Located in New Albany, Ohio
Mar 2011
Lisa Shapiro Strauss is a Wexner Heritage Alumna, Houston ‘08. She is a practicing Criminal Defense Attorney in Houston, Texas. Lisa can be reached at lisstrauss@sbcglobal.net. The funny thing about a dream is that you really don’t realize it is coming true until the moment has come and gone and you have a chance to reflect back on it. In the summer of 2007, our Houston Wexner Heritage Group was
Feb 2011
Emily Walsh is an Alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship/Davidson Scholars Program. Emily is the Assistant Director of Education, Youth and Family at B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan. She can be reached at emiwalsh@gmail.com. A week after I moved to New York City, a friend was playing in a concert at Carnegie Hall. I looked up directions online and got there very quickly; proving much easier to get to Carnegie Hall
Beth Cousens is a Wexner Graduate Fellowship Alumna and the outgoing Associate Vice President of the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Experience at Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. She is a consultant to a variety of Jewish educational organizations, focusing on vision, strategy, and evaluation. Beth can be reached at bethcousens@gmail.com. Many of us are deep in our Jewish educations. We have participated in a program of the Wexner
Feb 2011
Ed Rettig is an Alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class II. He is the Director of AJC-Jerusalem, the Israel office of the American Jewish Committee. Ed can be reached at rettige@ajc.org.il. In those classic movie scenes the officer cries “follow me” and leads the charge. For rare individuals that is an option. For me, leadership seems more a process (I speak as a balding, overweight, middle aged, Jewish
Feb 2011
Rabbi Joe Kanofsky is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class XI. Joe is the rabbi of Kehillat Shaarei Torah in Toronto, Canada
Feb 2011
Joe Septimus is a Wexner Heritage Alumnus from New York IV. Joe presented this piece at a Memorial Service for Debbie Friedman held at Central Synagogue on January 27, 2011. He can be reached at joe@septimus.com. Debbie was my friend. Not the famous Debbie Friedman, who inspired a generation. But the private one; humble, vulnerable loving and funny. The one at our family shabbos table. The one who enjoyed being
Feb 2011
Jenny Solomon is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program, Class X. Jenny serves as a rabbi, teaching, counseling, and leading prayer at Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh and in the greater Triangle Jewish Community. She is also building the first community mikveh in Eastern North Carolina. She can be reached at rabbijsolomon@gmail.com At a recent colloquium on the pursuit of happiness at Emory University, Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Feb 2011
Rabbi Audrey Marcus Berkman is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Class XV. She serves as Rabbi of Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Havurah in Newton, MA, and as Jewish Chaplain at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. She can be reached at audmar98@yahoo.com. I recently served on the beit din for the conversion to Judaism of a German man whose parents had been members of the Nazi party. During our conversation, I bore witness
Jan 2011
Rabbi Esther Reed is an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program and the Associate Director for Jewish Campus Life at Rutgers Hillel. She wrote the chapter on Conservative Judaism in the second edition of Jewish U: A Contemporary Guide for the Jewish College Student (2010). Esther can be reached at rabbireed@rutgershillel.org . Lately several different congregations in my area have asked me to speak to juniors and seniors in
Jan 2011
Ami Hersh is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program (Class XIX). Ami is the Assistant Director of the Ramah Day Camp in Nyack and a 4th year rabbinical student at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He can be reached at Ami@ramahnyack.org. As part of my internship at a Synagogue this year there have been many highlights. The opportunity to teach a class entitled “Text and Context,” has stood out.