The Latest From The Foundation

Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin sends his congratulations and admiration to Les and Abigail Wexner, on the 30th year of The Wexner Foundation in Israel.

Dear NY16 Vexnerim, I’m cruising at 35,000 feet.  We just said good-bye, and I miss you already.  I’m exhilarated, exhausted and appreciative.  I just want to sleep. But I can’t.  Even as I’m coming off the “high” of our week together in Israel, I feel the dread coming on like a freight train: how am I possibly going to answer those questions? You know, those questions, from family, friends, neighbors,

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

Ninety alumni from all of our programs report back on highlights, challenges and take-aways from the recent Summit’s concluding gathering in Zichron Yaakov.   How might we (Re)Imagine the North American Jewish Community and Israel’s Relationship? Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, WGF Alum (Class 2) I think one of the most important things that has happened in terms of my own understanding of the relationship between the two communities — as somebody who has

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

This past spring, we had the privilege to gather with 99 other Wexner alumni in Princeton, New Jersey for the Foundation’s inaugural Summit, entitled Stronger Together: (Re)Imagining the North American Israeli Relationship.  From all four of Wexner’s programs, half of us Israeli and half North American, our cohort represents community, government and religious leaders eager to explore and take action on new ways of strengthening the current relationship between Israel

It might not have been a Monty Python sketch, but it was no less surreal.  A group of about 40 Wexner Israel Fellows parading through Jerusalem’s Ultra-Orthodox Bukharim neighborhood on the fifth night of Hanukkah. Following (literally) in the footsteps of President Reuven Rivlin’s June 2015 admonition that Israel runs the risk of fragmenting into four distinct “tribes” — three Jewish ones: Secular, Ultra-Orthodox, National Religious and a fourth Arab one

One of the major goals of the Wexner Israel Fellowship is to strengthen the ties and understanding between Israel and the American Jewish community.  Class 28, currently working towards their Masters degrees at Harvard’s Kennedy School, has therefore started a new tradition.  We are conducting informal conversations on burning issues in Israeli society with prominent members of the Jewish community from the Boston area (many of them Wexner Heritage alumni).

I’m four years old, with a pony-tail and a big smile.  I sit in my dad’s old Renault car, he just picked me up from kindergarten and we are driving to Beer Sheva at the heart of Israel’s Negev desert.  Even though at the time the city was not that big, it seemed huge to my four-year-old self.   And as we drive up the main street of Beer Sheva,