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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
Aug 2010
You would imagine, for a Jew, living in Israel, being Jewish is a non-issue. Israel, the birthplace of our ancestors, the land they walked upon, lived out our biblical stories – just breathe the air, feast your eyes on the scenery and tread upon the land. You speak and read the newspapers in Hebrew, the street signs are the names of heroes, biblical characters, famous sages and rabbis; your kids
Aug 2010
Jill Levy is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program. Jill is a fifth year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. She can be reached at jillrlevy@gmail.com. I had the privilege of serving as the Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Intern this year at the Southwest Orlando Jewish Congregation. In recent years, the synagogue has experienced diminished membership due to budgetary and other issues. The current
Aug 2010
Ramie Arian is a a consultant who works with Jewish camps, youth movements and other agencies concerned with building Jewish identity and commitment. He was a senior member of the Wexner Heritage Foundation staff for nine years, ending as Vice President in 1998. He can be reached at ramie.arian@gmail.com. The reordering of priorities which was recently approved by the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) has
Aug 2010
Rebecca Gold is an Alumna of the Metrowest, NJ Wexner Heritage Program. She is the VP of Training & Education for the Metrowest UJC Women’s Philanthropy Board and sits on the Executive Committee of UJC. She can be reached at rbgold@optonline.net. “Where tzedakah is a gift or loan of money, hessed is the gift of the person. It costs less and more: less because its gestures often cost little or
Aug 2010
Even Kresin Steinber is Executive Director of the Beth Tfiloh Congregation and a Wexner Heritage Program Alumna from Baltimore. Eve can be reached at ESteinberg@BTFILOH.org. It was 20 years ago that I boarded the plane for Snowbird, Utah as a new participant in the Wexner Heritage Foundation program. I was young, and my children were young. I was just establishing myself as a committed (and hopefully valued) member of the
Aug 2010
Alison Betts is a member of the Phoenix Wexner Heritage 2009 class and works in International Marketing for American Express. She is the Co-Founder of the “PJ Library” initiative in Phoenix and can be reached at alison.h.betts@gmail.com Jason Israel is a member of the Phoenix Wexner Heritage 2009 class. Jason is President of Hayden Properties, an investment and development firm focusing on healthcare for seniors. He is Co-Founder of the
Aug 2010
Amber Powers is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program. Rabbi Powers serves as the Dean of Admissions and Recruitment at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She can be reached at apowers@rrc.edu. I was always a very good student. I loved learning and was very self-motivated. Most of my learning came easily to me. Half-way through rabbinical school, I was surprised to find myself struggling to fully understand the material
Jul 2010
Jacob Labendz is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program. He is a PhD Candidate in the History Department of Washington University in St. Louis. Jacob is writing his dissertation on Jewish-state relations in Communist-led Czechoslovakia, and spent four years working in and alongside the Jewish community in Prague. He can be reached at labendz@hotmail.com. We had won. After fruitless negotiation with leaders whom we felt to be
Jul 2010
This article originally appeared in The Los Angeles Jewish Journal and www.jewishjournal.com Lorin Fife is an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program, Los Angeles. He is a recovering attorney, former waiter and accomplished artist, serves on the Jewish Agency for Israel’s Board of Governors and its Committee on the Unity of the Jewish People. He has co-chaired the Israel and Overseas programming of L.A.’s Jewish Federation as well as its Tel
Noam Pianko is an Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Washington. He is a faculty member of the Wexner Heritage program and a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alumnus. Noam just published Zionism and the Roads Not Taken: Rawidowicz, Kaplan, Kohn (Indiana University Press), blogs at www.noampianko.com, and lives in Seattle with his wife Rachel Nussbaum (also a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alum) and daughters, Yona and Mia. He can