“Since Oct. 7, it hasn’t been easy to be an author with ties to Israel. Book awards ceremonies turned into platforms for anti-Israel activists. Protests raged through conferences. Jewish authors had appearances canceled.

“Since Oct. 7, it hasn’t been easy to be an author with ties to Israel. Book awards ceremonies turned into platforms for anti-Israel activists. Protests raged through conferences. Jewish authors had appearances canceled.

Related Grantee: Jewish Book Council

“Each year, I sit in Yom Kippur services and consider how my Jewish values affect my work, and I reflect on whether I conduct myself and my work in a way that honors the humility and responsibility that each of us must hold. What do I regret? What can I do better? To what goals must I commit myself in the year ahead? It seems that each year, there are new sets of ‘Al Chet’ and/or Viddui confessionals offered for contemplation.

To that end, I offer one more to that mix. What can we, in the Jewish philanthropic ecosystem, commit to doing better in the year to come?”

“The High Holidays are an opportunity to refresh our minds, spirits, and relationships; to spend time in community; to pray for a rewarding personal and collective future…. As we enter 5785, let us all recommit to the principles above. In that spirit, we are pleased to offer this selection of readings from previous issues, selected for their relevance to the themes of this powerful and inspiring time of the year.”

Related Grantee: SAPIR: IDEAS FOR A THRIVING JEWISH FUTURE

“As a scholar of Jewish texts, I have spent the past 12 years working with a team of engineers who use machine-learning tools to digitize and expand access to the Jewish canon. Jewish tradition says nothing of ChatGPT, but it is adamant about work. According to the ancient rabbis, meaningful, creative labor is how humans channel the divine. It’s an idea that can help us all, regardless of our faith, be discerning adopters of new applications and devices in a time of great technological change. If you have ever felt the joy of untangling a seemingly intractable problem or the adrenaline rush that comes from applying creative energy to shape the world, then you know that worthwhile labor helps us channel our best selves. And we cannot afford to cede it to the robots.”

Related Grantee: Sefaria

“Our failure as faculty to challenge our protesting students, opting instead to shrink the complicated history of youth activism to a single, unrepresentative (but well-soundtracked) moment of it several decades ago, is symptomatic of a profound intellectual failure on our part. Put in academic terms, we, faculty particularly in the humanities and social sciences, have failed to apply critical theory, the predominant method of analysis in our fields, to our present situation and our own participation in it.”

Related Grantee: SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future

“In almost any discussion on black-Jewish relations today, the elephant in the room is diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). For years, DEI served as a lifeline for black professionals, opening doors in elite institutions and corporate spaces that had long been shut. Yet even black people are beginning to argue that DEI has outlived its utility — not because its goals were unworthy, but because the framework has been hijacked by ideologues who wield it as a weapon of division rather than a tool for progress.”

Related Grantee: SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future

Year-long fellowships for US-based screenwriters and digital media creators offer grants and industry mentorship to support development of Jewish-themed projects; up to 18 fellows

April 7, 2025—Maimonides Fund has announced its call for applications for the third cohorts of the Jewish Writers’ Initiative Screenwriters and Digital Storytellers Labs. These year-long fellowships offer substantial support for US-based creative talent developing Jewish-themed projects. Applications are open through May 23, 2025.

The 2025-26 program cycle introduces significant expansions to both labs, which will now run simultaneously and will each accept up to 18 fellows per cohort. While maintaining distinct programming tailored to their specific disciplines, the labs will share joint in-person seminars to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and community building.

“Maimonides Fund is proud of our work with the Jewish Writers’ Initiative and excited for this new approach, which will serve even more creators and provide even more opportunities for shared learning and community,” said Maimonides Fund President Mark Charendoff.

The Initiative’s Screenwriters Lab, a partnership between Maimonides Fund and Crystal City Entertainment (The Ides of March, The Butler, Paper Clips, The God Committee), empowers screenwriters to develop compelling scripts exploring Jewish identity, culture, values, heritage, or history for mainstream film and television audiences. Fellows receive a $10,000 stipend and participate in three-day seminars in New York and Los Angeles, plus an eight-day immersive experience in Israel. The program culminates with opportunities for fellows to pitch their projects directly to industry financiers.

“The Screenwriters Lab is an invaluable opportunity for writers who want to tell Jewish stories through film and television,” said Ari Pinchot, CEO of Crystal City Entertainment. “We’re thrilled to support these voices and bring them into our flourishing ecosystem of Jewish media.”

Running parallel, the Initiative’s Digital Storytellers Lab—directed by BimBam creator Sarah Lefton and arts educator Janine Okmin—supports creators developing Jewish content for digital platforms including YouTube, TikTok, and podcasts. Projects span multiple formats including short-form video, animation, podcasts, and social media content. Fellows participate in the three seminars in LA, NY and Israel, and receive up to $25,000 in project funding alongside mentorship from digital media experts and resources for content development and audience engagement.

“We are incredibly proud of the work that has emerged from the Digital Storytellers Lab,” said Sarah Lefton. “This program empowers digital creators to share Jewish stories with the world, and we’re excited to continue cultivating new voices and innovative content.” 

Both labs have demonstrated tangible success. The recently produced feature film “Bookends” was developed in the Screenwriters Lab by 2020 alum Noam Ash. The film was produced by 5X Media and stars Academy Award-winning actor F. Murray Abraham alongside Caroline Aaron and Charlie Barnett. Several other scripts developed through the program have been picked up by Hollywood financiers or are in active development.

The Digital Storytellers Lab has launched several successful projects, including Danielle Dardashti’s award-winning podcast “The Nightingale of Iran” (recipient of a prestigious Covenant Foundation grant); Sam Butin’s interactive game “Normandie,” which received significant funding from the Claims Conference and has been featured in numerous interactive media conferences and forums; and Chari Pere’s acclaimed animated series “Unspoken“; among many others.

These expanded programs reflect Maimonides Fund’s commitment to amplifying Jewish voices across media platforms, supporting creators who can engage audiences with compelling stories rooted in Jewish experiences and perspectives.

For complete information about both labs and application instructions, visit the Initiative’s website at jwinitiative.com. Applications are due May 23, 2025.

Maimonides Fund is a private grantmaking organization funding projects in North America and Israel. The Fund is dedicated to helping the Jewish people connect with their shared past and actively shape their shared future. For more info visit www.maimonidesfund.org.

“As Jews throughout history prayed for their government, they did so with full understanding that their government was never going to get things quite right. While they had confidence that one day a redeemer would come to Zion, this was not that day. This was another stop along the way to redemption. So we pray that the imperfect leaders we have, in Washington and in Jerusalem, succeed in efforts to make us more secure, and that the King of Kings will ‘put into their hearts… compassion to do good.'”

“Israel’s national science teams have concluded the international Olympiad season with an unprecedented haul of 26 medals, including 8 gold, 13 silver, and 5 bronze, along with one honorable mention…. The Education Ministry and the Maimonides Fund’s Future Scientists Center, which lead the training of these national teams, proudly announced the final tally as the last three teams of the season returned.”

“Directed by Guy Nattiv and Zar Amir (a rare collaboration between an Israeli and an Iranian filmmaker), ‘Tatami’ draws inspiration from the real-life experiences of Iranian athletes who were punished or forced to seek asylum abroad after refusing to wear a hijab during their international sporting events. We see Leila defiantly release her black mane of hair on several occasions — as in flashbacks to her life in Tehran in which she’s in bed with her husband or partying at an underground club.

But it’s not Leila’s hijab that’s the problem: Midway through the tournament, Leila’s coach, Maryam (Amir, an Iranian exile herself), gets a call from the Iranian authorities demanding that Leila fake an injury and drop out immediately to avoid competing against an Israeli athlete. (Iran doesn’t recognize Israel, and forbids its athletes from competition with Israeli athletes.)”

New York, NY — September 14, 2025 — Maimonides Fund is proud to announce the rebranding of its flagship program for creatives, formerly known as the Jewish Writers’ Initiative, to the Jewish Writers Institute. This new name reflects the program’s evolution into a leading institutional home for Jewish storytelling across media platforms, and its commitment to nurturing a vibrant ecosystem of Jewish creative talent.

The rebranding coincides with the launch today of the third cohorts of the Institute’s two signature fellowships, the Screenwriters Lab and the Digital Storytellers Lab. For the first time, the programs are running simultaneously – from now through Summer 2026 – to create opportunities for joint programming and foster more connectivity between the two groups. These year-long fellowships offer funding, mentorship, and immersive educational experiences to support the development of Jewish-themed projects for mainstream film, television, and digital platforms. Fellows participate in seminars in Los Angeles, New York, and Israel.

“The Jewish Writers Institute represents an exciting new chapter in our efforts to elevate Jewish stories and storytellers,” said Mark Charendoff, President of Maimonides Fund. “We’re thrilled to welcome two new cohorts of fellows whose work will expand the reach and richness of Jewish narratives in contemporary media.”

The Screenwriters Lab, run in partnership with Crystal City Entertainment, supports 18 screenwriters in developing scripts that explore Jewish identity, culture, values, heritage, or history. The 2025–26 cohort includes a diverse mix of accomplished writers whose scripts span Jewish history and culture—from Bar Kochba’s rebellion to October 7, Yemen to Poland to Los Angeles—and range from superhero stories to situation comedies.

The Digital Storytellers Lab, directed by Sarah Lefton and Janine Okmin, empowers 18 creators working in formats such as podcasts, animation, short-form video, video games, and social media to produce Jewish-themed projects. The 2025–26 fellows are academics, musicians, novelists, comedians, journalists, artists, and content creators whose projects explore topics including the Ladino language, Iranian refugee experiences, modern reimaginings of biblical women, combating antisemitism with comedy, and Bukharian cuisine, among others.

To learn more about the 2025–26 fellows and their projects, visit the Institute’s new website at www.jewishwritersinstitute.org.

About Maimonides Fund
Maimonides Fund is a private grantmaking organization that funds in North America and Israel. We support initiatives that help the Jewish people grasp our common past and play a role in building a thriving Jewish future. Learn more at www.maimonidesfund.org

"Every fraction includes both a numerator and a denominator. If we only focus on the numerator (i.e., the number of professionals entering and staying in those roles) we are leaving out half of the equation. When viewed from this perspective, we can look at the pipeline crisis as what it is: a serious assessment of, and reflection on, the human capital needs of the Jewish community — where those needs are most acute, and where supply, demand and market efficiencies can be leveraged to more suitably meet these human capital needs, making those resources go further to achieve maximum impact."