The Latest From The Foundation

Reprinted with permission from eJewish Philanthropy It’s been almost six years since an idea popped into my head and I felt compelled to turn that vision into reality. It’s been an amazing journey so far, so I thought that I would share some of what I’ve learned. 1. Passion — You’ve got to love your idea and believe that it can really transform the community.   You’ll want to tell the

On Friday, January 20, 2017, I was in attendance as Donald J. Trump and Michael R. Pence were sworn into office as the 45th President and 48th Vice-president of the United States of America. I wasn’t there because Donald Trump had my vote for president (he did not).  I was there because I prize the peaceful transfer of power that occurs every 4 to 8 years, because I respect the

In photo: Elliot Goldberg, WGF Class 4, presents Karen Collum with a book of gratitude from WGF Alumni, and thanks her on behalf of the entire WGF Alumni community. At the 2017 Wexner Graduate Fellowship Alumni Institute, whose theme was “Eleh haDevarim: Words that Matter,”  WGF alumni had the opportunity this week to express two words that matter: “Thank You,” and present Karen Collum with a book that includes a

Aaron Panken, WGF Alum (Class 8) — Cincinnati, OH On January 3rd, the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) was vandalized. The sign at the entrance to our Cincinnati Campus was defaced with a swastika. The paint was easily removed and the sign quickly repaired. The incident is under investigation by local police. For more than 140 years, HUC-JIR has been devoted to the values of pluralism, open dialogue

Reposted with thanks to The Times of Israel  Cohen was not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet.  He was actually the son of a beloved Jewish Montreal family and the grandson of a religious man with whom he used to study the prophets — the Book of Isaiah to be exact — in the original Hebrew.  But in his way, as much as rock and roll and

After months of a caustic US election cycle, American Jews woke up on November 9th (or let’s face it, a lot of us didn’t ever fall asleep on the 8th) to face a dramatic shift in the sociopolitical direction of our country.  On the 12th, thousands of us convened in Washington, DC for JFNA’s annual GA conference.  I’ve attended the GA a few times before, and, while political topics are

In the next week our constituents will be receiving a copy of The Wexner Foundation’s just released More than Managing: The Relentless Pursuit of Jewish Leadership, published by Jewish Lights, an imprint of Turner Publishing.  This book of essays, written by a sampling of alumni, faculty and friends of our programs, was curated and edited by longtime friend and faculty member Rabbi Dr. Lawrence Hoffman.  This article serves as an

I think most of us agree that this has been a unique, even unprecedented Presidential campaign — and not in a good way!  In my circles, the most frequent words I hear to describe the campaign are: disturbing, unnerving, relentless, frightening and downright disgusting.  One thing is for certain — no one has called this campaign “inspiring”.  That is why I was so pleasantly surprised this week to find inspiration

A few weeks ago, we heard the recordings of Donald Trump bragging about how he sexually assaults women.  Then women came forward accusing him of assault. People around me, in person or through social media, began responding and some of it was downright disturbing.  People I know and love claimed that these women could not be believed because they waited so long to come forward.  Others gave the old “boys