Inbal Freund is the Director of Mavoi Satum, a Jerusalem-based organization that advocates on behalf of Agunot. She wrote this as her 60bloggers.com post for today's observance of Yom Hazikaron - Israel Memorial day on behalf of those who fell defending the State of Israel. "If you’ve ever wondered about the juxtaposition of Memorial Day with Independence Day, and about the shift that happens between those two occasions of opposing emotions, this is the piece to read." (quote from Esther K) Inbal sent this to me earlier; I would like to share it with you. In - memory of Noam Mayerson, my step cousin who fell in the recent Lebanon war, my cousin Chani Dikshtein , her husband Yossi and ...

For those of you interested in keeping up with the newer and innovative publications in our Jewish world, just in time for the Pesach chag, two current issues to enjoy.

First, from publisher Ariel Beery, in his own words:

Hot off the presses — PresenTense Five Explores Israel at 60

How does our generation experience Israel at 60? For many Jews older than us, Israel at the ripe old age of 60 reminds them of stunning victories in the face of almost certain destruction, of new hope for a Jewish People emerging from the furnaces of the Holocaust, of a desert that was irrigated and made ...

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. ...

Well, after many emails and endless phone calls and the crunching of many, many pixels, 60Bloggers.com is up. What’s that site all about? Well, May 8th is the 60th anniversary of the founding of the modern State of Israel. You’ll notice lots of events happening in Israel and in communities around the world meant to commemorate this historic occasion. 60Bloggers.com is meant to do the same, but on the blogosphere. Consequently, we’ve put together a nice broad group of bloggers, some well-established, some relatively new, representing (I hope) ideological, religious and geographic diversity. Over the course of the next 60 days each will write one blog post on 60Bloggers.com where they will ...

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

Our community is thriving. And who you may ask is this community? from our 'about' section: To some, they represent the MTV generation; to others Millenials or Generation Y. To the UJC, they are simply NextGen. They number around 76 million Americans and will form the most technology savvy bulk of the adult population over the next twenty years. They have been inspired by the aspirations, hopes and financial freedom of their Baby Boomer parents; they are optimistic, idealistic and feel empowered. This funky young crowd, sporting their own definition of Judaism, is the harbinger of a new golden age of Jewish communal innovation. Some are visionaries, creating programs on a shoe-string, or armed with just an idea, giving birth to exciting, fresh ...

Launching this Motzei Shabbat here in Jerusalem, another great new project birthed from the cutting edge Creative Zionism incubator. HyperSemitic, a Jewish edu-tainment company that fuses the ancient and modern Jewish experience for young Jewish audiences. Set to hip-hop, world music and heavy beats, their performances will excite Jewish youth through the creative expression of ancient text and modern music. Their debut music video “Haman Song” is a a collaboration of 5 PICZ fellows and members. Be sure to also check out, Kid Tested, Rabbi Approved. BTW, Matt's first Bible Raps CD is in production! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vTLxpz9HKs[/youtube]

updated two hours later: The JAFI Board meetings the past few days has put me a bit behind in posting. We can now bring you breaking news about the Bronfman Prize Finalist. Here is the original post from earlier today. This past Sunday, Brandeis University's Hornstein Program played host to the five semi-finalists for the new Charles R. Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation. The winner of the current competition, which is supported by philanthropist Charles R. Bronfman, will receive salary, benefits and research assistance for two years. The winner will be expected to teach one course each semester at Brandeis, and to deliver lectures or seminars based on the project, but the bulk of ...

Waltham, Mass. - The competition for Brandeis University's new Charles R. Bronfman Visiting Chair in Jewish Communal Innovation has narrowed to five finalists, who will present their proposals for changing the way Jews think about themselves and their community at a symposium on campus February 24. The winner will be awarded two years to develop his or her ideas into a book. The finalists were announced by Jonathan D. Sarna, Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, who chairs the committee composed of Brandeis faculty that made the selections. The finalists and their topics are: - Ariel Beery, founder and publisher of PresenTense magazine, whose project is "Translating Judaism for the Post-Digital Age" - ...