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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
I have been a TV producer for nearly 40 years. When my career began there were three networks: ABC, CBS and NBC. The only way to watch them was on a TV set, in your house, and if you missed a show you were out of luck. Those days are long gone. Today, TV arrives how you like it, when you like it and on any device you want to
“We are on the map and not only in basketball but in everything!” said the Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Captain, Tal Brody, in his American accented Hebrew as the mike was pushed into his sweaty, beaming face, immediately after the team’s miraculous victory in 1977 against the formidable and then Olympic world champion’s team, the Red Army’s basketball team. In life, each of us has an Exodus story, whether as
Apr 2017
Reprinted with thanks to The Times of Israel. The other day, among the relentless news stories, my eye caught the headline of an otherwise inconspicuous article: “German city puts traffic lights on the ground — for you phone gazers.” The sum of the story is that in Augsburg, Germany, city officials installed traffic lights on the ground near busy train stations so that commuters looking down at their phones wouldn’t
Apr 2017
Pesach is a story of the long journey from degradation to dignity and is a theme that continues to repeat itself throughout history. This year at my seder, and during this week when we tell the story and journey from then to now and from bondage to freedom, I am mindful that the journey is far from over. I recently went on a civil rights trip to Birmingham, Montgomery and
Mar 2017
WIF Fellows Yuval Ran, Eyal Jacobson, Yuval Laster and Mushira Aboo Dia (Class 28) meeting with US Representative for North Carolina’s 11th congressional district, Mark Meadows during their Spring Institute in Washington, DC last week. In the wake of the presidential elections, no place was more fitting to gain an understanding of the new political realities than the US capital. Over spring break, Class 28 of the Wexner Israel Fellowship
Mar 2017
Throughout so many classes, sessions and discussions, Wexner Heritage members and alumni spend a lot of time brainstorming ways to increase inclusion, affiliation and other vital issues relating to Jewish identity. One of my dearest friends has come up with an idea that I believe is brilliant in both design and execution. While my friend prefers to remain anonymous — we are both fans of the Rambam’s eight levels of
Bnai Bayit (“Bet Bet” for short) connects Israelis studying for advanced degrees in North America with members of the local Jewish community to create lasting friendships, foster mutual understanding and strengthen the bonds between Israelis and North American Jews. Check out the website. When challenged to dream about and take action on a new project through the Wexner Foundation’s inaugural Summit: Stronger Together: (Re-) Imagining the North American Jewish and
Mar 2017
On my 1992 application for the Wexner Heritage Program, I wrote about Cantor Jerome B. Kopmar as the most influential person in my life. Long before there was communal conversation about informal Jewish education, Cantor Kopmar was educating Jewish youth in Akron through the medium of Jewish choral music. I only sang in the choir for one year and was brokenhearted when Cantor Kopmar left, knowing deep in my 11
During the four weeks the Wexner Senior Leaders (WSL 17) were studying at the Harvard Kennedy School they had several opportunities to interact with the local Jewish community. Some had Shabbat dinners with undergraduates at Harvard Hillel and others at the homes of communal leaders, including Wexner Heritage alumni. The Senior Leaders also visited Gann Academy — a pluralistic high school — where they met teachers designing the Israel education program and
Mar 2017
On March 5, the first class of the newly expanded Wexner Field Fellowship (WFF), developed in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation, came together for their first ever Spring Institute at the Inn at Serenbe outside Atlanta, GA. The fifteen Field Fellows spent most of the time getting to know one another and hearing each other’s Jewish Journeys, while also being oriented to The Wexner Foundation and the required components