Maimonides Fund Adds New Strategic Focus on Viewpoint Diversity in the Jewish Community
Rabbi David Wolpe Will Serve as Senior Advisor ______________ (June 15, 2022) Maimonides Fund, a private grantmaking organization that funds in North America and Israel, today announced a new strategic program area focused on Viewpoint Diversity in Jewish communal spaces. Rabbi David Wolpe will serve as Senior Advisor to the Viewpoint Diversity portfolio, which will […]
Jews and Ukraine: It’s Complicated (My Jewish Learning)
“Jews have a long and rich history in Ukraine going back more than a millennium. It was once one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities, and has had a major influence on the development of Ashkenazi Jewish culture. But Ukraine is also the site of some of the most brutal scenes of anti-Jewish violence in history. […]
Digital Storytellers Lab to Develop New Jewish Stories for a Modern Media Environment
April 1, 2022 – The Digital Storytellers Lab of the Jewish Writers’ Initiative has formally opened the application process for digital media creators to join an eight-month fellowship to kickstart the development of digital audio/visual media exploring Jewish themes. A project of Maimonides Fund, The Lab empowers creators to tell Jewish stories in innovative, digital-first […]
Our Technology Sickness and How to Heal It, by Micah Goodman (Sources)
“Twenty years ago, political identity did not demarcate our intellectual or social horizons. Today, however, in contrast to the Talmudic ideal of nurturing an intellectual world wider than one’s practice, our intellectual world has shrunk to fit the narrower dimensions of policy and practice. The books we read, the lectures we hear, and the videos […]
Making Room for “Time Elsewhere”: Inviting Discussion, by Doron Kenter (eJewish Philanthropy)
“What would it look like for employees’ vacation days used in service of the Jewish communal good to be matched by their employers? In other words, employees choosing to devote their time off to summer camps, social services, staffing Israel trips (someday!), social services or similar work would effectively contribute half of the allotted paid […]
Universal Jewish Literacy, by Andrés Spokoiny (SAPIR)
“We can no longer rely on silver-bullet trips to Auschwitz or Tel Aviv to emotionally shock people into feeling Jewish. For a culture to thrive, people need to truly know what that culture encompasses. To feel part of a historical continuum, people need to learn that history. To find comfort in rituals (regularly and at […]
Painting outside the lines: Israel’s ultra-Orthodox women take their quiet revolution to art school (Washington Post)
“JERUSALEM — For years, ultra-Orthodox Jewish women in Israel have been on the leading edge of change inside their traditional, highly insular communities. But they have recently been opening a new frontier, taking their quiet revolution to a nondescript building in a Jerusalem industrial area where, as students at an offshoot branch of a prominent […]
How a Foundation Mobilized to Keep Jewish Summer Camps Afloat During COVID (Inside Philanthropy)
“Jewish camps are one of the most effective ways of connecting kids to their Jewish heritage and Jewish identity,” Fingerman said. “So we had to find a way to get these camps reopened [in 2021] because camp shapes the community of today and it’s the glue that keeps it together tomorrow.” Related Grantee: Foundation for […]
Saving Jewish Organizations from Themselves, by Jeffrey R. Solomon (SAPIR)
“Without fundamental changes, the institutions that shape American Jewish life will not only fail to thrive – they may close their doors entirely. The future of Jewish life in America depends on our ability to confront the weakness of our system honestly and to invest in and incentivize organizational change in whatever ways we can.” […]
Shaming, Disagreement & Purposeful Difference, by Christine Hayes (Sources)
“Given that humans are hard-wired to respond reflexively to certain kinds of difference with fear, and given that human psychology is unlikely to change anytime soon, what can we do as citizens, teachers, parents, community leaders, board members, rabbis, trustees, and dialogue partners to turn sites of anti-social fear and confrontation into sites of pro-social […]