Around Our Jewish World

Three articles this week of particular interest to important themes on this blog.

What’s Next For Birthright Alumni an editorial by Gary Rosenblatt

Michael Steinhardt is never satisfied.

That’s what drives some of those who work with him crazy at times. But it’s also what drives his success as a businessman and major philanthropist.

While much of the Jewish community, here and in Israel, has been heralding birthright israel — the audacious project he helped found to give every young Jew in the world a free trip to Israel — as the most exciting and successful of efforts to increase Jewish identity, Steinhardt has been grumbling that it’s not enough.

Leveraging Funds and Passions

from the Spring 2008 issue of HaYidion: The RAVSAK Journal

Philly Jewish paper accused of kowtowing to its funder

A controversy over the renaming of a Philadelphia-area day school is raising questions about the delicate relationship between the local Jewish newspaper and the federation that funds it.

(eJP note: while this article was originally published in The Forward, we find it significant that it has been picked up by Haaretz. The issues raised from this gift have been reverberating in Philadelphia for about a year and are relevant to all organizations in the Jewish communal world).

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