The Latest From The Foundation

As the proud father of four Jewish summer campers, the husband of a Jewish summer camper and a former Jewish camper myself, I can tell you that camps had a profound impact on my family’s connection to Judaism. While I’m passionate about making sure more kids in our community can attend Jewish summer camps, I also love cycling. That’s why I decided to bring the two together. In the spring

If you’re reading this, you know the power of a Wexner Institute. This was my first exposure to the intense intellectual stimulation and deep commitment of the entire Wexner enterprise, as experienced at the Wexner Heritage New Member Institute in Aspen that just finished last Friday. Deciding where to focus this reflection has been difficult—should I emphasize the numerous ah-ha moments inspired by the excellent faculty? The easy camaraderie among

Dr. Stephen Hazan Arnoff, a Wexner Graduate Fellowship Alum (Class 13) is Director of Culture, Community, and Society at Shalem College. He also has a blog called Talkin’ Hava Nagilah Blues, where he recently explored the multiple meaning of stars, and how we measure our lives by them.  “The same week that Robin Williams died, a friend of mine noted, five hundred children were said to be suffocated in the

We wanted to share the latest representation of our work. This work and our current collaboration were born in the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, and we continue to be grateful for all we have received from the Foundation and our Wexner colleagues. The video, through the words and images of middle school students, brings to life our most recent design research around meaningful engagement with both peers and texts. “Pedagogy of

Rabbi Moses must have already known that I am in the “amiable” leadership style category (which was the “blue” group according to the leadership style assessment exercise we did at the Institute)—maybe even an “extremely blue”—when he asked me to write my post-institute (#wexsi) thoughts. Of course, I agreed to his request because I am supportive and cooperative! Here are my true confessions: Fear and Courage will help me find

Our personal experience with our young daughter, who attended a Jewish camp for several years, proved to us that starting on the journey of self -discovery can be profoundly influenced and enhanced by the camping experience. Prompted by this exposure, and also the considerable data suggesting that immersive experiences such as Jewish camping and trips to Israel, have a lasting effect  on their participants, my husband Michael (like me a

Silicon Valley specializes in creating new things.  Silicon wafers with brains.  Eyeglasses with cameras.  Cars without drivers.  To that list, I’d like to add one more innovation: a model of religious life for Israelis that gets beyond pointless divisions between religious and secular Jews. For the last three years, I have served as headmaster of the South Peninsula Hebrew Day School, Silicon Valley’s one Orthodox day school for grades PK-8. 

In 2012 I co-founded the Cleveland Jewish Arts & Culture Lab with Rabbi Zachary Truboff, a young Rabbi and Torah Scholar. Our premise is that the Arts can become an incredible source of creativity in the Jewish community providing an opportunity to “reinvent” tradition and the Torah for today. Simply stated, we facilitate a Jewish Artist Fellowship program for 10-14 Jewishly identified Clevelanders that culminates in an Exhibition of original

As the Wexner Israel Fellowship (WIF) year draws rapidly to its end, I remember one of my greatest laughs from the beginning of the year. We happily spotted the Kosher meat section in one of the supermarkets, just to discover that on one side of it rested sachets of clams and on the other side packages of bacon.  Could I learn something from this kind of peaceful co-existence? At Harvard

On Shabbat (May 23), a day in which we strive for peace and wholeness, our community was shattered by an unimaginable tragedy. As we mourn the loss of all those killed in the recent shooting in Isla Vista, we struggle to make sense of a senseless act. Santa Barbara, which is often seen as a picture-perfect oasis, has now been added to a list of cities that include Columbine, Aurora,