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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
Reversing nearly seven decades of opposition to Israel in the UN, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, visited Israel this past month, the first time an Indian PM ever visited. In Photo: President Rivlin holds a working meeting with PM Modi in Jerusalem. As a Jewish American committed to Israel’s well-being, I am concerned by the volatility in diplomatic sentiment towards Israel. We witnessed such a swing last December
If we are awake to our heritage and history, we must at least consider that the recent confluence of events involving our holiest site – The Temple Mount — and the tensions between different groupings of Jews in Israel and between Israeli and Diaspora Jewry are hardly “coincidental.” Often, near Tisha B’Av, the Creator presents us with a spur to review our priorities and learn deeply our texts, which provide
Last week Leslie and Abigail Wexner, Chairmen of The Wexner Foundation, joined us in Israel for a special evening to celebrate 30 years of the Wexner Fellowship in Israel — a moving tribute to Les and Abigail and deeply significant for all of us here in Israel who consider ourselves part of the “Wexner family”. Together with Wexner Heritage Members from North America who were here for their Summer Institute, and
Jul 2017
CONGRATULATIONS TO: Eitan and Etta Bendavid, WGF Alumni (Class 20 and Class 24), on making Aliyah. Audrey Marcus Berkman, WGF Alum (Class 15), on becoming Associate Rabbi at Temple Ohabei Shalon in Brookline, MA. Nir Buchler, WGF Alum (Class 22), on becoming Vice President, Israel & Global Philanthropy at the Jewish Agency for Israel. Marc Gold, WHP Alum (Montreal), on becoming a Canadian Senator. Peter Kalichman, WHP Alum (Montreal), on being named a
Dear NY16 Vexnerim, I’m cruising at 35,000 feet. We just said good-bye, and I miss you already. I’m exhilarated, exhausted and appreciative. I just want to sleep. But I can’t. Even as I’m coming off the “high” of our week together in Israel, I feel the dread coming on like a freight train: how am I possibly going to answer those questions? You know, those questions, from family, friends, neighbors,
Reposted with thanks to ejewishphilanthropy.org. Earlier this summer, the musical Dear Evan Hansen and its superstar (and Jewish summer camp alum) Ben Platt, swept the Tony Awards. Their wins come at the start of the Jewish camp and youth group trip season, which has caused me to reflect on my youth experiences. In my reflection I consider this musical’s message, and I’ve come to realize the true potential impact of Jewish life
Jul 2017
Reposted with thanks to Sh’ma Now and The Forward In the abstract, love is about as good as it gets. Yet Jewish wisdom seems to know just how hard it is to love, how inclined we are to move in the opposite direction. In the book of Leviticus, we learn: “You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart.” (19:17) The Torah seems to understand that each of us will
Jul 2017
Look at any device you are holding right now. These days it might be appropriate to paraphrase Andy Warhol’s prescient observation…In the future, everyone will have a podcast. Indeed, there’s a ton out there and, thankfully, in the Jewish community there is a wide range of great, thought-provoking programming from Tablet Magazine’s Unorthodox to Reboot’s The Kibitz. As a Wexner alum, I continue to look at ways to deepen my
Jun 2017
CONGRATULATIONS TO: Eitan and Etta Bendavid, WGF Alumni (Class 20 and Class 24), on making Aliyah. Audrey Marcus Berkman, WGF Alum (Class 15), on becoming Associate Rabbi at Temple Ohabei Shalon in Brookline, MA. Nir Buchler, WGF Alum (Class 22), on becoming Vice President, Israel & Global Philanthropy at the Jewish Agency for Israel. Marc Gold, WHP Alum (Montreal), on becoming a Canadian Senator. Peter Kalichman, WHP Alum (Montreal), on being