Jewish Review of Books Launched With Foundation Funding

from The Jewish Week: Can New Journal Find Its Niche? If you’re an intellectually curious reader who craves sophisticated, accessible writing on Jewish books and ideas, there’s no shortage of places for you to look. There are well-established magazines like Commentary and Tikkun, to say nothing of start-ups, like the online magazine Tablet and this paper’s monthly insert, Text/Context. And even if those explicitly Jewish publications are too burdensome a detour from your already imposing stack of unread New York Review of Books, Harper’s and The New Republic issues, the latter journals cover plenty of Jewish issues, too. Fair enough, but that logic has not deterred Abraham Socher, a professor of Jewish studies at Oberlin College, from publishing his own new quarterly Jewish magazine, called... Continue Reading

Making Philanthropy Cool for Teens

How one Jewish leader is fighting materialism, and making the concept of philanthropy appealing to teen girls by Stefanie Zelkind We were a small group, six women in our late 20s and six teenaged girls. We weren’t especially rich or powerful, and lacked experience in strategic philanthropic giving. What we had, though, was more important: we shared a commitment to giving tzedakah, we trusted in the power of our collective wisdom and experience, and we believed in our ability to effect social change. Our tzedakah collective, “No Small Change,” met monthly from October 2000 through May 2001. Our goals were twofold: the “external” goal was for each group member to contribute to a shared grant-making pool ($10 per session for adults and $5 for girls) and then for us to make... Continue Reading

Hadassah’s New PR Approach: Sue Those Who Disagree With Us

from today’s The Jerusalem Post: Mor-Yosef wants to remain Hadassah head Hadassah Medical Organization director-general Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef – who was told two months ago by its owners, the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of America, that his contract will not be extended beyond December – has officially stated for the first time that he is ready to serve another two years and participate in the opening of the Ein Kerem branch’s monumental hospitalization tower that he has long planned and developed. In a letter sent on Monday to HWZOA national president Nancy Falchuk and HMO board chairman Yossi Nitzani, Mor-Yosef said he would like to continue in the post and that in the time since the board voted not to renew his contract and he subsequently announced he would leave... Continue Reading

Shas: Trojan Horse In the Zionist Establishment?

After sitting through three days of meetings with Diaspora leaders, one thing is clear. By and large, they do not realize the impact of allowing Shas, the Sephardic Haredi party, to come aboard as a member of the World Zionist Organization. from The Forward: Shas Breaks Old Taboo, Joins Zionists Israel’s largest ultra-Orthodox political party is eliciting outrage from those to its right and a mix of anxiety and applause from those to its left after breaking a 113-year-old taboo and joining the Zionist establishment. … The WZO accepted Shas’s request to join in late January, after the party met the requirement that its political platform incorporate principles from the WZO’s 2004 Jerusalem Program – essentially the mission statement of the Zionist movement – which includes... Continue Reading

World Jewish Relief Launches Programs in Haiti

With the search and rescue phase of the Haiti earthquake response over, many of the emergency field hospitals have flown in and flown out, their work now complete. There is no longer an urgent need to rescue the buried and count the dead, though huge unmet humanitarian need remains. The emphasis for international aid agencies now shifts to help the living survive, recover and rebuild their lives in a sustainable way particularly with the collapse of all government services and infrastructure. As a result, World Jewish Relief is beginning an operational partnership with the international medical aid agency, Merlin which will include the recruitment of medical and technical personnel from the UK Jewish community to Haiti to assist with the relief programs for six month placements. Merlin has been at... Continue Reading

Alexander Muss High School Begins to Expand

Last week, on the grounds of the Eshel Hanassi Youth Village in the northern Negev, the Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI) broke ground for the first of three dormitories planned for a new resident program. This marks the first stage of an ambitious multi-campus expansion of the Hod Ha’Sharon school. The Alexander Muss High School, established in 1972 in conjunction with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation, has developed into the premier program for high school students experiencing short-term Israel programs – a program that despite the current economic challenges is charging ahead. Their main campus operates at capacity during several periods of the year and early enrollment for 2010-2011 indicates a strong upward momentum in both their core program and to the shorter visits... Continue Reading

My Complicated Relationship with Phil

One 20-something explains the ups and downs of her personal connection to Jewish philanthropy. by Ariella Lis There is this acquaintance in my life named Philanthropy. Let’s call him “Phil” for short. People really like to talk to me about Phil. Lots of important Jews are worried that “my generation” will not give to Jewish causes. But, I ease their anxiety. I’m living proof that Jews in their twenties care a great deal about Jewish giving. Technically, I’m a grad student, but because of Phil, my calendar says very un-academic things like “end of grant cycle” and “conference call” and “funders meeting.” These things sound important, but are very inconvenient when they occur over finals and midterms. Because of Phil, I get... Continue Reading

Jewish World Begins Longer-Term Development in Haiti

World ORT sent two experts to Haiti to see how the organization’s expertise in education and vocational training – as well as its extensive experience of aiding post-crisis countries including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, India and Sri Lanka – can best serve the country’s recovery. from the World ORT blog ‘Live” from Haiti (updated February 22nd): Saturday 20th February 2010 There are two areas that emerge as priorities to help Haitians rebuild their country: agriculture and vocational training. Haiti is the only country in the Caribbean that suppressed the taxes on food importation. As a result, Haiti’s agricultural businesses function at a 30 percent capacity level, which led to a major rural emigration to Port-au-Prince before the disaster last month. Now, as... Continue Reading

Inspired Giving

Parashat Terumah (Exodus 25:1-27:19) by Rabbi Isaac Jeret People in need of assistance have approached me over the past 18 months in numbers I have not seen before in my service as a rabbi. The economic downturn, which is still very much our reality, has rendered many a giver of tzedakah a new recipient and has made the circumstances faced by many existing recipients all the more desperate. Many people still blessed with sufficient means to assist those in need have stepped forward, seeking to learn where and how they might contribute their funds to make the most important and needed difference. While such dedication is nothing short of inspirational, needs exceed available means to assist and Jewish institutions and organizations struggle to manage expenses to remain solvent. The economic downturn... Continue Reading

Dual Loyalities

How the field of Jewish women’s philanthropy has divided into two categories by Deborah Skolnick Einhorn When asked what I study, I often simply answer “Jewish women’s philanthropy.” By far the most common response to my response is: “Oh, my grandmother was in Hadassah!” Eagerness to make the connection, between a grandmother’s membership in the largest Jewish women’s Zionist organization in history (Hadassah) and my own work, is a wonderful form of Jewish geography. But, as this essay describes, the field of Jewish women’s philanthropy is both bigger and more nuanced than those cocktail party exchanges might reveal. To assess whether something qualifies as Jewish women’s philanthropy, one could ask: “Are the funds donated by Jewish... Continue Reading

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