by Klaudia Klimek It is interesting how one submits to the context of the situation one finds himself in. I always considered myself someone who is open to new people, places and cultures. It is assumed that a sociologist should be, and should have the ability to not only perceive more in his surroundings but also be able to analyze the events concerning societies or groups, as well as weaving theories into general statements. I am sitting in a plane, however, as I have many times before and quite frankly, I’m scared. Not because I am flying to Germany, though that may be part of it. More because of the context I have found myself in. I am flying not as a tourist or, as I call it, a seminar Jew, but as a migrant. Migration is quite an overused word in the European Union, but for the first … [Read more...]
Hands-On Education: Where Jewish Education Comes to Life
by Andrea Rose Cheatham Kasper I was sitting in the synagogue during my older brother’s Bar Mitzvah listening to my dad’s speech. Although we have it somewhere, printed out by an old printer on perforated sheets, I don’t need to read it to remember my dad’s most striking piece of advice, “Learn to make something with your hands.” It is this line that has remained a connecting thread through so much of my life and which has also been repeated to me by others who were present that day, 27 years ago. It’s not what most American Jewish children hear from their parents, but we were not only American Jews, we were Israeli, as well, and had moved to the United States from Kibbutz Gan Shmuel just two years earlier. Also, we were not only Jewish. My dad had recently converted to Judaism, … [Read more...]
What is Social Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise All About?
by Caylee Talpert Last year I wrote an article for the American Jewish Committee’s Global Voices Blog, where I shared some of my disenchantment with NGO’s in Nepal. While I believed the organisation I volunteered with was doing some very important work, I felt that many of the traditional NGO’s I encountered where largely inefficient, unaccountable to their recipients and more concerned with keeping donor money flowing than making a sustainable impact. What I didn’t realize then was that this frustration would take me on a journey to discover a new world of which I was only vaguely familiar at the time, the world of social enterprise. Since then I have spent the past year in London, which I discovered is a “hub” of the social enterprise world. Throughout my year I have attended … [Read more...]
Erica’s Story
by Aaron Fenster Aaron spoke about his experience as an AVODAH corps member at the Washington, DC Partners in Justice event honoring Marcia E. Weinberg and Rabbi Harold S. White. His remarks follow below. I’d like to tell you a story. It’s about a woman named Erica - one of our clients at Miriam’s Kitchen, a place that provides food, clothing, poetry classes, art therapy, case management services and more to low-income DC residents. Erica is a woman who made a change. She had smoked cracked for 15 years. She was a strong middle aged black woman whose eyes showed years of struggle. I learned that she had persevered through countless episodes of trauma, drug addiction, and domestic violence. She had six children, but her parents cared for them because she was homeless. Erica came to … [Read more...]
Jewish Art Brought Down to Earth at “Sky Gallery”
by Saul Sudin Perched atop a residential skyscraper in New York City, twelve emerging artists from across the Judeo-religious and geographic landscape shared their work in an engaging event presented by Jewish Art Now and Bridging the Gap. The evening included a full scale exhibition, presentations and demonstrations from the artists, a pop-up shop of unique art ephemera, and interactive umbrella art, open to all attending. This one night exhibition, titled Sky Gallery for its location in a panoramic rooftop lounge on Wall Street transformed into a gallery space, was curated and produced by Jewish Art Now whose mission it is to promote and innovate contemporary Jewish art around the world. Husband and wife team Saul and Elke Reva Sudin, working artists in their own regard, operate … [Read more...]
Ken, Kenes, Knesset
by David Brown So it doesn’t have the same rhythm as Na Nach Nachman Meuman but perhaps these three Hebrew words also have something redemptive to inspire us with when it comes to who we say Yes to Entering our Gathering - communal, social and national. Thanks to an ROI Micro Grant, after organising and then attending the second Siach global conference, I was able to extend my stay in Israel and attend the World Council of Jewish Communal Service’s 12th Quadrennial on Jewish Peoplehood: Energizing the Present, Envisioning the Future. There were many interesting sessions, people and discussions throughout the three days, as well as a few laughs and tears - the laughs mainly when forcing myself to speak in an American accent for my English to be understood, the tears when sneaking off to … [Read more...]
