Do you have a project you've been dying to launch? Are you a socially-minded pioneer who wants to create value for the Jewish People and the world? Or are you a hacker who wants to spend a summer in Israel at an incubator and bring your project to market? If the answer is yes, consider the PresenTense Institute for pioneers -- a six-week, intensive inter-disciplinary launchpad for socially-minded entrepreneurs running this summer from June 23rd until August 3rd in Jerusalem, bringing together innovators from the fields of hi-tech, business, social action, education and the arts. Read more about the Institute below or here and Apply today. The PresenTense Institute for Creative ...

Mounting evidence is pointing to a recession and nonprofit groups could start feeling the effects. Among the various possible scenarios:

• Corporate giving will fall as profits tumble
• Foundations will cut back on grant making as returns on endowments decline
• Individuals will reduce their donations as unemployment and economic insecurity rises
• Governments will cut social services, spending on health and education as tax revenue falls

And in our Jewish world, according to an article in today's Jewish Week, "Leaders of Jewish foundations and nonprofits are bracing for slashes in available funding this week as global and domestic markets tumble and fears of a recession loom. And some are already starting to feel the pinch as anxiety mounts among philanthropists and leaders of the groups they fund. Some ...

Describing Taglit participants as such, Israeli Minister Isaac Herzog, led off a session early this afternoon at the Herzliya Conference. Joined by Gideon Mark of Birthright, Professor Leonard Saxe of Brandeis University and Knesset member Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson for a session titled, 'Trends in the Connection of the Diaspora's Young Generation to Israel', the focus was on the young demographic being called, the Birthright Israel Generation. We did learn a few facts. While 3/4 of all participants to date are from North America, a total of 44 countries have been represented since 1999. Bringing 160,000 to Israel so far, an additional 100,000 have been left behind due to lack of space. According to Professor ...

A little over a month ago, I introduced you to Moishe House London. Now, in his own words, one of the founding members. by Joel Sameach Stanley Something is emerging in Jewish London. It’s hard to name as yet but you know it when you meet it. October 2007 was a landmark month. For four weeks running, you could, if you felt so inclined, attend a relatively large-scale alternative Jewish event every Saturday night, from the London JCC’s Balagan Boogaloo to Psychosemitic to the massive opening party at Moishe House London, the new Willesden Green based Jewish community house that happens to be my home. Besides a genre-fusing openness to try different ...

 

 

The rumors are true. Birthright Israel's newest innovation, the Israelity Tour is bringing the best of contemporary Israeli music to the West Coast in February for a concert tour.

Concerts and Mifgashim Featuring Subliminal and the T.A.C.T. Family With performances by Coolooloosh and Michelle Citrin February 6-17, 2008 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-l6SkmNJbA&feature=user[/youtube]

 

Don't miss your chance to be part of the action! Remember, it's all about the music...

If you would like to stay current and enjoy all the behind-the-scenes stories and tales from the road, you can. Check in regularly with the Israelity Tour Blogger.

and Michelle Citrin? she is the infamous, Rosh Hashanah Girl.

 

 

We first met her at a special performance in Nashville during the GA. Now, Grammy Award-winning musician Miri Ben-Ari, the Israeli "hip hop violinist" who is best known for her collaborations with artists Kanye West and Jay Z, was awarded the first annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Israel Award for her work in bringing together African American and Jewish communities closer together through music. from the official press release... "This award seeks to bring attention, recognition and re­membrance of the dynamic relationship between African Americans and Jews, particularly highlighting the pinnacle of that friendship seen during the Civil Rights Movement in America under the leadership of Reverend King. It will be presented in honor ...

Great video from the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley about how their funds are allocated. The inspiration came from a group of young lay-leaders who were frustrated with how to explain and promote the Federation’s mission in an appealing and positive way.

"No gift touches more lives, including you own"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Zb_51995i4&feature=user[/youtube]

Animation by David Hollin Music by The Flying Bulgar Klezmer Band Inspiration by Jacob Orrin and Tomer Kagan. Viral marketing by Oyster

tip of the hat to: facebook group

Last night I engaged in my usual Motzei Shabbat stroll through downtown Jerusalem. While Israel may be in the midst of an unusual cold snap and most of the winter break tourists have departed, Birthright still rules the Midrachov. With a minimum of six bus loads filling every single eatery around Kikar Zion, these laughing, hugging, and generally just enjoying themselves, young (mostly) American college students could not be missed. Hillel alone is bringing approximately 3,500 students to Israel during these few weeks, through Birthright, the Charles Schusterman International Leaders Assembly, and an alternative break program emphasizing social justice. In addition, the Israel on Campus Coalition, a partnership of Hillel and the Schusterman Family Foundation, brought 43 students ...

Brandeis University's Women’s Studies Research Center and International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life present an exhibition about the healing power of art in South Africa

Photographs by Brandeis U. fine arts major and Haifa native Naomi Safran-Hon will be part of an exhibition opening Wednesday, January 16th. As a 2006 International Center for Ethics, Justice and Public Life student fellow, Naomi worked with AIDS orphans at the Art Therapy Centre in Johannesburg. “Healing, Community and Transformation: Student Visions from Johannesburg” will explore how art can be a means of healing and a powerful tool for change. The exhibition, presented by the Women’s Studies Research Center and the International Center for ...

In a step that marks a major change in gender roles within modern Orthodoxy, women will be ordained as Orthodox rabbis. Jerusalem's Shalom Hartman Institute, founded by Rabbi David Hartman, himself a modern Orthodox rabbi, will open a four-year program next year to prepare women and men of all denominations - Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist and also Orthodox - for rabbinic ordination. Ordination will be provided within the framework of a teacher-training program that prepares graduates to serve in Jewish high schools in North America. Why would an institute that runs an Orthodox middle school and high school for boys, and that will open an Orthodox girls' school next year, decide to provide rabbinic ordination to women despite the controversy it will ...