by Adam Gaynor It appears that the City of Boston has taken a page from the playbook of Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community. … [Read more...]
Follow Boston’s (and AWP’s) Lead in Pay Equity
Posted on December 5, 2013 Written by Leave a Comment
A Fair and Flourishing Community
Posted on December 3, 2013 Written by 1 Comment
[This post is the 1st in a series which explores the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Jewish community.] by Jay Ruderman Fair (adj.) - treating people equally without favoritism or discrimination. Flourishing (adj.) - thriving Around the globe, the Jewish community is thriving. New organizations, schools, community centers, synagogues and summer camps open their doors in an effort to include everyone in communal life and engage them in decisions affecting the ‘klal’ (community). Innovative projects and collaborative programs further strengthen each community and expand the number of people who become involved. Notice that I said that our community is thriving but I did not mention fair. Our community may be getting stronger and yet simultaneously, we are weaker. We want … [Read more...]
Pope Francis’ Plan for Catholic Renewal: Drawing Insights for the Jewish Community
Posted on December 3, 2013 Written by Leave a Comment
by Steven Windmueller, Ph.D. In one of the most significant statements in modern times authored by a religious leader, Pope Francis’ "Evangelii Gaudium" (The Joy of the Gospel) provides a road map for the Roman Catholic Church. This statement, released this past week, is the first official papal document written entirely by the new Pope. Many of the structural elements that he is proposing for the Roman Catholic community have significant implications as well for the organization and management of the Jewish enterprise. While primarily focused on the internal challenges facing the Church, the Pope is intentional with his references to Islam and Judaism. “Dialogue and friendship with the children of Israel are part of the life of Jesus’ disciples.” He would continue: “The friendship … [Read more...]
ReJewvenate: 40 Plus and Not Screwed
Posted on December 1, 2013 Written by 3 Comments
by Michal Kohane We first met when my article “40 plus and Screwed” was published at eJewishPhilanthropy this past summer. The storm around the article, and my immediate firing, has subsided, however, the issues raised then, further enforced by comments and conversations on and off line, did not go away and still need our attention. Current trends and aging patterns, partially expressed in the recent Pew study again speak to the fact that the 40 plus age bracket, otherwise known as “boomers”, is the largest generation we currently have in our community. At the same time, it is bracket that gets most of the demands (pay for this or that, sit on the committee, board etc) and is least “purposefully served”, namely there is no “PJ Library” or “Masa” to engage and support this … [Read more...]
What To Do About Pew?
Posted on December 1, 2013 Written by 2 Comments
Unless we break some molds, we’ll be having this very same conversation 20 years from now. by Steven A. Rakitt Now what? On October 1, 2013, the Pew Research Center released “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” an exhaustive survey of the American Jewish community with over 3,500 respondents. Within only a few weeks, hundreds of articles and blogs have been written and dozens of conference calls held, along with countless hallway conversations on what it all means. Is it good news? Is it bad news? Is it news? The answer to all three: “Yes.” The Pew Research Center is a non-Jewish, non-partisan, non-policy research center funded by the Pew Charitable Trust that focuses on survey research. Their methodology is sound; their research data reliable. Pew has given the American Jewish … [Read more...]
Opening Remarks at Jewish Community’s First Fail Forward Conference
Posted on December 1, 2013 Written by Leave a Comment
When we invite people to an event they have something to say and contribute, and often it’s actually more important than anything we can present. by David Bryfman Last week was a very exciting week in the Bryfman household. Baby Abby took her first steps. Up, down, fall, one step, two steps, eventually three in a row, stand up, fall down, take a few more steps. Abby also touched the hot radiator last week - once. (Yes I know we should have radiator covers - they're on back order) The point for here though, is that she touched it only once. You see when I watch Abby, its pretty obvious that she is continually learning from her mistakes. In fact most of the time I wouldn’t even call them mistakes, its basically test, trial, fault and re-try. And like all of us we grow and develop … [Read more...]
