How Many Emails Have You Received in the Last Hour Asking for an End of Year Contribution?

Sifting through the end of year barrage of fundraising appeals, one can lose sight of why we give and to whom we are giving. As Jewish leaders, we take tsedakah seriously.

The initiative we lead, Ask Big Questions, put together a guide to help us have some meaningful conversations about who we give to and why. There are other resources as well, including a clever video by American Jewish World Service. 

Ask Big Questions: Where do you give?

Rabbi Josh Feigelson is a Wexner Graduate Fellowship alum (Class 14). In 2005, when he was Campus Rabbi at Northwestern University Hillel, Josh founded Ask Big Questions along with students Allie Gross and Lexie Komisar. In 2011, Ask Big Questions became a national initiative of Hillel, and Josh became its Director. Since that time, he has guided the development of their educational theory, approach to training and design of educational resources. Ordained by YCT Rabbinical School, Josh also holds a BA from Yale University in music (he played the tuba and conducted an orchestra). He is currently working on a PhD at Northwestern about the life and work of Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg. Josh lives in Skokie, IL with his wife Natalie Blitt and sons Jonah, Micah and Toby. Josh can be reached at jfeigelson@hillel.org.

Sheila Katz, a current Wexner Field Fellow (Class 26), is the Vice President for Social Entrepreneurship at Hillel (overseeing Ask Big Questions, among other innovative programs). Sheila is an expert in facilitating reflective conversations and creating multi-channel technology campaigns that lead to in-person action. Previously, Sheila served as the Associate Director of Ask Big Questions, a national initiative of Hillel that brings diverse college students together for conversations that help people understand themselves and others. An activist in the Jewish community, Sheila curates social media for Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community, serves on the board of the Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse and is a social start trainer for PresenTense.  Sheila can be reached at skatz@hillel.org or on twitter @SheilaKatz1.