Posted on Thursday, November 29, 2018 by Rabbi Jennie Rosenn
Rabbi Rachel Cowan, z"l did many remarkable things in her lifetime - some were very public, some behind the scenes. In 2004 she did a remarkable thing that was both known and quiet: she passed on the role of heading up the Jewish Life and Values Program at the Nathan Cummings Foundation to me, someone her daughter's age, in a way that was so smart, graceful and full-hearted that both the program and I were able to thrive and succeed. She did this again in 2011 at the Institute for Jewish Spiritu…
READ MORE
Posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2018 by Rabbi Daniel Kirzane
In a year of surprising, radical and sometimes tragic transitions, at least one has been honorable and celebrated: the dignified retirement of Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman, Ph.D. Dr. Hoffman taught liturgy at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for 45 years, and during that tenure has guided the lives and careers of countless Jewish professionals. I am honored to be counted among them and to wish Dr. Hoffman a restful and enriching retirement. As a rabbinical student, I stud…
READ MORE
Posted on Monday, November 26, 2018 by Moj Khaghan
Wexner Heritage Alum Moj Khagan Danial (Miami 11), is an attorney in Miami and has dedicated the last 10 years (other than to her family) to Jewish, civic and philanthropic leadership. She is now Strategic Planning Committee Chair for the March of the Living; prior to that, she was Planning & Distribution and Women’s Philanthropy Chair at the Federation. She also currently serves as Vice Chair of the Public Health Trust of Jackson Health System and Vice Chair of the Housing Authority o…
READ MORE
Posted on Wednesday, November 21, 2018 by Drew Goldstein and Daniel Berkowitz
Seventy-two hours after the largest mass murder of Jews in American history, politics had divided our Squirrel Hill community. For the two of us, it culminated with the-anything-but-normal Tuesday night after 11 of our friends and neighbors were brutally killed praying inside their synagogue. In a feeble attempt to listen to the trauma experts’ advice to go back to “normal,” we scheduled a business meeting. However, amidst the backdrop of a controversial Presidential visit to P…
READ MORE
Posted on Tuesday, November 20, 2018 by Becca Thomas
At a recent Wexner Summit that included Wexner Israel Fellows and Senior Leaders, Graduate Fellowship Alumni and Heritage Program Alumni, this dynamic group came together for the final Summit in a series about Civil Discourse. Having started the conversation early in 2017, this group has engaged in deep dialogue, learning, problem-solving and collaborative work targeted at enhancing the understanding of those engaged in conversation. Among the many lessons and takeaways gleaned from th…
READ MORE
Posted on Monday, November 19, 2018 by Ari Moss
I am the grandchild of Shoah survivors. Until my Bar Mitzvah, I did not have the faintest understanding of what that truly meant. Around the time of my Bar Mitzvah, I began to understand the gravity of the Shoah, but prior to that, my experience and understanding of being Jewish had only the vaguest notion of tragedy. For me however, defining Jewish identity in response to the Shoah would never work. I formed my Jewish identity at 9-years old when I began to attend summer camp in …
READ MORE
Posted on Sunday, November 18, 2018 by Eta Blitzer
The Montreal Alumni of the Wexner Heritage Program were fortunate to participate in an early morning lecture by Rabbi Elyse Goldstein at the home of Julie Shugarman and Ilan Gewurz. Rabbi Goldstein is teaching the current Montreal Group sacred texts. Rabbi Goldstein’s lecture was titled “Women are From Genesis, Men are from Leviticus: Seeing Torah through a #MeToo Lens.” Rabbi Goldstein rejected the idea that the Torah can be read through a neutral lens; each reader br…
READ MORE
Posted on Friday, November 16, 2018 by Caryn Rosen Adelman
When I reflect on my personal journey as a lay, communal and civic leader to a paid professional, consulting to and for philanthropists and philanthropies, my first reaction is that it wasn’t easy. As a lay leader I had reached the top of every organization in which I chose to be involved. I was given incredible opportunities to represent, lead and shape organizations and institutions, but at some point I wanted more. The “professionalism” of volunteers was “…
READ MORE
Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2018 by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin and Laura Solomon
Sometimes our identity and membership in this wonderful tribe of Jews creates tension with Western notions of political and social universalism. It can feel like cognitive dissonance or yet another “gap” to add to those between Democrats and Republicans, US and Israeli Jews, the secular and religious, pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian. Maybe each us of just needs to be a “[wo]man in the streets and Jew at home,” to quote Yehuda Leib Gordon. But that’s not wha…
READ MORE
Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 by Samantha Mintz
Wexner Heritage Member Samantha Mintz (Montreal 17) was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. She received her BCL and LLB from McGill University and practiced tax and estate planning in a law and accounting firm in Montreal before working as a tax planning professional at the Jewish Community Foundation of Montreal. Samantha is now a full-time volunteer channeling her energy as Vice President of Congregation Shaar Hashomayim and is a member of the planning and allocations committee at Fede…
READ MORE