The Latest From The Foundation

Rabbi Elka Abrahamson is the President of The Wexner Foundation. She can be reached at eabrahamson@wexner.net This reflection was originally written for the Chag V’Chesed series for American Jewish World Service On the 14th of Adar, under the light of the final full moon of winter, Jewish communities around the globe celebrate wildly as Megillat Esther, the Scroll that tells the Purim tale, is chanted in its unique melody. Seated

Rabbi Jen Krause is the author of The Answer: Making Sense of Life, One Question at a Time (Penguin), whose works and commentary also have been featured in Newsweek, the New York Times, Jewish Woman, and O, The Oprah Magazine. She teaches and lectures across North America, and serves as the High Holidays rabbi at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y. She can be reached at jkrause2@nyc.rr.com If ever there were a

Rabbi Jay Moses is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program (Class 5). He is the Director of the Wexner Heritage Program in The Foundation’s New York office. Jay can be reached a jmoses@wexner.net. By all rights of literary logic, this week’s Torah portion has been given the wrong name. The prior portion, Terumah, is a detailed description of the Tabernacle, the various materials that must be used to

Rae Ringel, an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, is President of The Ringel Group LLC, an executive coaching and leadership training firm in Washington, DC. She has more than 15 years of experience working with Jewish communal organizations, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and entrepreneurial start-ups. She can be reached at Rae@Ringelgroup.com For generations, tzedakah has been a pillar of the Jewish community. The rabbis of classical Judaism praised

An alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program (Class 18), Charlie is currently studying in Jerusalem as a third-year rabbinical student at The Jewish Theological Seminary.  Previously, he served with distinction in the Nahal Brigade of the IDF.   He can be reached at chschwartz@jtsa.edu A swift, strong punch to the stomach.  That’s how it felt, returning to Israel after my final Wexner Institute as a Fellow.  Not long after landing

The sacred story of Hanukkah reads like a mystery.  Unlike Purim, Hanukkah has no biblical book and no tractate in the Talmud.  There is the apocryphal book of Maccabees which documents much of the historical scene, but it fails to record the miracle of the menorah.  Thus, we approach Hanukkah as we would a mystery.  We collect the clues – the narrative fragments scattered throughout rabbinic literature.  We compare and analyze them, formulate

Marc Suvall, a Wexner Heritage alumnus from New York, sits on the Boards of the JDC, Yemin Orde, and UJA, and is Chair of the Integration and Absorption Cluster of the Peoplehood Commission at UJA.  He can be reached at mksuvall@aol.com This week’s Torah portion, Miketz, reflects clearly on the times in which we are living. The portion begins with Joseph, who was wrongfully incarcerated, being released from prison due

From Vayeshev to HaTikvah They call me Anatol. In prison I do lie. My little window looks out on the Russian sky. I’ve been arrested here for crimes they have not named. But all my people know the charge will be a frame.   What do these lyrics from the song “Leaving Mother Russia” by Safam have to do with this week’s Parshah? How do the mournful laments of Anatol,

Yehuda Kurtzer is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program (Class 15). He is Visiting Professor of Jewish Communal Innovation at Brandeis University, and a co-coordinator of the Independent Minyan Conference. Yehuda can be reached at kurtzer@gmail.com The juxtaposition of Noah and Abraham as adjoining narratives in the Torah makes for a clear study in contrasts. Both represent paradigms of obedience: Noah acts as the sole obedient listener to

Ariel Beery is the founder and co-director of PresenTense (www.presentense.org), an organization dedicated to fostering innovation and solving problems facing the Jewish People and the World through educating individuals and organizations with cutting-edge tools and business practices. He can be reached at arielbeery@presentense.org As much of the United States basks in the afterglow of a historic election campaign, and as Israel prepares for its own election in only a few