United Jewish Communities Honors Yom HaZikaron

Remembering the Fallen

On Tuesday,  April 28th, the United Jewish Communities website will be darkened for 24 hours in honor of Israel’s Day of Remembrance (Yom HaZikaron).

The UJC writes:

“Just as every Israeli has been touched by war or terrorism, Yom HaZikaron joins every Israeli and our worldwide Jewish community in a powerful moment of unity and peoplehood.  We are one people, with one destiny.”

Here is a video showing what it is like to be in Israel while the sirens of remembrance sound. The UJC’s commemorative video for Yom HaZikaron can be viewed here.

—– Read More About Defending the Nation of Israel ——

What Can We Expect from the Israel Teachers Corps?

Israel has a new program for Americans and native English speakers: the Israel Teachers Corps.

Modeled on Teach For America, the Israel Teachers Corps seeks to train Americans and new English speaking immigrants to teach in Israel’s disadvantaged schools for one year. Perks include Hebrew language instruction and housing assistance. The criteria are:

“A minimum of one semester of informal or formal educational experience, commitment to service, the Jewish community, and a desire to take on new challenges.”

I don’t like to criticize Israeli or Jewish initiatives intending to do good, but I can’t keep mum on this one. As you know from reading The New Jew, I was an 8th grade teacher for Teach For America in a severely disadvantaged school in Phoenix, Arizona. It was not a positive experience.

Although Teach For America (TFA) has seen significant success, it has many notable weaknesses as well. Based on this description of criteria, the Israel Teachers Corps seems vulnerable to these same problems.

Blessing the Sun: Photos from Brooklyn to B’Nei Brak

Blessing the Sun over Tel Aviv (Sandy Teperson)

On the eve of Passover 5769, Jews around the world celebrated the Blessing of the Sun (Birkhat HaChama).

Here are some photographs from around the world of the festivities. I’ve chosen and arranged them intending to give you a feeling of the celebrations as they were happening. You will get the most value out of these images by viewing each set as a unit rather than scrolling through to see all the photos together. Enjoy!

Location: Brooklyn Bridge

Photographer: Sam Feinstein-Feit (Shir Yaakov)

Location: Woodmere, NY (Congregation Beth Emeth)

Photographer: Charlie Roemer

Location: Miami

Photographer: James Kirkpatrick (photos for sale here)

—– Click on the link to see a wealth of photos from Atlanta, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and B’nei Brak —–

Blessing the Sun: April 8, 2009

Blessing the Sun by Exothermic

As we open our eyes to greet the new day tomorrow, we bless the sun with the words:

“ברוך אתה ה’ אלקינו מלך העולם עושה מעשה בראשית”

“Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the Universe who makes the works of Creation.“

“Baruch Atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech Ha’olam Oseh Ma’aseh Breishit.”

Birkhat HaChama

The blessing on the sun (birkhat hachama) is said at the beginning of the 28 year Jewish solar cycle, celebrated next on April 8, 2009/14 Nisan, 5769, when Jews believe that the sun returns to its exact place at the time of its creation. We commemorate it tomorrow for the 206th time.

The Sun Blessing is shared with other natural phenomena, such as lightning, comets, meteors, and upon seeing “wondrous natural topography, such as great mountains, rivers, and vast wilderness.”

For more information, please see Bless the Sun.

“And God said: Let there be lights in the vastness

of sky to separate day from night…

And they shall serve as lights in the

vastness of space, to shine upon the earth.

And it was so.”

(Genesis 1:14 -15)

2009 Charles Bronfman Prize Honors KIPP’s Excellence in Education

KIPP New Orleans: Principal & Students

The 2009 Charles Bronfman Prize shines its light on the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), a national network of free, college preparatory charter schools designed to give kids from disadvantaged backgrounds the best possible education.

As a former public school teacher, I hold KIPP in the highest regard. Founders Michael Feinberg and David Levin are accomplishing what everyone else hopes to achieve. They are the go-to address for social innovation in inner city public education.

Proof from the statistics:

• 100% of KIPP 8th graders outperformed district and state averages on math, reading, and language arts tests
• 80% of KIPP students matriculate to college (average for low income students is 20%)

Replicating the Model

So how do they do it? What’s the KIPP model and how can other schools replicate it?

The good news is that KIPP is specifically designed to be a replicable. As former Teach For America teachers, Feinberg and Levin sought to design a system of schools specifically for urban, underserved populations that would output highly educated students destined for college.

—– Read more to find out the components of a KIPP education and its Israel connection —–

JTA in Crisis Mode After E-mail Dissing Bloggers

Remember my post on How We Market Ourselves in Times of Crisis? You’re about to get an up front and personal look at one Jewish organization’s back pedaling after a major political gaffe.

On Friday, the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) sent out an e-mail to its constituents asking for $50 donations to support its service. No problem, right? We all get plenty of those these days. But this one was different. In an apparent need to separate themselves from others sources of news delivery, JTA President Elisa Spungen Bildner wrote:

“JTA tells the story, so that our community stays informed. At this moment, JTA’s ability to tell these stories is threatened by the realities of the economic downturn. And, in the chaos of the information age in which we live, it is even harder to find the trusted voices on which we rely for independence and accuracy.

Without a strong JTA, the storytelling will be left to bloggers, twitterers, and non-professionals.  Is this the best way for our future Jewish stories to be told and recorded?“

The emphasis is their own.

The Lion, the Scarecrow, and the Tin Man– Or, Bloggers, Twitterers, and Non-Professionals

Come again? Bloggers, Twitterers, and non-professionals? First of all, to equate Twitterers and bloggers is an insult. Without belaboring what should be an obvious point, users of Twitter communicate in 140 character missives, while blogs are intended to be well-researched, interesting conduits for conveying information and opinions. This is especially true in the Israeli and Jewish blogospheres, where the quality is particularly high.

And non-professionals? If we are defining a professional as someone who works for money, then yes, the JBlogosphere is filled with non-professionals, but this doesn’t make them any less committed. I see plenty of my blogging colleagues churning out up-to-the-minute content of the highest caliber on a daily basis.

—– Read More About Jews, Blogging, and the JTA’s Social Media Connections —–

Great Educational Opportunity: Free MBA from BBYO

Sometimes you come across a program that seems too good to pass up. B’nai Brith Youth Organization’s new Professional Development Institute combines a free MBA (FREE), ongoing professional develoment, and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of Jewish youth. In their own words, here is the information:

“Make a difference in the Jewish community while furthering your professional development and earning a free MBA with BBYO. This spring BBYO will be admitting 10 to 12 professionals into its Professional Development Institute (PDI), a three year program where, in addition to doing leadership development work with Jewish teens in one of many communities across the country, participants will receive an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and a Certificate in Informal Jewish Education from Hebrew College in Boston.

During the three years of the program, the participant will receive a full-time competitive salary, health/retirement benefits, a professional mentor, travel opportunities and an MBA from a top 20 business school at no cost to the professional. While in the program, they will work for an organization that has enriched the lives of Jewish teens for more than 80 years and has been recognized as an employer of choice by its employees.”

Who could say no? I love to see Jewish organizations offering programming to cultivate young leadership and make entry into the Jewish professional world more accessible and affordable. Well done, BBYO. We’ll be expecting big things from your graduates.

—– About BBYO and a Note on Strategic Branding —–