by Dan Hazony In a recent eJewishPhilanthropy newsletter, there were two articles that unknowingly interconnected large problems with the American Jewish community. Both the articles, A Less Spoken About Angle: The Threat Israel Presents to Jewish Peoplehood by Rabbi Uri Regev and Staying Present: Adult Mentors are Essential to Teens’ Lives and to Effective Jewish Teen Engagement by Deborah Meyer, when read together form a better understanding of the American Jewish young adults’ perception of Israel. Rabbi Regev’s article takes a very strong attack on what he considers to be an Israel whose “policies on religion and state ... undermine that very sense of Jewish peoplehood” and that constantly “discriminates against non-Orthodox rabbis.” While there are many fundamental … [Read more...]
Jewish Role Models and American Jewry’s Perceptions of Israel
Data that Illuminates: A Case Study
by Dyonna Ginsburg The famed Scottish poet and novelist Andrew Lang warned against using “statistics as a drunken man uses lamp posts - for support rather than for illumination.” As Jewish organizations increasingly move towards being data-driven, we would do well to heed Lang’s cautionary note. It is tempting to use data simply as a "support," retroactively justifying existing theories, policies and decisions. It's far more difficult to use it as "illumination," shedding light on areas not yet explored. This is especially true when a research study yields some findings that are expected. … [Read more...]
Do Alternative Breaks Have a Real Impact?
Each year, more than 2,000 college students and other young adults participate in immersive Jewish service-learning (IJSL) Alternative Break (AB) programs that are run by nearly a dozen organizations. Repair the World’s new study, “Breaking for Change: How Jewish Service-learning Influences the Alternative Break Experience,” investigated the short-term impacts of participation, and explored whether there were differential impacts based on demographic characteristics of the participants and based on elements of program design. The study is based off of 1,034 responses from participants from IJSL Alternative Break experiences during the 2009-2010, 2010-2011, and 2011-2012 academic years, and was commissioned as a follow up to one of their studies from 2010, which reported on the impact of … [Read more...]
Learning from Jewish Education
by David Cygielman I often think of the original Moishe House staff team as being “uniquely under qualified.” We were all committed, excited and saw the potential of Moishe House to change the face of young adult Jewish life but none of us had any actual job experience or the network to rely on our past experience; we truly had to learn as we went. Looking back, this was a huge advantage because we could only look to the future, none of our conversations were about things that did or did not work in the past and much of Moishe House was built in partnership with the residents who run the actual houses. As our numbers and geographic reach grew it was clear that going beyond a start-up would require us to not just be generalists but also bring in specialists. … [Read more...]
91 YU Students Spent Break on Community Building Missions Around the World
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...]
New Study Finds Exposure to Israel’s Social Challenges Boosts Commitment to Serve
Contrary to a common assumption in the organized Jewish world that exposing young Jews to the complex issues underlying Israeli life diminishes their commitment to the country, a newly released study found that more deeply understanding these dynamics intensifies a bond to the Jewish state. Commissioned by Repair the World and The Jewish Agency for Israel, the study, Serving a Complex Israel: A report on Israel-based Immersive Jewish Service-learning, shows that the more these young men and women learn about Israel - warts and all - the more they are motivated to engage in more Israel-based service. According to the study, IJSL programs, which integrate full-time direct service with structured learning and reflection, offer alumni of Birthright Israel and other short-term Israel programs an … [Read more...]
