The Latest From The Foundation

Last year I published an article in this newsletter about 9Adar.  As I mentioned then, the Pardes Center for Judaism and Conflict Resolution has established 9Adar as a worldwide Jewish Day of Constructive Conflict, recalling the tragic and violent conflict between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai some 2000 years ago (view the video here). More than 65 organizations (including The Wexner Foundation) and roughly 100,000 people participated in commemorating 9Adar last

Picture it: Jenny, a secular Jew in Los Angeles, perhaps a Wexner Heritage alum, has a weekly online learning session with Orli, a religious Israeli who lives on a kibbutz, perhaps a Wexner Israel Fellowship alum. They are getting to know each other, and their appreciation for the differences and similarities between their lives grows deeper with each conversation. While studying Jewish philosophy online, the complexity and beauty of the

As “Boomers” approach the end of their midlife careers and seek new paths to meaning while facing unprecedented challenges, Jewish leaders and communities should figure out how to engage them and  their skill sets, resources, idealism, time and energy. For the past few years, David Elcott — of The Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU — and I have worked to change the conversation about aging

(Pictured) Szarvas fellows from different countries having a discussion about Jewish identity  I always had a pretty clear understanding and point of reference to the varied summer and school programs that our four daughters participated in.  Szarvas was the exception! I never expected each of my very different daughters to come home from their summers in Hungary and say it was 110% fun! The Szarvas Fellowships, directed by Rabbi Seth

“The first thing we do is kill all the lawyers”- Shakespeare  Why would we kill all the lawyers? Perhaps among the many reasons is that they make all those detailed rules. Rules that are hard for the rest of us to follow. Rules that complicate life, beyond the point of manageability for many other non-lawyers. In their defense, their actions may even have what they perceive to be our best

I’m proud and grateful to invite the Wexner community — and those in your communities — to explore Hadar’s new website: www.mechonhadar.org. This isn’t another brochure site: its heart is a pair of databases of durable, high-quality content. The site’s most ambitious and distinctive feature is a new tool for prayer-leaders, from beginner to experienced. At a glance, users can stream or download the standard (Ashkenazi) nusach for a prayer, communal melodies

Photo courtesy of The Kavana Cooperative In 2006, Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum co-founded The Kavana Cooperative, a new kind of nondenominational Jewish community for the twenty-first century, deeply committed to religious pluralism and strongly influenced by Seattle start-up culture. This week, eJewishPhilanthropy posted a story from Rachel which presents the fascinating results of a demographic study of Kavana members, or “partners,” that showcase what’s unique about Kavana’s institutional model, what’s working,

Last summer, at the Wexner Heritage Summer Institute in Snowbird, Utah, participants brainstormed about challenges facing Jewish life in North America. I listened: “How can Judaism be more meaningful for people’s lives today?” “How can synagogues be more relevant for Jewish life?” “How can young professionals be drawn into Jewish life?”  All of these questions were similarly on our minds when the Jewish Mindfulness Center of Washington (JMCW) was just

Teen philanthropists award grants to deserving nonprofits (Jewish Community Youth Foundation, Princeton, NJ). It doesn’t look like much at first: a garden, just a pile of dirt. With the right natural elements and people to tend to it, that pile of dirt transforms; its space turns into a gathering place for community, its food turns into sustenance for families, its process turns into a learning experience for young and old.

Nearly two years ago I began research for the Jewish Funders NetworkGreenbook on Jewish Day School Financial Sustainability and Affordability.  The publication, sponsored by the AVI CHAI Foundation, offers a landscape study of initiatives designed to buttress the financial picture of day schools.  Conveniently, the Greenbook was published in January, concurrent with my beginning work at UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Education.  Since then it has