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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.
Little did I know when I began working in the education department at the Columbus Museum of Art (CMA) in 1985 that my life as a Jew would be so greatly enriched by my burgeoning career path. This was the same year that I was a participant in the first-ever Wexner Heritage program. My identity as a Jew blossomed and grew exponentially through the Wexner experience. Simultaneously, I had opportunities
Oct 2015
In this week’s Torah portion Toldot we read an interesting yet strange story. Isaac is getting on with his years, and his eyes are dim. He wishes to bless Esau his son, and he tells him “bring me some food, and then I will bless you”. His wife Rebecca overhears the conversation, and in an effort to ensure that Jacob gets the blessing and not Esau she comes up with
Looking at Israel, from numerous vantage points, there is much to be concerned about. I founded The Sacred Rights, Sacred Song Project (SRSS) in 2010 with the mission to use choral music to spotlight abuses of power by narrow-minded religious authorities in Israel, with the goal of strengthening the voices of moderate democracy within our Jewish conversation. In the past 5 years, SRSS has done important work for the Modern
I invite all WHF members, past, present and future, to our first NYC area Sacred Rights, Sacred Song, Concert of Concern. Come and support the creative activism of your fellow WHF member. Let me give a bit of background about the Sacred Rights, Sacred Song Project. Looking at Israel, from numerous vantage points, there is much to be concerned about. I founded SRSS in 2010 with the mission to use
Reprinted with thanks to the DRG Newsletter As CEO’s around the nation step down from leadership positions at nonprofits, their boards are faced with the challenging task of finding their successors, but few are prepared. According to a recent report by Third Sector New England, a Boston-based resource center for nonprofits, 64% of executives planned to leave their jobs within the next five years yet 60% of organizations did not
Sep 2015
Since the start of my career as a young physician, from a battalion surgeon to the Surgeon General of the IDF, I have practiced medicine and learned leadership lessons along the way. In this TedMed talk I hope to share with you some insights based on my experience running the IDF Field Hospital after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, for example, and also drawing on the strong organizational culture of leadership in crisis that the
The young woman standing in front of us is seemingly nervous and out of her comfort zone. She is likely new at this — presenting to grant committees. But as our dialogue unfolds, this initial impression quickly evaporates. Our presenter is sharing the work she is doing in Baltimore with Russian-Jewish teenagers — kids who, while Jewish by birth, either grew up in the former Soviet Union or are growing
Sep 2015
This post originally appeared on JOFA’s blog, “The Torch,” and is reposted with permission. “Imma, I want an upsherin!” My daughter revealed this mid-way through her first year at a Chabad preschool, where she had attended several of her classmate’s upsherins. A party and a first haircut (upsherin literally translates to shearing) was what she saw for those little boys, whose families were upholding a centuries-old chasidic custom that grew
Last March I teamed up with an Israeli classmate to take our MBA peers on an innovation and entrepreneurship trek to Israel. To incentivize students, we fundraised $75,000 toward subsidizing the 8-day trip and designed an itinerary based on student interests. Of the 31 travelers, 28 were not Jewish and 25 were international participants representing 15 countries. The majority of their views on Israel were based on biased media. Some students
Sep 2015
Reposted with thanks to the new JTS series of short videos entitled Sound Bytes of Torah for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. WGF alum, David Hoffman (Class 6), gives us a teaching and some koach to continue our work in 5776. Rabbi David Hoffman, a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alum (Class 6), is the Vice Chancellor and Chief Advancement Officer at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. He can be