Global Jewry must leverage Israel’s success
Imagine an infrastructure that links innovation hubs across the communal ecosystem: day schools and campus Hillels, JCCs and federations, campus organizations and Israel-based partners. Am Yisrael, the global Jewish people, stands at a historic crossroads. The challenges we face on a communal, social and national level are familiar yet somehow different. The Jewish experience of…
The Pulse of Israel: WHAT WE ARE STANDING IN
These words are from a presentation I gave at a Jewish National Fund – USA engagement in Denver, June 10,…
Vision & Practice: Don’t Lose the Trees for the Forest
The best leaders hold the long view and the present moment at the same time. Some organizations are caught in…
Don’t Lose the Trees for the Forest
A Jewish people in crisis needs both the long view and the present moment You’ve heard the saying: don’t lose…
We Teach Who We Are: A Practical Guide for Classroom Educators
Teaching About Israel in Times of Crisis Table of Contents Introduction: The Educator at the Center Chapter 1: Understanding the…
As we trace Zionism’s pulse throughout history, from Abraham to this vey point in time, we see that every generation had its Zionist expression. In Genesis 13:17, Abraham is urged to קוּם הִתְהַלֵּךְ בָּאָרֶץ, “Arise and walk the land…”, literally to walk on it. Thousands of years later, pioneers of the late 1800’s and early…
“Anti-Zionism = Anti-Semitism” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “. . . You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely ‘anti-Zionist.’ And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God’s green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they…
Genesis 18:1-3 “VaYera”, and he saw/appeared… וַיֵּרָא אֵלָיו ה’ בְּאֵלֹנֵי מַמְרֵא וְהוּא יֹשֵׁב פֶּתַח־הָאֹהֶל כְּחֹם הַיּוֹם: ב וַיִּשָּׂא עֵינָיו וַיַּרְא וְהִנֵּה שְׁלֹשָׁה אֲנָשִׁים נִצָּבִים עָלָיו וַיַּרְא וַיָּרָץ לִקְרָאתָם מִפֶּתַח הָאֹהֶל וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ אָרְצָה: ג וַיֹּאמַר אֲדֹנָי אִם־נָא מָצָאתִי חֵן בְּעֵינֶיךָ אַל־נָא תַעֲבֹר מֵעַל עַבְדֶּךָ: And the Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre; and…
I remember the first time it hit me, the value and fragility of Klal Yisrael, Jewish Peoplehood. It was the assassination of Yitzchak Rabin (zl’) in 1995; I was studying at Haifa University. Jews from Israel to North America and around the world reacted to the assassination in shock and grief. No one knew what…
Remember the first time you left your home, your family, and everything that was familiar to you? Perhaps it was college? Or simply moving on as is symbolic of growth and maturity? It may of not been an easy move, though in hindsight we all admit the great value of moving on, moving forward.
Friends, We just finished off the High Holy Day Marathon, prayed, cried, laughed, reflected, ate, fasted and of course repented… Are we done yet? Think again, Sukkot is upon us. One of three festivals (Passover & Shavuot), reflecting historical, agricultural, and mystical significance.