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 ...

Taglit Birthright Israel’s latest YouTube video is a fun-filled romp across the country in celebration of Israel’s 60th anniversary on May 8th. Starring Tasha and Dishka, two Israelis from Ramle and early YouTube sensations with their Hey! clip (22 million views!), these two lip synch to the Carsitters “All Eyes on Me” as they make their way across Israel. The lead singer of the Carsitters is none other than Noa Margalit who I met at last year’s ROI120 Summit and this video was produced by Leah Stern, another ROI2007 alum and, well, me. The point of the video was to show an image of a fun and vibrant Israel - said image being more ...

The Center for Leadership Initiatives announced that 35 young Jewish innovators would receive seed funding for their projects to support the realization of innovative Jewish ideas worldwide. The funds, alongside general support of the overall ROI program, were provided by philanthropist Lynn Shusterman. Selected projects range from web initiatives to music, art and film, and from community activism and education to environmental projects. Grant recipients are in their twenties or early thirties, and hail from Europe, South America, North America, the FSU, South Africa, and Israel. According to Yonaton Gordis, Executive Director of the Center for Leadership Initiatives, "The ROI Grants were created to serve as seed funds that will enable ROI ...

"Don't Eat The Brown Matzah"

for more on this week's comic strip and the cartoon archives visit

www.shabot6000.com

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 ...

ShaBot 6000, the continuing cartoon saga of a pious Jew who purchases a robot to work as the Shabbos Goy for his household. The inquisitive robot, ShaBot, decides that he is Jewish, and is therefore unable to fulfill his duties as servant. ShaBot spends his days asking questions about Judaism, trying to find logic in a religion that sometimes just DOES NOT COMPUTE. ShaBot 6000 a comic strip for the 21st century. for more ShaBot 6000, check out Day of Rest.

for an explanation of this week's comic strip and more cartoon archives visit www.shabot6000.com

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 ...

Applications for the 2008 ROI Summit, taking place in Jerusalem from the 15th to the 19th of June are now open. Join 120 young innovators and leaders for 4 days of networking, skill-building and inspiration. Think you got what it takes? Apply today! Deadline for applications is Friday, March 28th. About the ROI Community: ROI is an international partnership between Taglit-Birthright Israel and the Center for Leadership Initiatives, a U.S. based foundation with funding from Lynn Schusterman. Click the logo for a video made at last year's Summit and check this really great post on Jewlicious for a first-hand view.

ShaBot 6000, the continuing cartoon saga of a pious Jew who purchases a robot to work as the Shabbos Goy for his household. The inquisitive robot, ShaBot, decides that he is Jewish, and is therefore unable to fulfill his duties as servant. ShaBot spends his days asking questions about Judaism, trying to find logic in a religion that sometimes just DOES NOT COMPUTE. ShaBot 6000 a comic strip for the 21st century. for more ShaBot 6000, check these previous posts... In the Closet, Out of Line, The Next Level Chodesh Tov.