Four incredible weeks of innovation, Jerusalem style. Two brand-new ventures, Amuta 2.0 and Tachlis 2 Point Oh!, premired to packed opening programs. Both in their own way focused on providing cutting edge resources to our communal world. Both with exciting programs taking shape over the coming year. And then last night, to an overflowing audience and live-streamed to their international community, The PresenTense organization formally opened their first permanent, year-round Institute. It was a who's who of the (mostly) young and forward thinking innovators shaping our world from Jerusalem. The energy was infectious and provided an excellent jumping off point as PresenTense moves from summer to year round programming here in Israel. BTW, this was all accomplished with none other than Paul … Continue Reading
Connecting the Jewish World
from Haviv Retting in this morning's Jerusalem Post: 'Only the Jewish Agency can connect the Jewish world' The Jewish Agency may have "outsourced" the important function of bringing aliya from the world's largest Jewish community, but it remains for the foreseeable future the only body connecting the diverse communities of the Jewish world together, according to agency director-general Moshe Vigdor. Vigdor was one of the architects of the Jewish Agency-Nefesh B'Nefesh agreement announced last week that gave Nefesh responsibility for North American aliya marketing and implementation. He spoke to The Jerusalem Post this week in the wake of that agreement. "There is nothing more important than the connection of Israel with the worldwide Jewish communities, not just in the United States, but … Continue Reading
She Went to Israel … and Liked It!
Introducing Birthright Israel's latest promo, a cartoon music video (tip to Rebecca M): I Went To Israel (I Liked It!) Sung by Taglit-Birthright Israel alumna Michelle Citrin; music by William Levin; created by JewishRobot [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njhYhOd8Qyo[/youtube] … Continue Reading
Street Cinematheque
It began simply enough. Pizmon, a New York based Jewish a-cappella group with students from Columbia, Barnard, and the Jewish Theological Seminary, was embarking on their yearly outreach tour. In honor of Israel's 60th, the group planned free concerts in 19 locations around the country. One of the planned stops was in Asheklon, with a performance sponsored by the local Masorti congregation. Due to safety concerns, the concert was re-located to Omer with other congregations joining in support. Residents of Sderot were bussed in; the concert was recorded; and in conjunction with KBY Congregations Together, a CD is now in publication. All this brings us to Sderot's Street Cinemateque, where a small amount of money raised from the concert, a larger number of volunteers, and a relatively calm … Continue Reading
Summer Camp 2.0, Up and Running
Back in January we introduced you to eCamp Israel , the first international technology summer camp located here in Israel. Designed to bring enterprising young people from around the world together for a unique interactive experience, the camp is based in the eVillage of Aloney Yitzhak, 28 miles from Tel Aviv. Opening the gates to the #1 success story of Israel, Technology Innovation, eCamp Israel introduces campers to an enriching experience that touches their deepest emotions and spurs creative energies in their minds. They provide an original, creative and fascinating program, matching worldwide youth with Israeli peers in a unique way using the universal language of Technology. “As one of the global centers of technological innovation, it is time Israel gives back some of our know-how … Continue Reading
Halacha and the Environment
Jerusalem recently played host to an international conference titled, The Environment in Jewish Thought and Law. Spearheaded by Sviva Israel, an innovative Jewish social environmental organization, the goal was to enrich and raise the level of conversation on Judaism and the Environment. Carmi Wisemon, the initiator of the conference and presenter of a lecture on “The Conflicts and Connections between Sustainability and Judaism”, was extremely pleased with the large turnout of people who came together from all walks of life to learn about the environmental issues facing all of us and Jewish responses to them. Wisemon said, “We are delighted that we have been able to bring together in a public forum the highest levels of rabbinical leaders in Israel with environmental professionals, … Continue Reading
The Diaspora Mezuzot Project
In an evening called Ethiopian Jewish Community Innovation held last night at the PresenTense Institute here in Jerusalem, we met young social entrepreneurs from Israel's Ethiopian Jewish community who spoke about their crucial work on some of Israel's most challenging societal issues. The evening also featured an exhibit about the groundbreaking Afula based non-profit embroidery collective called ADISIA (meaning renaissance in Amharic) along with a presentation on the project by Sharon Ungerleider. We also learned about Guzo, an empowerment project for young Ethiopians directed through Hillel at Tel Aviv University; that will be subject to a separate post. about ADISIA: Hundreds of miles away from the tribal huts and villages they once called home, Ethiopian women at the WIZO center in Afula … Continue Reading
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