Every year, hundreds upon hundreds of American Jews go to “do service” in the name of tikkun olam, or repairing the world. Some work in their own neighborhoods, others work in poor areas close to their own neighborhoods and others get on a plane to “do service” in New Orleans, Central America or elsewhere around…
The other day I got a postcard. It was from a chapter of a Jewish women’s organization I fleetingly belonged to, located in another time zone. The postcard was unusual in that it was requesting donations of clothes, rather than the usual appeal for cash. But the fact that it showed up in my mailbox…
Remember that little cardboard or plastic (and if you are even older, metal) tzedakah box that you used to drop coins into at home or at Hebrew school? Well, so does the American Jewish World Service, which is using it as the inspiration for a new design competition to be launched in January. “Where Do…
When it comes to funding innovative Jewish organizations and projects, few foundations are more involved than three that are shutting their doors in the next few years — the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies (ACBP), the Avi Chai Foundation and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund. While observers differ about the impact of their closing,…
‘Oh, Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!” wrote Herman Melville in “Moby Dick.” In other words, writing is an endurance test, and it can drive you mad. And if it was problematic for him, imagine how the rest of us feel. Unlike whaling, this is something I understand from experience. I’m no Melville, but I have…
In September, the Forward asked readers to nominate Jews, age 21 and younger, who are working to make a difference locally or globally. The responses both surprised and inspired us; we found a boundless breadth of activism among this mature-beyond-their-years cohort. Although these young people are operating with limited resources, their global consciousness — not…
The late Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek looms large in the mind of just about every fundraiser for an Israeli organization. This is especially so for Neal Levy, who worked for Kollek two decades ago at the Jerusalem Foundation, the nonprofit founded by the mayor to improve the quality of life for residents of his city….
Life stages are artificial, argues Marc Freedman, the 53-year-old social entrepreneur dubbed “the voice of aging baby boomers” by The New York Times. “There was no adolescence before 1904,” Freedman points out before launching into an explanation of his nonprofit’s raison d’être: creating institutions and public policies geared toward boomers who may be past retirement…
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