Business Under Fire; Israel at 60

War has been a central part of life in Israel since the country became a nation 60 years ago. So it would seem counter-intuitive, then, that the country's economic growth has been just as steady, just as constant. check out this extensive feature from the Home of the Peacock.

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem.

The AVI CHAI Foundation has announced that it is allocating up to $1.15 million over the course of the next three years to four individuals and one team of two whom it has selected as the first recipients of The AVI CHAI Fellowship. The program is unique and constitutes the largest cash award to emerging communal and educational leaders within the North American Jewish community. It has been approved for three award cycles with a financial commitment of approximately $3 million. More than 40 nominations were submitted by twenty nominators (18 from the U.S. and 2 from Israel). The AVI CHAI Fellowship was kept under wraps and the nominators and selections committee remained anonymous so the integrity of the nomination and selection ...

The Midwestern philanthropist J. Irwin Miller asked his foundation’s staff members to guide their work by a simple motto. He said, “Ten years from now, what will you wish you had done today?” It is this vision for the future that inspires us to celebrate the common purpose of philanthropy and the benefits of gathering not as separate institutions, but as a noble movement. Calling it the most significant meeting of philanthropists in recent memory, the Council of Foundations opened their Leadership Summit yesterday in Washington, D.C. Convening leaders in philanthropy from the US, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and Australia, the Summit hopes to pursue ...

Celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary with a new dance from Moses. Brought to you by Birthright Israel.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hH3crBQyyhY[/youtube]

Chag Pesach Sameach

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem

I finally caught up with Yossi Abramowitz last night. If you remember, he was the energetic CEO of Jewish Family and Life who resigned two years ago to move to the Negev and sort-of retire. Or for those of you in a different demographic, his wife, Rabbi Susan Silverman is the sister of Sarah. We were part of a small host group of Israeli bloggers invited to meet with the visiting American Internet gurus here for a whirlwind trip to attend an Innovation Israel blogging expedition. Rebecca Markowitz, who is part of eJewish Philanthropy's tech team, wrote a great post on IsraelPlug on the visit. Back to Yossi, I know many of you wonder what he could ...

I first met Matt Barr last summer at the opening night event for the inaugural season of the cutting edge Creative Zionism incubator. I admit it; I just could not get my head around his concept of using rap to teach Bible stories. Was I wrong! Almost a year later, Matt has a CD in production, studies at Pardes, works with visiting Birthright Israel groups, is preparing for a tour this summer of Jewish summer camps and produced the Haman's Song video. And now, just in time for Pesach, Matt, together with 12Tribe Films Foundation, introduces a new video titled "Moses Rap". [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzg9yoaW2XY[/youtube] You can find the words here. Creative Zionism II, premiers in about nine weeks. ...

A selection of recent articles and postings around the nonprofit world you may find of interest; first in our Jewish world followed by some links to recent non-profit blog posts. Study: Consultants May Hold the Key to Future of Synagogues A new study examining efforts at long-range planning in synagogues found that -- under the right conditions -- outside consultants, if armed with an understanding of both the business and the nonprofit worlds, can help congregations formulate strategic blueprints for the future. But the encouraging findings contained in "Strategic Planning in Congregations: Capitalizing on Opportunities for Organizational Change" came with a few caveats. Annual Survey of State Laws Regulating Charitable Solicitations Did you know that over 40 states ...

Compass is a new guide that will highlight the most inspiring, innovative and sustainable Jewish projects in Europe today. Inspired by Slingshot, Compass is a project of the Westbury Group, a network of 25 international Foundations with a shared interest in enhancing Jewish life in Europe. Compass will feature the 50 most inspiring organizations in Europe today in a Zagat-style guide. With Compass, the sponsors hope to create a map of European Jewish activity that will inspire and encourage donors, supporters and innovators across the Jewish world. They are now seeking nominations. This is a great opportunity to gain recognition from a project or organization that you are involved with or know about. The guide aims to identify organizations which ...

Most of our readers — and possibly you reading this — don’t have children, let alone grandchildren…and that means we have time, and obligation, to build the world we’d like them to live in. As such, PresenTense ran an amazing event last night in Jerusalem, focused on the future of education in the Jewish State. And you didn’t have to be in Jerusalem to participate (I’m in New York at the moment): all you had to have is a connection to the internet. Here’s one example of a remote-participant, Gabby Schoenfeld: (Gaby is an an informal Jewish educator who is trying to enable young Jews to have life-changing experiences through service and social justice programs ...

Herzl famously wrote, "If you will it, it is no fable." This quote, made into a cliche over the long century since it was uttered, succinctly expresses the fundamental credo of a pioneer:

pioneers will the future into reality.

The first course: Last night, the PresenTense organization sponsored an evening in Jerusalem with three special pioneers, visionaries, as they hosted a conversation around the future of Israeli Education. All three (Sarah Kass, Beverly Gribetz and David Moatty) have already led the way in willing dreams to become tangible facts on the ground. The visionaries have been asked:

• What is your vision; why is it transformative?
• Why this path rather than others?
• What will change if your vision becomes reality?
• What will it take ...
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  Tags: connect, creativezionism, educate, innovate, Jewish Incubators, web 2.0