The Latest From The Foundation

Deb Housen-Couriel is Director of the Wexner Israel Fellowship Program and herself an alumna of the program. She can be reached at dhousencouriel@wexner.net “Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom the Almighty had known face to face, none like him for all the signs and the wonders which the Lord sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharoah and to all his

Seth Krosner, a Wexner Heritage alumnus from San Diego, is a trauma surgeon. He is active in Jewish Education, synagogue leadership and is serving as Chair of  “JPride,” an outreach committee to the Jewish LGBT community of San Diego.  He can be reached at DocSMK@aol.com. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not pick it over again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. Always remember that you were a slave

Dr. Nina Butler is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program and can be reached at nbutler@avichaina.org. After spending 25 of the last 30 years working at the school next-door, the last seven as principal, she is now the national Educational Consultant to the AVI CHAI Foundation, commuting the 400 miles from Pittsburgh to Manhattan.  Note: When Brigitte coaxed me into writing this D’var Torah, she could not have anticipated that

Dafna Siegman is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, during which she pursued doctoral work in Jewish History at Columbia University. She served as Director of Curriculum Development for the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Institute in Jerusalem and she teaches Tanach at Nishmat in Jerusalem. She can be reached at dafnasiegman@gmail.com Parashat Shemot recounts Moshe’s rise to leadership. After killing an Egyptian, Moshe fled to Midian. There he

Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, is executive director of Mechon Hadar: An Institute for Prayer, Personal Growth and Jewish Study (www.mechonhadar.org). This summer, Mechon Hadar launched a full-time yeshiva that offers men and women in their 20s an opportunity for traditional text study, egalitarian prayer and social action with a special focus on personal religious growth. He is a co-founder of Kehilat Hadar (www.kehilathadar.org), an

Yosef Israel Abramowitz, who blogs daily at www.Peoplehood.org, supported the candidacy of Einat Wilf for President of the World Jewish Congress. He is a member of Kol Dor and lives in the wilderness of the Arava. He can be reached at YosefA@aol.com.   KIBBUTZ KETURA–In one of those biting and perhaps ironic alignments of Torah and public Jewish life, we read Parashat Korah as three contemporary rebellions came to a climax

Rabbi Dr. Barry Wimpfheimer, an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, is Assistant Professor of Religion at Northwestern University. He can be reached at barry.wimpfheimer@gmail.com. The title story of this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Shelach, is the story of the ten spies who persuade their Israelite brethren of the dangers lurking in the Land of Israel. When the people resultantly complain to Moshe and Aharon about their plight, God threatens to

Shira D. Epstein, Ed.D, an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, is an Assistant Professor of Jewish Education at Jewish Theological Seminary. She can be reached at shira_epstein@yahoo.com. I was cast at the age of thirteen in two different productions of  “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.”  This is not surprising.  If you study, work in, or support Jewish camps, youth groups, day schools, or retirement homes, chances are that

Cindy Chazan is Vice President and Alumni and Community Development for The Wexner Foundation.  Cindy can be reached at cchazan@wexner.net. How ironic that this column is being written before Passover only to be read in an issue that will come after the holiday. How also ironic that this column is called “I’ve Been Thinking…” when at this very moment I crave thinking time…except to think: how will I get it