Archive for October, 2008
Sustainability and Philanthropy—Can Walmart Show Us the Way
Sometimes things crystallize all at once.
The New York Times reporter, Stephanie Rosenblum writes this week that Walmart, the behemoth retailer whose ethical, environmental and worker treatment record has been so poor that it will now require its manufacturers supplying goods to its stores to adhere to stricter ethical and environmental standards. This is big news.
If Walmart is capable of raising its bar I am hopeful that our ethically and morally strong but often-slow-to adopt-change community will soon make some headway here as well.
NewsBits: The Jewish Web
The following are items appearing on other Web sites you may find of interest.
from the London Jewish Chronicle:
Revealed: the secret JNF cash transfers
Hundreds of thousands of pounds were transferred from JNF UK to an Israeli organization set up by its former leaders without being stated in the JNF accounts.
Nes Israel (as it was originally known) came under the scrutiny of the Charity Commission and its Israeli equivalent last year and has been under investigation this year by forensic accountants called in by the JNF’s new leadership.
from the LA Jewish Journal:
If you stream Kol Nidre, they will watch
When Rabbi Naomi Levy conducted Kol Nidre services this year, her congregation numbered 200,000, stretching from Canada to Colombia and from Japan to Norway.
Watching online on their computers were a student group at a Dartmouth College dormitory, Jews and non-Jews in small isolated communities across the United States, the bedridden and terminally ill, disaffected young Jews who never go to shul and single mothers who couldn’t afford the cost of High Holy Days tickets.
from the Jewish Advocate:
Brandeis attempts to stop the brain drain in Jewish education
Induction and retention at Jewish day schools has been an increasingly challenging task for school administrators. In an effort to stem the tide of Jewish day school teachers leaving the profession within the first few years, Brandeis University’s Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education has launched a unique program.
from the Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle:
For nonprofits in a tough economy, marketing pitch must be perfect
With nonprofits facing a shrinking fundraising pool as funders either lose money or become more tightfisted, organizations will have to come up with an effective pitch for convincing donors that they are running tight ships. And nonprofits have to recognize that their messaging may be their meal tickets.
Slingshot Fund Calls for Nominations
Young Philanthropists Urge Continued Support for “Jewish Innovation” Amid Economic Downturn
The Slingshot Fund is now accepting nominations for the 2009 / 2010 edition of Slingshot, an annual guidebook that celebrates Jewish innovation by highlighting 50 North American organizations that take innovative approaches to addressing age-old concerns of identity and community in Jewish life. Organizations that are selected for the guidebook gain significant exposure to a diverse funding community and become eligible for a capacity building grant from the Slingshot Fund.
At a time when the Nation’s economy faces recession and when funders are scaling back on their giving, Slingshot Fund leaders — comprised of young philanthropists in their 20s and 30s — are urging members of the Jewish funding community to “double down” on their efforts to fuel Jewish innovation.
According to Jessica Warren, a founding board member of the Slingshot Fund, “Funding innovation cannot be looked upon as a luxury, only applicable in times of prosperity. Innovation is the Jewish community’s R&D department. To cut off funding for these innovative programs now would be destroying a bridge that connects our communal past to a vibrant future. It’s in these challenging times of decreased giving when fledgling organizations are most vulnerable, that we must view Jewish innovation as a funding imperative.”
What Our Tradition Says
The Detroit News reported yesterday that Robert Aronson tended his resignation as CEO of the Detroit Federation.
“Robert Aronson, the driving force behind the enormously successful Jewish philanthropy in Metro Detroit for two decades and the man who spearheaded the financing of expanded and revitalized facilities and programs in health, education and housing throughout the Jewish community, is ending his 20-year term as chief executive of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.”
Here’s an opinion piece from Rob Eshman, in LA’s Jewish Journal, interviewing Aronson:
Topic No. 1 on the Sukkot circuit this year was the economy. How bad will it get? Who’s pulling their kids out of day school? Where are you putting your money? What money?
“I have a new word for my sukkah this year,” a friend said as we walked into his simple bamboo-and-muslin hut: “Affordable housing.”
There’s no doubt about it: We are scared. Things have been bad before but not this bad. After seven fat years come the lean, just like our tradition says.
Continuing Depreciation of the Shekel
For more than a year, the USD / NIS relationship has been a hot topic within the international Jewish world. JAFI, among others, was reducing their exposure to currency risk by purchasing forward contracts. Yesterday, at 5 pm in Israel, a milestone was reached. For the first time all year the dollar managed to mark a gain from the year’s start against the shekel.
As I am posting this, the spot market is at 3.903 (9:11 am IST).
Globes is reporting that the dollar will probably continue to strengthen despite signs that the US is entering a recession.
The Jerusalem Post tells us the Haredi factions are demanding more government aid in coalition negotiations to replace dried up U.S. donations.
And when JAFI’s Board of Governors convenes next month, with the USD gaining strength, what exchange rate will figure in to the official calculations?
Stay tuned; with the Chagim behind us, we are in for some interesting weeks in Israel; politically and financially.
Limmud Around the World
Since their beginnings over twenty five years ago, Limmud has been spreading at an unprecedented rate throughout the Jewish world. Inspired by their visits to Limmud Conferences in the U.K., tens of activists have returned to their home communities enthused and invigorated by Limmud’s unique model of cross-communal, volunteer-led, dynamic Jewish education - and sought to replicate some of the Limmud magic in their own community. Indeed, as the Jerusalem Report astutely observed: “wherever there are Jews, there should be a Limmud”.
Here is their upcoming and impressive line-up for the next few months:
October:
Limmud Keshet Poland : 24-26
Limmud FSU Yalta : 27-30
November:
Limmud Keset Hungary : 7-9
Limmud Turkey : 21-23
Limmud Sweden : 21-23
Limoud France : 21-23
Limmud Keshet ex-Yu (Serbia) : 21-23
December:
Limmud Chagall (Minsk, Belarus): 5-7
Limmud Galil (Israel) : 23-24
Limmud Conference UK : 26/12-01/01
January:
Limmud NY : 15-19
February:
Limmud LA : 13-16
NewsBits: The Jewish Web
The following are items appearing on other Web sites you may find of interest.
from The New York Jewish Week:
Shouldering More Of The Giving Load
Evangelical Christian organizations, which already donate tens of millions of dollars to Israel every year, are being asked to shoulder an even heavier philanthropic load due to the global economic slowdown and the low value of the dollar against the shekel.
The mounting requests by Israeli charities and individuals for donated food, school supplies, subsidized medical care, and help for Holocaust survivors, among other things, come at a time when many Evangelical Christians, like donors all over the world, are facing an uncertain future.
from The London Jewish Chronicle:
Reform launches outreach arm as alternative to Aish
The Reform movement is about to take the first step to launch an alternative to Aish, the Orthodox outreach organization for young adults.
A residential weekend next month will be the inaugural event by the Assembly of Reform Rabbis to offer a “non-fundamentalist” alternative.
from Haaretz:
Credit crunch threatens first German rabbinical seminary since Holocaust
The global financial crisis is threatening the existence of the first rabbinical seminary to be established in central Europe since the Holocaust, staff said on Tuesday.
The Abraham Geiger College, which belongs to the University of Potsdam near Berlin, relies largely on American and European donors and sponsors to finance its programs.
Jewish Heart for Africa
what if you could provide a glass of water. help the future learn. light a clinic. what if you could catch the sun. and light a continent. you can.
from The Jerusalem Post:
Imagine a day essentially ending at sundown because there is no electricity for lights. Imagine being a doctor and treating urgent patients by candlelight. Imagine being a woman or child and spending six hours a day hauling water and searching for firewood.
Thus is the pattern of life in much of rural Africa today. Figuring out how to help them was a question that obsessed Sivan Achor-Borowich until she put together her experiences and her research and the light bulb suddenly went on above her head, both literally and figuratively.
The answer: Solar power to produce electricity for schools and clinics and to run water pumps.
Borowich, 30, founded Jewish Heart for Africa about 10 months ago and today she has projects running in Uganda, Ethiopia and Tanzania.
image: Sivan Achor-Borowich at the kindergarten in Uganda where her organization has donated solar power to a poultry farm and community center.
Jewish Heart for Africa : Bringing Israeli solar technologies to African rural villages
Professional Development in a Tough Market
Deborah Grayson Riegel, aka MyJewishCoach, has partnered with JewishJobs.com to provide high quality learning for Jewish professionals and volunteers who want to hone their skills and integrate change into personal and professional aspects of their lives. Deborah is smart, engaging, and thoughtful; truly a professional’s professional. Full disclosure: Deb is a friend and colleague. Who presented to standing room only crowds at CAJE 33. The series of telecourses will be held over the phone and will run November 18, 2008 – January 13, 2009. They include:
- How to Get the Most Out of Your Current Job in a Tough Economy
- Move Up by Managing Up
- Brick Walls and Glass Ceilings: Overcoming Roadblocks in Work and Life
- Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better: Mastering Delegation
- Don’t Put Off this Teleclass! Procrastination Bootcamp
- Net Gains: Networking Skills for Active Job Seekers and Current Job Lovers
Take one, take a few, take them all - it’s $35.00 per course, $99.00 for the entire series. Consider signing up as a work team or leadership group. Participants will be provided with workbooks and resource guides; sessions will be recorded and made available online. Check out JTeleclasses for details!
The Continuing RSS Saga
Technology. You love it and hate it all at once.
We know many of you have experienced problems receiving our RSS feeds over the past two weeks. Apparently a great many Web publishers have also been experiencing similar problems with Feedburner, a part of the Google giant.
We’ve done everything we can on our end and hopefully the Feedburner / Google team is in the process of solving the problem. Though, they do ignore requests for updated information on their forums.
For those receiving our RSS feeds, we suggest either double-checking the site, or signing up for email updates. You can always unsubscribe when Feedburner gets their act together. In the meantime, we’re looking at alternatives.
Thanks for checking in with us.
