The Latest From The Foundation

Top from left: Matt Reingold, Yoni Pomeranz, Avi Miller, Michael Emerson, Sarit Horwitz, Maital Freidman, Sara Meirowitz. Middle from left: Shira Billet, Evelyn Baz Enright, Justin Rosen Smolen, Ruthie Warshenbrot, Reuben Posner. Bottom from left: Julie Finkelstein, Liz Piper-Goldberg, Miriam Farber Wajnberg, Jared Matas, Jeni Friedman, Tova Katz. Not Pictured: Aviva Richman.    The Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program’s Winter Institute devoted to cohort-based leadership learning ended yesterday. Class 23 (pictured

(Pictured) In Ashkelon, a wall with ”Path to Peace” written on it in Hebrew —  a message of peace, which  protects a community of Jews (some of whom save Palestinian lives for a living) from sniper fire out of Gaza. On the recent Israel Institute I learned that the issues impacting Israel are very rarely black and white. There is a whole lot of gray. In that gray however, hope

This piece was originally published on Learning About Learning, the blog of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University. In the blizzard of articles, reactions, and blog posts about the Pew Research Center study of American Jews, the most unexpected came from the prominent public intellectual Noah Feldman. Writing in Bloomberg, Feldman’s column jumps from the Pew study to some observations about,

I keep thinking about the meeting I attended several weeks ago sponsored by the Wexner Foundation during the GA in Israel.  Wexner alumni from all 3 programs (Heritage, Israel and Graduate Fellowships) gathered for an exclusive Wexner program led by Colonel (ret.) Miri Eisen, the Israeli Prime Minister’s international media advisor; Gordon Hecker, Wexner Heritage alumnus (Columbus ‘00) and recently elected President and CEO of The Jewish Federation of Columbus;

First year rabbinical student and Wexner Graduate Fellow Juliana Schnur (Class 26), overhears the quip, “No one in the history of the world ever washed a rented car,” and writes this open letter to her peers. And to the “elders” she exhorts: “confront the growing multiculturalism of our community: from intermarried couples to friendship networks across faiths and cultures, to children raised in mixed religious (or non-religious!) households.” With thanks

Last year, after having lived in San Francisco, I returned to my home town of Melbourne, Australia, with my wife, Jennifer, and our 5 small children (all aged between 2 and 9). Many of my friends from Wexner days wonder what it’s like living in Melbourne as a Jew, so I thought I would tell you a little bit about our lives. In Melbourne, Australia, 70% of the Jewish population

“In my youth, I developed a habit of dating shiksas—and then I married one last year. I can understand why some people question my commitment to Judaism. However, my intimacy with non-Jews has led me to start wondering whether my pristine brethren (with Jewish spouses) are quite as Jewish as they think…” Current Wexner Heritage Member, Jeremy Derfner (Seattle 12), shared his own candid thoughts on the Pew Study on jewishstudies.washington.edu,

So there I was, onstage, singing an extremely out-of-tune, “Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika…” all while tickling the ivories in an enthusiastically amateurish manner. I was, thank goodness, the only one who sensed how bad it all was. In fact, my audience of seniors at the JCC in Northeast Philadelphia didn’t seem to notice. They were just happy I was there, and that for a few hours on a Friday they could sip chicken

Pictured: Top Left to Right: Iris Wagner (Montreal), Lori Weitzman (Montreal), Eta Blitzer (Montreal), Lewis Dobrin (Montreal),  Helen Levy  (Montreal), Tina Apfeld Rosenthal (Montreal 09), Andrea Daniels Rosenbloom, (Montreal 09), Angela Lehrer.  Bottom Left to Right: Rabbi Ed Feinstein, Jonathan Goodman (Montreal 09), Joel Shalit, (Montreal 09), Lynn Garfinkle Etinsen (Montreal 09), Mark Kaplan. “Rabbi Ed Feinstein gave a talk last night in a public lecture at the Shaar Hashomayim

Rabbi Avi Weiss is my rav. While the terms rabbi and rav are often used interchangeably, a rav often denotes a personal spiritual guide. Rav Avi, a title widely embraced by his congregants and admirers, is my religious mentor, friend, and confidante.  He inspires me as well as thousands of others by raising a voice of moral consciousness to individuals or governments that persecute Jews and other minorities. He is