The Latest From The Foundation

Sara Bronstein, a Wexner Heritage alumna from San Francisco, is Director of The Israel Travel Initiative of the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation (JCF) of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties. She can be reached at quebo@sbcglobal.net The Wailing Wall. Ancient manuscripts. Open-air markets redolent with spices. And, of course, the world’s best falafel. Yes, these were experienced by the 107 participants, including the mayor of

Yair Shiran, an alumnus of the Wexner Israel Fellowship Program, is Economic Minister of Israel to North America. He is happy to meet with any Wexner alumni interested in investment opportunities in Israel. He can be reached at Yair.Shiran@israeltrade.gov.il From an economy initially built on agriculture and traditional industries at the time of its inception sixty years ago, Israel has emerged as a hub of innovation and entrepreneurial activity. In

Karen Kaufman Perlman is an alumna of the Wexner Heritage Program in Los Angeles and currently a resident of San Francisco. She is on the Boards of the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, the Jewish Community Center, and the Jewish Vocational Service. She can be reached at karenperlman@aol.com A few weeks ago, I had the privilege of traveling on a UJC boutique mission to Ethiopia and Israel, along with 13

Deb Housen-Couriel, an alumna of the Wexner Israel Fellowship Program, is now its Director. An attorney and former senior official in Israel’s Communications Department, she made aliyah from Massachusetts to Israel following her college graduation.  She can be reached at dhousencouriel@wexner.net. For many years I have felt that this day, or more precisely, the hours leading up to this day, are an exercise in ambiguity. There is no Erev Chag

Joe Stone, a Boston alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program, is a Financial Planner and on the executive board of the New England Region of the Jewish National Fund and the American Liver Foundation. He can be reached at joe@stonefinancialgroup.net. For the past 27 years a group of friends have taken a 10-day bicycle trip all around the US and Europe. This past year several of us decided to make

Lisa Mandel, a Wexner Heritage alumna from Los Angeles, is an attorney who is currently the Child and Welfare Policy Deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. The following are her reflections from a recent trip to Israel on a child welfare mission with the LA Tel-Aviv Partnership. She can be reached at lmandel@bos.lacounty.gov. In my first forty-six years, I had never been to Israel. In the last year

Geoffrey Lewis, an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program from Boston, is an attorney; he is active in numerous Jewish communal organizations and is involved in a variety of business activities in Israel. He can be reached at GHLewis@plgt.com Vayechi, translated “and he lived,” paradoxically records the last years and death of the Patriarch Jacob. Having lived in Egypt for 17 years, Jacob, at the end of his life, calls

During the Yizkor service on Yom Kippur, it is the custom in our congregation that as the name of each person who died during the previous year is read, their loved ones stand to indicate their status as mourners* to the rest of the congregation. This part of the service takes several minutes. If you must stand though, it feels like an eternity until the rest of the congregation rises

Paul Sunshine, a current Wexner Heritage Member from San Francisco, is a donor to the Machiah Fellowship, on the steering committee of the Young Funders’ Forum of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund, serves on the board of the Northern California Innocence Projects, and is active with American Jewish World Service. He can be reached at paulsunshine@sbcglobal.net Last month, I participated in the Wexner Heritage Israel Institute. One of the most