Over the years, we’ve often written about the projects, and the people, connected to the PresenTense global network. Most of the stories have centered around their flagship fellowship program that takes place here in Jerusalem each summer. However, before there was a summer institute, there was PresenTense Magazine. Like eJewish Philanthropy, the magazine is as an all volunteer effort; and one that “provides a nurturing environment where Jewish young adults are able to explore and enrich their Jewish identity within a pioneering framework.”
We are grateful to the PresenTense editors for permitting eJewish Philanthropy to share content with our readers. We also encourage you to share the various articles with your colleagues and friends (each one has a link so you may email) and then begin a dialogue in the comment section that follows every post.
It is our pleasure to welcome this new generation of pioneers and innovators.
Leadership Rising Up: Visions for the Future
What are the challenges of being a Jewish leader in today’s here and now?
In thinking about issues of leadership in the Jewish community, the magazine’s steering committee brainstormed our “elephants in the room” – issues that are plainly perceived, but that few dare to broach, let alone solve.
What are the tensions and challenges in the field of social action?
Join the PresenTense community as they explore the issues we deeply care about and how we’re all working to change the future of the Jewish People. Covering communities from New Orleans to London to Jerusalem, the issue travels around the world in search of passionate young Jews making a difference – engaging with everything from food deserts to refugees to community organizing.
What’s the point of volunteering for non-Jews? Is the Jewish Philanthropic establishment relevant anymore? What is a giving circle? What is wrong with the Israel-America philanthropic relationship?
For its ninth issue, PresenTense Magazine tackles the areas of philanthropy and volunteering – what they mean to our generation, how young people are interpreting a call to serve, and the best ways to make a difference in the world.
What does Jewish heroism mean to young Jews in the here and now? How will the actions of our generation’s heroes – and what they stand for – change the future? For this issue of PresenTense, our eleventh in print, we set out to address these questions of where our generation finds its inspiration. We discovered that our heroes include sportsmen and statesmen, community organizers and community builders. With their wisdom, charisma, and clarity of message, each has a compelling case to make as a role model whose impact could not only change the world, but also how we interact with it.
What environmental issues in the Jewish community keep you up at night thinking about the Earth and our generation’s impact on and by it? This was the question posed to PresenTense’s Environmental Steering Committee, comprised of 16 up-and-coming activists engaged in grappling with such issues on a day-to-day basis. Their thoughtful and impassioned answers speak to the core of the issues PresenTense Magazine seeks to examine in PT12: Our Environment.
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