from NYC. She is currently the Director of Adult Education at Central Synagogue. Marion was the former chair of the Commission on Jewish Identity at UJA Federation and on its Executive Committee. She served on the boards of the JDC, the Jewish Agency and the Foundation for Jewish Camp. She currently serves on the boards of American Jewish World Service, Synagogue 3000,
Gary Aidekman is President of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest, New Jersey and a MetroWest Wexner Heritage Program Alumnus. Gary can be reached at gaidekman@ujcnj.org. Sometime after the publication of the National Jewish Population Survey of 1990 a sense of dread spread over many American Jews. The survey revealed a steep increase in intermarriage and Jewish leadership grew fearful that Jewish identity would weaken and with each new generation American