Home Archives for AJWS

Applications Open: AJWS Los Angeles Jewish Leadership Delegation

Posted on April 23, 2013 Written by
los-angeles-2013

Join American Jewish World Service’s Los Angeles Jewish Leadership Delegation and travel to Oaxaca, Mexico November 10 - 19, 2013 As part of a year-long program of activism and global justice leadership engagement The Jewish Leadership Delegation (JLD) is a selective year-long program designed to inspire, educate, train and empower key opinion leaders in the American Jewish community to mobilize their constituencies in support of global social justice. The JLC will include an immersive experience in Oaxaca, Mexico - an opportunity to witness the challenges facing people in the developing world and experience the power of grassroots organizing to overcome them. The trip will be preceded and followed by an innovative programming series in Los Angeles aimed to prepare participants to become … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Fellowship and RFP Opportunities Tagged:

Feeding the World with Jewish Wisdom: A Look at American Jewish World Service

Posted on February 5, 2013 Written by
AJL-Issue11-AJWS grantee

by Erica Lyons There seems to be an implicit understanding that our planet is divided into two entirely separate worlds, there is an ‘us’ and a ‘them’. The third world is the ‘them’, which we can tune out, address or not address, engage with or ignore. But Ruth Messinger, CEO/President of American Jewish World Service (AJWS), an international development organization motivated by Judaism’s imperative to pursue justice, does not divide the world in that way. As she explains, as Jews we simply can’t do this. “Jewish texts are very clear about this. Jews have a clear obligation to work towards global justice, to help both Jews and non-Jews. Everyone has been made in God’s image (b’tselem elohim).” … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asian Jewish Life Tagged: ,

91 YU Students Spent Break on Community Building Missions Around the World

Posted on February 4, 2013 Written by
YU students volunteering in Kiryat Malachi Counterpoint Winter Camp

From January 10th-20th, 91 YU undergraduate student leaders took part in an array of hands-on community building projects in Israel, the United States, Nicaragua and Mexico while developing their own leadership, teaching and advocacy skills. Under the direction of Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future, and building on the success of the "Counterpoint Israel" summer program, 39 YU students ran a series of Counterpoint "Winter Camps" for over 450 Israeli teens in Jerusalem, Kiryat Malachi and Dimona that focused on English enrichment and self-exploration through art. Throughout the 10-day service learning mission, the YU students guided the Israeli teens through the process of developing a personal narrative and using multiple mediums to create multi-dimensional autobiographies. The … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Media Tagged: , , ,

Things I Learned in Baltimore

Posted on November 29, 2012 Written by

by Andrés Spokoiny Until the JFNA General Assembly, earlier this month in Baltimore, I didn’t know that the famous Exodus ship, the one that brought the world’s attention to the plight of Jewish Holocaust Survivors trying to break the British blockade into the Land of Israel, was built in and fitted in the Baltimore shipyards. The crew was even partially composed of Baltimore Jews. But beyond that neat bit of trivia, I learned lots more in Baltimore - in particular some things that successful funders should be aware of: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion / Letters, The American Jewish Scene Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

New, Free Tzedakah Curriculum Available

Posted on August 2, 2012 Written by
gbdhomepage2

American Jewish World Service has released its first-ever school curriculum, called Where Do You Give? A Tzedakah Curriculum. Their goal is to get 100 schools to commit to using the curriculum this year. The curriculum is interactive and challenges students to think carefully and intentionally about tzedakah. It’s designed for middle school students but can be adapted for older students as well. AJWS partnered with the Jewish Teen Funders Network and Babaganewz to create a range of resources. You can receive the full curriculum free at the Where Do You Give? website. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, In the Media Tagged: , ,

Jewish Communal Leadership: Symptom of a Deeper Issue

Posted on July 6, 2012 Written by

by Jeffrey R. Solomon A recent article by Rabbi Louis Feldstein and the response by Jerry Silverman speak to one of the most serious issues facing the Jewish communal landscape: organizational professional leadership. As Dan Brown later points out, the talent deficit is not limited to the Jewish communal world but is true for the larger nonprofit landscape. Arguing the extent of the talent deficit is not necessarily a productive endeavor. There are a range of issues that are part of its cause, including the career choices opened to the best and brightest Jews, the increasing insularity of the field, the unwillingness of lay and professional leadership to see lifelong professional development and education a responsibility of theirs, the enormous growth in the nonprofit sector requiring leaders … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The Blog Tagged: ,