Slingshot Releases “Resource Guide to American Jewish Innovation, 2007- 2008″

How will Jewish foundations transfer support to the next generation? What is the future of Jewish foundations in the coming years? What values are most vital for the Jewish community to sustain and develop? What dynamic, progressive ideas will advance the Jewish community into a healthy and positive future?

Slingshot’s Resource Guide to American Jewish Innovation

Slingshot’s “Resource Guide to American Jewish Innovation, 2007– 2008″ seeks to address these questions by presenting 50 organizations it believes hold the key to the Jewish future.

“This directory is an effort to map a creative new Jewish organizational world that lies off-the-radar of major funders and help philanthropists decide where to give money by taking care of the due-diligence process,” explains Robert Bennett, senior vice president of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Foundation.

(Click on the link at the bottom of the page to read the guiding principles of each organization.)

Promoting Wealth Transfer Across Generations

Boston College’s Wealth Transfer Report estimates that the upcoming generation stands to inherit $41 trillion by 2052. That’s a lot of responsibility and a lot of power.

In order to use it appropriately, it is critical that a conscientious process of knowledge transfer occurs to facilitate this change. The younger generation must learn both how to handle and conceptualize these resources to know how to proceed.

The 21/64 Foundation (”Strategic Philanthropy Through the Generations”) believes they hold the answers. Through a branched focus of ‘consulting, convening, and communicating,’ 21/64 guides and supports the smooth transition of multigenerational wealth.

Using a best practices approach, the foundation seeks to ready the upcoming generation to be confident in their Jewish identity and priorities in preparation for the coming transfer.

Working in partnership (both organizations are sponsored by the Bronfman Foundation), Slingshot and 21/64 are ideally positioned to help Jewish organizations, their founders, families, and board members facilitate this transition.

Slingshot’s Top 50

Slingshot’s top 50 give us a great summary of innovation in the Jewish world today. All this talk of creativity and new ideas to help spur revitalization and continued progress should not be seen as implicitly implying stagnation.

No, the Jewish world today is a vibrant and active place, full of bright and talented individuals continuing to pursue its role as “a light among nations.”

Here are Slingshot’s top 50 for Jewish philanthropies of the year (descriptions and links below the cut):

4 Seasons; Association for the Support of an Ethical Start; American Jewish World Service; Avoda Arts; Advancing Jewish Women Professionals; Brandeis’ Berkshire Institute for Arts and Music (BIMA); Birthright Israel; Canfei Nesharim; Centropa; Drisha Institute for Jewish Education; Encounter; the Foundation for Jewish Camping; Footsteps; Gateways: Access to Jewish Education; Gift of Life Bone Marrow; Hadar; Hazon; Institute of Jewish Spirituality; Ikar; Interfaith Family; Isabella Freedman; Institute of Southern Jewish Life; JDub Records; Jewlicious; Jewish Funds for Justice; Jewish Milestones; Jewish Mosaic: the National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity; Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance; Jewish Television Network; Jewish Women’s Archive; Jewish World Watch; Jewish Youth Philanthropic Institute; Just Vision; Kavana; Keshet; Lilith; Limmud NY; Matan; Mayyim Hayyim; Mazon; Moving Traditions; Oyhoo; Progressive Jewish Alliance; RAVSAK: the Jewish Community Day School Network; Reboot; Seeking Common Ground; Sharsheret; Sixth & I Historic Synagogue; Storahtelling

Read more below the cut.

• 4 Seasons, teaching tolerance and resilience beyond the Holocaust
• Association for the Support of an Ethical Start, promoting Jewish ethical teachings in early childhood
• American Jewish World Service, pursuing the spirit of tikkun olam in the developing world through poverty prevention and sustainable development initiatives
• Avoda Arts, advancing Jewish learning through the arts
• Advancing Jewish Women Professionals, promoting women’s leadership in Jewish community organizations and striving to make Jewish organizations more equitable
• The Berkshire Institute for Music and Arts
• Brandeis’ Berkshire Institute of Arts and Music (BIMA), hosting summer programs for gifted high school artists to pursue their talents in the Jewish learning
• Birthright Israel, offering free, 10 day, peer group trips to Israel for 18– 26 year olds to strengthen Jewish solidarity worldwide
• Canfei Nesharim (The Wings of Eagles), inspiring Jewish environmental stewardship
• Centropa, using new technologies to create a Jewish European searchable database of oral histories and family photos for project on “Jewish Witness to a European Century” (based in Vienna)
• Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, teaching Jewish texts to all committed Jews in an open-minded learning environment
• Encounter, enabling Jewish participants to form human connections with Palestinians in the West Bank to cultivate cross cultural understanding
• The Foundation for Jewish Camping, seeking to increase participation in Jewish camping
• Footsteps, easing transitions beyond the Ultra-Orthodox world
• Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, supporting children with learning disabilities in a Jewish context
• Gift of Life Bone Marrow, finding genetic matches amongst Jewish donors
• Hadar, revitalizing young Jewish life through prayer, study, and social action (also here)
• Hazon, creating healthier Jewish communities through sustainable environmental protection (also here)
• Institute of Jewish Spirituality, rejuvenating Jewish leadership through “spiritual nourishment,” including yoga, meditation, study, and prayer
• Ikar, awakening desires for meaningful, spiritual Jewish experiences
• Interfaith Family, helping mixed families make educated choices about Jewish life
• Isabella Freedman, strengthening love of Judaism through retreats
• Institute of Southern Jewish Life, preserving and documenting the legacy of Southern Jewish life
• JDub Records, disseminating innovative Jewish music as an authentic expression of Judaism
• Jewlicious, empowering Jewish identities in young adults, 18– 35 (also here)
• Jewish Funds for Justice, building a fair and compassionate America
• Jewish Milestones, “harnessing the transformative power of lifecycle rituals”
• Jewish Mosaic: the National Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, creating a fully inclusive Jewish world
• Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance, “expand[ing] the the spiritual, ritual, intellectual, and political
  opportunities for women within the framework of halakha”
• Jewish Student Press Service, independently publishing national Jewish collegiate news
• Jewish Television Network, creating enriching programming for diverse Jewish lives (also here)
• Jewish Women’s Archives, “chronicle[ing] and transmit[ing] the rich legacy of Jewish women” to the world
• Jewish World Watch, mobilizing synagogues and schools against human rights abuses worldwide
• Jewish Youth Philanthropic Institute, encouraging youth philanthropy and Jewish civic engagement
• Just Vision, informing audiences about joint Israeli-Palestinian initiatives to encourage grassroots/civic participation (also here)
• Kavana, building cooperative, pluralistic communities
• Keshet, creating full inclusion for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and trangendered Jews in all aspects of Jewish life
• Lilith, amplifying and encouraging a diversity of women’s voices
• Limmud NY, celebrating Jewish life and learning
• Matan, promoting excellence in Jewish special educationli>
• Mayyim Hayyim, reclaiming and reinventing the mikvah in American Judaism
• Mazon, raising Jewish consciousness in the alleviation of hunger and its causes
• Moving Traditions, helping Jewish teen girls learn their full potential through the importance of lifecycle rituals, such as the Rosh Hodesh tradition (also here)
• Oyhoo, creating public and positive media exposure for Jewish culture
• Progressive Jewish Alliance, pursuing social and economic justice
• RAVSAK: the Jewish Community Day School Network, organizing for mutual support among Jewish day schools
• Reboot, opening a space for intellectual collaboration among unaffiliated, culturally influential, young Jews
• Seeking Common Ground, empowering peaceful communities
• Sharsheret, uniting Jewish women facing breast cancer with cancer survivors
• Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, hosting cutting edge synagogue programming aimed at young, unaffiliated Jews
• Storahtelling, reinvigorating Jewish education through ancient stories