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June 6th, 2012

Emily Comisar is Manager of National Projects for NEXT: A Division of Birthright Israel Foundation. This piece originally appeared on Alef, an online resource created by NEXT: A Division of Birthright Israel Foundation for those that work to engage Jewish young adults.

Of all of the questions that I hear about Taglit-Birthright Israel, one that comes up over and over again is that of how we get trip participants to view their experience as a gift to be paid forward instead of simply a right to which they are entitled.

Paying it forward isn’t restricted to donating that $250 deposit back to the organization; it also means feeling a sense of responsibility to the community, to engage in it in whichever way is most meaningful and make it a more welcoming place for a rising generation of young Jewish adults.

Two weeks ago, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, and NEXT: A Division of Birthright Israel Foundation convened a group of 25 young professionals to talk about Taglit-Birthright Israel. Read More »

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June 4th, 2012
Cross-posted from BBYO.org.

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The numbers are in: dozens of gardens groomed, meals served, books read, senior centers visited, walks and blood drives organized, rallies planned and 92 communities in eight countries changed for the better this April as part of J-Serve, the International Day of Jewish Youth Service.

J-Serve, an event that began in 2005 as one day in April has grown to now engage a generation of teens to make service a continued and regular part of their lives throughout the month of April and all year long.

“In 2011, I went to my first J-Serve event and that event changed my life,” said Shayna Shulman, 17, from Detroit, MI and an avid J-Serve participant “I was surprised to see that many Jewish teens have the same passion as I do—volunteering! I’ve come back to every J-Serve event after that. I loved learning about why we are volunteering. I knew I was in the right place and that it was going to be life changing for me. That first day I volunteered with J-Serve was the day I knew I had to do more.” Read More »

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May 31st, 2012

Yesterday, Team Schusterman—represented by myself (center-right) and our Director of Network Initiatives, Seth Cohen, (far-right), pictured with Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren (center-left) and Shawn Landres of Jewish Jumpstart (far-left)—had the opportunity to attend the White House celebration of Jewish American Heritage Month. Read More »

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May 24th, 2012

Lisa Eisen is the National Director of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

BBYO 10th Anniversary Celebration

This month, I had the pleasure of celebrating the tenth anniversary of a 90-year old organization. It was exactly 10 years ago that BBYO established itself as an independent organization, leaving its birthplace at B’nai B’rith International and starting a journey to reinvent itself into the thriving, energetic force that today is reaching and engaging more than 36,000 teens annually.

When our foundation got involved in 2000, BBYO had just over 12,000 teen members, and the numbers were dwindling precipitously. Morale was low, the organization had many staff vacancies, and it was in serious financial distress. The outlook was bleak, and many had written off BBYO as a failure of the organized Jewish community.

But where others saw failure, Charles and Lynn Schusterman recognized the potential that BBYO had to impact the lives of tens of thousands of Jewish teens. Read More »

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May 21st, 2012

In honor of Yom Yerushalayim (Jerusalem Day) on May 20, ROI Community Executive Director Justin Korda wrote about Jerusalem as the epicenter of Jewish innovation. In an article for the Times of Israel, Justin describes how the dichotomies so often used to characterize the city—Jew vs. Arab, left vs. right, ultra-Orthodox vs. everyone elseactually create conditions that make it a perfect incubator for entrepreneurs. As proof positive, ROI recently took an inside look at its own entrepreneurial community and, as reported in The Jerusalem Post, learned that more of its 800+ members come from Jerusalem than from any other city.

“Social innovators see an imperfect world, then take responsibility and immediately look for solutions, trying to fill the half-full glass. From this perspective, Jerusalem is a perfect incubator for entrepreneurs seeking to fix their neighborhoods, their society and the world. It is precisely Jerusalem’s complexities, the very confrontations between clashing populations, that make it interesting, varied, suffused with identities, and most especially, a place where there is space for whomever chooses to act. Read More »

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April 18th, 2012

As we commemorate the great losses suffered during the Holocaust this Yom Hashoah, we share with you a thoughtful reflection from Natalie Perach, an alumna of the 2011 REALITY Israel Experience for Teach For America corps members program. In December, Natalie used a Make It Happen Project micro grant for REALITY Israel alumni to travel to Poland and Budapest on a trip sponsored by the Jewish Resource Center at the University of Michigan. Having lost family members in the Holocaust, Natalie wanted to explore the vibrancy of Jewish life as it once was, the magnitude of the loss and the seeds of rebirth.

“You’re a sick man,” a member of the trip said to Tzvi, our England born, Israel-residing tour guide, half jokingly, half trying to break the nervous energy that grasped our group. “Scheduling a trip into Treblinka at eleven thirty at night on New Year’s Eve. You’re a sick man.”

Rabbi Lynn (the leader of our trip), passing nearby, overhead my remark. “Welcome to hell,” he commented.

Hell it was. And hell it is. Read More »

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April 11th, 2012

Join us in signing a pledge of unity for Tulsa. A pledge against racism and violence. A pledge for healing and peace.

 

Sign the pledge today at www.TulsaUnites.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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April 11th, 2012

For the past eight years, our Foundation has been honored to partner with two incredible community organizations to make Valentine’s Day a special day for members of our community who are experiencing hard times. The Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless provides an average of 400 people with shelter and services each day, and the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma works with 450 partner programs to distribute enough food to prepare more than 70,000 meals each week.

This year, we wanted to offer a window into the remarkable experience of sharing food with the people who need and showing love in celebration of our common humanity. After all, hunger and homelessness are global issues with local impact. Every day, in our communities, in our neighborhoods, in our own backyards, people are going without food and shelter. There is so much we can do individually and collectively to help. Read More »

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April 5th, 2012

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April 3rd, 2012

Passover begins at sunset on Friday, so it is time to make the final preparations and think about this year’s seder. To help us make this year’s Passover different than all others, our good friend Rabbi Josh Feigelson has cooked up some unique ways to create a memorable Passover Seder. Friday, so it is time

Read on and be sure to send us your stories, tips and photos from your Passover seders.

Wishing you a Passover filled with meaning and joy! Read More »

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