Forward.com

Two-Way Giving

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:16:00 EST

In October, they began. This time next year, they will have finished. In between, it’s a big commitment to become a docent. It takes a lot of knowledge and plenty of spare time.

The Future of Jewish Philanthropy

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:14:00 EST

It’s hard to remember a “good year” in Jewish philanthropy, because needs always seem to outstrip even the most abundant resources. But this past year surely has been one of the most trying in recent memory. The global recession and the collapse of Bernard Madoff’s financial investments delivered a one-two punch with enough strength and velocity to leave the community battered and stunned.

Next Generation Funders Seek a Partner in Change

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:13:00 EST

I don’t have a crystal ball, but when I am asked what I think about the future of Jewish philanthropy, I am in the unique position of not having to guess. Working at the Slingshot Fund affords me the opportunity to spend every day with next-generation funders, who are working together to explore their Jewish identities, interests and commitments. Their work has given me a glimpse into the future and has already begun to shape the way Jewish philanthropy looks today. For the next-generation funders of Slingshot, the Jewish world looks very different than it did for previous generations of Jews in America.

Non-profits Should Appeal to Grassroots

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:12:00 EST

With Bernard Madoff safely in jail, and the economy technically in recovery, Jewish not-for-profits should now be optimistic about the future. The losses created by the collapse of Madoff’s pyramid scheme, though brutal to a handful of major donors and foundations that had invested heavily in his funds, were one-time losses. A year later, one would expect to see the Jewish not-for-profit sector as a whole regroup.

Doing More With Less, and Doing Better

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:11:00 EST

At the end of last year, as the Madoff scandal and the economic crisis rocked the Jewish philanthropic world, a sense of near panic erupted within the Jewish community. It turns out that the big revelation was not that we were suddenly faced with a drastic reduction of communal resources; it was that there was a whole sector of Jewish organizations demonstrating that we could, in fact, do more with less.

By the Numbers

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:07:00 EST

As anyone who follows the news can tell you, America’s economy is on a roller coaster ride of purported recovery from the past year, which saw the deepest recession in decades. And as the economy goes, so goes American — and American Jewish —philanthropy.

Federation Must Lead By Learning

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:07:00 EST

It’s a popular blessing, or curse, depending on your viewpoint, often attributed to Confucius: “May you live in interesting times.” Well, we in the world of Jewish philanthropy are certainly living in interesting times.

They Have Room to Spare for Those on Hospital Visits

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:04:00 EST

I first encountered Hosts for Hospitals last year when a volunteer for the group promoted the program at my synagogue, the Germantown Jewish Centre, in Philadelphia.

A Self-Help Book for the Aspiring Philanthropist

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

‘The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan,” the new book penned by billionaire philanthropist Charles Bronfman, and the man who runs his foundation, Jeffrey Solomon, is something of a self-help book for the aspiring philanthropist.

Philanthropic Young Jews Seek Same

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:53:00 EST

Charity fundraisers in major cities across the country are quickly becoming an increasingly popular way for young Jewish singles — tired of the bar scene and JDate — to meet potential dates and help causes close to their hearts, all in one shot.

Giving While Sick

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST

This past January, Rochelle Shoretz had just celebrated her son’s bar mitzvah in Israel and returned home, when she had a routine MRI, necessary after she’d been successfully treated for Stage 2 breast cancer seven years earlier.

MacArthur ‘Genius’-Type Awards for California Teens

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:03:00 EST

Concerned about the impact of unnatural beauty products on women’s health and the environment 18-year-old Erin Schrode, left, founded the conscious makeup line, Teens Turning Green, now sold at Whole Foods. Her efforts won her a Diller Tikkun Olam Award for teen philanthropists.

Not-for-Profits Brace for Trouble

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:24:00 EST

Every morning for the past month, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi has arisen at 5 to check the Asian markets. Every day, she scrutinizes the fluctuations in the financial world and reads up on the latest business news, trying to gauge which way stocks are heading and what the fallout will be.

Coming of Age in Cambodia

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:23:00 EST

This past July, a few high school students and I sat around an unusable fireplace in an air-conditioned library at Yale. The teenagers wore flip-flops and short shorts and sunburns; they peppered their speech with “like,” as well as their newly acquired SAT vocabulary. At my behest, they were discussing the ethicist Peter Singer.

Moishe House: Building in Beijing

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:23:00 EST

My roommates and I built the only rooftop sukkah in Beijing, 16 floors above the traffic on Second Ring Road, overlooking Sinopec headquarters and the small Olympic park next door. It was a true Chinese sukkah — made in part with PVC pipes and metal wire from a local construction market — and we were nervous that our neighbors would assume we were building some kind of permanent structure and report us to the Public Security Bureau.

A Good Education: Foundation Celebrates 18 Years

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:22:00 EST

With 18 years and counting of support for innovative initiatives in Jewish education, the Covenant Foundation marked its chai anniversary last month with a three-day celebration in New York City. The festivities included a gala evening, dispersal of awards and — true to Covenant Foundation form — opportunities for serious discussion among some of North America’s most creative Jewish educators. Attending were 40 of the organization’s 54 surviving Covenant Award winners and more than a dozen emerging leaders in Jewish education.

Let’s Talk About Sex

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:21:00 EST

Because she’s 17, Laura Alonge hears a lot of sex jokes. She and her friends have all seen “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” and the million other horny-stoner-kids films that have recently captured the hearts and minds of high schoolers across the country. It drives her crazy, though, that her peers don’t know truth from fiction. “They hear in a Seth Rogan movie, ‘the law of gravity, what goes up must come down,’ and they think you can’t get pregnant if you’re on top,” she said. Even at her public high school, in what she describes as her “very liberal, not very religious” town of Lynbrook, N.Y., on Long Island, “sex ed was too short and too late. The kids weren’t really walking away with what they needed.” So Alonge, in her quest to make sure she and her peers received scientifically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sex education in their schools, teamed up with an unlikely partner: a faith-based organization.

Office Space — A Communal Setting

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:21:00 EST

Back in September, JBooks.com, the Web site I edit, teamed up with JVibe, the magazine for Jewish teens, to throw an intergenerational event called Get Lit 2008. Preparing for this literary soirée (which featured writers Tova Mirvis, Jonathan Wilson, Adam Wilson and Jon Papernick) was a lot of work, but publicizing it was remarkably easy. Why? A happy accident, really: our publications live in a kind of non-profit kibbutz here in Newton Upper Falls, Mass., and many of our friends and neighbors helped get the word out.

Women’s Foundation Gets Creative

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:19:00 EST

When the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York was planning a celebration for its 10 year anniversary in 2006, the group decided to commemorate the milestone by giving out its largest grant in history: a sum of $300,000, to be paid over three years. It was a significantly larger amount than the foundation had ever given in the past.

Shelter From the Storm

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:19:00 EST

Lisa Nord and Jay Podberesky were hard at work on a recent Sunday, cutting sheetrock and trimming window frames in a bare space in Brooklyn that will one day be a home for a family in need.