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Dr. Rela Mintz Geffen is a Professor Emerita of Sociology and the Past President of Baltimore Hebrew University. She can be reached at Rela1@aol.com. My son Ami, now himself a father, was a very active and social child. From quite an early age, and certainly by the time he was in elementary school at Solomon Schecter Day School in Philadelphia I would caution him about certain behaviors with the rabbinic
Aug 2011
Pam is a Wexner Heritage Toronto alumna. She is a lawyer and artist, who now edits ”think: The Lola Stein Institute Journal” (http://www.lolastein.ca/050~Think_Magazine/). She can be reached at pamelams@mac.com. Girls are female beings, b’tzelem elokim. They are not adaptations of men. Thinking about bat mitzvah rituals, I was uncomfortable guiding my daughters towards any reworking of the male model. My sons had had b’nei mitzvah, and it felt disrespectful to
Aug 2011
Searle, a Wexner Heritage alumnus from Baltimore, is outgoing Chair of the Jewish Federation's Hillel Council and a Vice Chair of JESNA. A real estate and business attorney, he is the former president of the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School and Beth Tfiloh Congregation. He can be reached at smitnick@gfrlaw.com Three years ago, I was in Hell. I managed to escape. Why would I voluntarily return in early May, 2011?
Aug 2011
Gordon Hecker is an alumnus of the Wexner Heritage Program in Columbus 2000. He currently serves as Campaign Chair for Columbus Jewish Federation and is on the Executive Committee of Jewish Federations of North America. When not engrossed in Jewish lay leadership, he is the Sr. VP of Corporate Marketing at Nationwide Insurance. Gordon can be reached at:ghecker@columbus.rr.com The flight lasted just four and a half hours and, for me,
Aug 2011
Misha Zinkow is the senior rabbi of Temple Israel, Columbus, Ohio. He can be reached at rabbizinkow@templeisrael.org. Our friend Ezra said, "of course I'll help you find his grave, I love cemeteries." That's when Elka and my visit to the Mount of Olives cemetery began 2 weeks ago. The grave we were determined to find is that of my father-in-law Alvin Abrahamson's grandfather. Born in Jaffa around the time that
Aug 2011
Beth Cousens is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class 14 and a consultant in the areas of strategic planning, leadership development, and project management to Jewish educational organizations. She can be reached at bethcousens@gmail.com. I confess, this isn't really "my" leadership moment. But I've been thinking about it since it happened during a small meeting I was part of a few weeks ago. While I was in my University
Jul 2011
Amy Deutsch is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class XIX. She can be reached at amyleahdeutsch@gmail.com. In the week before my Wexner Graduate Fellowship interview, I took a cruise with my husband (then fiancé—we had just gotten engaged). We were about three days into the cruise when, in the middle of the night, the ship alarm went off. Before we knew it, we were being told to
Jul 2011
Mara Benjamin is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship (Class X). She is Assistant Professor of Religion at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN. She can be reached at mbenj@stolaf.edu I am one of four Jewish faculty at a private, historically Norwegian, Lutheran liberal arts college, and I am the first person to occupy a permanent position teaching Judaism. For me, teaching Jewish texts (and texts like the Hebrew
Jul 2011
Rabbi Ruskay is the Director of Alumni and Community Engagement at AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps. She also serves on the Social Justice Commission of the Rabbinical Assembly. Stephanie can be reached at sruskay@avodah.net. When was the last time you volunteered? Did you do it alone or with others? What motivated you? Did you return to volunteer there again? Why or why not? For over a decade the Jewish community
Scott is the Executive Vice President of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. He has provided Jewish professional and volunteer leadership for over 30 years. Scott can be reached at sbrown@hillel.org. I have Bieber Fever! I admit it. The difference is that I am looking for the next great Jewish professional Rock Star. One of the greatest single failings of Jewish organizations over my career has been the way