The Latest From The Foundation

Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.

Limmud FSU New York was held in Westchester ,NY on May 12-14, 2017.  An estimated 1,000 participated in this year’s festivities); for additional info, click here. As the first year of our Wexner Heritage program comes to a close, we (New York RSJ 16) wanted to reflect on our experience to-date.  The personal bonds our cohort formed resulted in stimulating and passionate discussions, several collaborations aimed to strengthen our Jewish

Reprinted with thanks to Politico. Presidents are used to receiving unsolicited advice. Here’s something for President Donald Trump to ponder as he packs his bags for Israel: Many Israelis really don’t care whether the United States moves its embassy to Jerusalem. Latest reports now suggest that Trump has decided to forestall such a move for the foreseeable future. His path to this destination, after indications that he would eschew the

Earlier this month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 89 into law on Yom HaAtzmaut. The Bill makes it illegal for the State of Texas to do business with companies that are boycotting or divesting from Israel.  Any company that contracts with any State of Texas entity will need to verify that they do not and will not boycott Israel.  This is not merely a symbolic resolution; these are

“There are facts, there are opinions, and there are lies,” says historian Deborah Lipstadt, telling the remarkable story of her research into Holocaust deniers — and their deliberate distortion of history. Professor Lipstadt, a long-time Wexner Heritage faculty, has devoted her life to teaching about the Holocaust at Emory University and around the world, and also fighting Holocaust denial and Holocaust deniers. Recently, Denial,  the story of her court battle

Our year-long series of 36 Minutes LIVE: Beyond the Book is going strong!   Check out the recordings of our two most recent calls and stay tuned for more information about upcoming calls!  A surface look at the “leadership industry” reveals enormous investment in the development of leaders, but limited time and money spent on leadership research.  We have turned toward teaching the how of leading rather than teaching about leadership.

I recently published a CD called “May the Angels Carry You: Jewish Songs of Comfort for Death, Burial and Mourning,” designed as a companion to my husband Simcha Raphael’s book of deathbed prayers, “May the Angels Carry You: Jewish Prayers and Meditations for the Deathbed.”  The Wexner community might want to know about this collection of traditional and newly created end-of-life prayer resources.  Here is an example of the title

Reprinted with thanks to eJewish Philanthropy In my early days of working at Hillel, I remember having a conversation with a campus professional about how to find the Jews on campus.  “You want to know who’s Jewish?” he asked, “Put up a sukkah on one side of the street and see who crosses to the other side to avoid you.  That’s how you’ll know who is Jewish.”  It was a

It was one of those dark, stormy spring weeknights that had an autumn feeling to it — it’s the kind of night when you cancel whatever is on your social calendar and cuddle up to re-binge Game of Thrones so that it’s nice and fresh in your mind ahead of Season 7.  Yet, despite all odds, 20 or so Russian Speaking Jews (RSJs) gathered all the way uptown — crossing 14th,

At The Wexner Foundation,  we assess and adapt our work constantly so that we continue to excel in training you, our leaders, who strengthen communities in North America and Israel.  Part of our formula requires us to stay at the front of fast-breaking technological developments so that members of our network can use an optimal set of tools to “change the world for the better” — to quote Les. Toward

The WhatsApp group for the Russian-speaking Jewish (RSJ) Wexner cohort of New York 16 has been a lively forum for political debate and discussion since its inception last summer during the New Member Institute (NMI) in Snowmass, CO.  Frankly, it’s been hard to discern whether we terribly like each other and want to talk all the time or whether the unprecedented political events of the last eight months have gotten