by Smadar Bar-Akiva Aimed at revitalizing the established Jewish community, the wide array of innovative projects initiated by young Jews has recently gone center stage. Yet, very often the question is asked how many new initiatives can the Jewish community sustain over time? One cannot but admire start-up projects that range from tours for individuals with special needs to educational computer games, from educating for peace to Jewish animation. Organizations such as PresenTense, ROI Community, JHub in London, to name but a few, find a way to attract the best and brightest and provide cutting edge tools and a supportive network. As an organization representing the established Jewish community, we, at the World Confederation of Jewish Community Centers (WCJCC), were intrigued by this phenomenon. … [Read more...]
London’s JHub Hosts European Leaders Working on Faith-based Social Action
"It was a great privilege to meet a group of such passionate and talented leaders from across Europe and to hear of their inspiring work, grounded in Jewish values, yet impacting positively on people of many faiths and backgrounds all over the world. They are a living example of the Jewish renaissance happening in Europe and represent what I call a Judaism unafraid to engage with the world. I wish the members of Siach continued success in all they do." U.K. Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks On Wednesday 9th and 10th May Pears Foundation’s JHub hosted a gathering of over 35 social justice and environmental professionals and activists from across the continent and beyond [UK, France, Hungary, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Chile, Australia and the USA]. The group included those working, … [Read more...]
Peoplehood is the Consequence, Not the Goal: JHub as a Case Study
This essay is from The Peoplehood Papers, volume 7 – Reinvigorating Jewish Peoplehood: The Philanthropic Perspective; published by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education. by Shoshana Boyd Gelfand According to Jewish tradition, the world stands on three pillars: Torah, Avodah, and Gemilut Hasadim. Some would claim that these are the central principles which hold the Jewish people together. My Jewish childhood identity, however, stood on three completely different pillars. Like many others of my generation who grew up in non-religious homes, three of the core experiences which formed my Jewish identity were: the Holocaust, the State of Israel, and the Soviet Jewry movement. My early memories include: watching the series “Holocaust” on television with my family, listening to my … [Read more...]
Network Weaving with David Brown
Deborah Fishman sits with David Brown. This interview is part of the Network-Weaver Series. [David Brown is Social Action Coordinator at JHub in London, working on the Jewish Social Action Forum’s Big Green Jewish and Fairtrade campaigns. He is also the European coordinator of SIACH: A Global Environment and Social Justice network, and was on the core volunteer team recently for Limmud Conference in the UK.] What is a network? I think of connections between people, projects, and organizations. It can be a group of people who happen to find themselves in the same space, organizationally or physically. Either a given area of content can attract people (I think about SIACH), or it can be getting people together and letting them define the content (like the ROI Community). I come to the … [Read more...]
The Power of Network Development
by Deborah Fishman After being a part of the ROI conference for Jewish innovators last June, David Brown, Social Action Coordinator at JHub in London, came home inspired - and filled with questions. How do these young Jews and the initiatives they represent relate to the establishment? And what is “Jewish” about Jewish innovation, anyway? There are many approaches David could have taken to seek answers. Ultimately, I encouraged him to conduct a SurveyMonkey.com survey of around 70 innovators he was in contact with, the results of which he distilled for PresenTense Magazine. By utilizing the power of his network, David learned what his peers were thinking about the issues on his mind - resulting in a new consciousness of the “why” behind what he does that will inform his sense of … [Read more...]
Energy and Possibility: Empowering the Future of Jewish Life in Europe
by Seth Cohen and Shoshana Boyd Gelfand "Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement. .... get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted. Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually. Abraham Joshua Heschel On a recent Shabbat evening in Uppsala, Sweden, a group of over fifty Jewish young adults from across Europe gathered together to welcome Shabbat. A discussion ensued in the spirit of Heschel’s conception of radial amazement and how it might apply to them individually or as a group. As the discussion circled the room, one particular Romanian woman who had been quiet during much of the past two days spoke up. She looked around the room, at the faces of young, laughing and dreaming Jewish Europeans from London to … [Read more...]
