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D'Var Torah
Lee I. Sherman
President/CEO
This week's parashah, Va-yeishev, is in large part a story of descent. Joseph is thrown into the pit by his brothers; Joseph goes down to Egypt when he is sold into slavery; and after his perceived offense against Potiphar's wife, Joseph is thrown into the dungeon. Even the story of Tamar and Judah, which interrupts the Joseph narrative, is a tale of sexual and personal descent. Most importantly, we follow the mental and emotional descent of Joseph - a curious place to start for a leader of the Jewish people and Jacob's designated holder of the birthright.
Next Tuesday evening, we light the first candle of Chanukah. Our method of lighting an additional candle each night was not always the practice. In early rabbinic times, the school of Shammai said that we should commemorate Chanukah by starting the first night with eight lights and then diminishing by one each successive night, thus symbolizing the ebbing light of the flame which miraculously burned for eight days. On the other hand, the school of Hillel said that we should light an additional flame each night showing the increasing greatness of the miracle with each passing day. As so often happened, Hillel won this dispute and thus we have our current tradition of lighting the Chanukiah.
In this parashah, throughout the prevailing theme of descent, there is a glimmer of better things to come. The pit is a "learning experience" for Joseph, it gives him an opportunity to reflect and change his ways for the better - so he may become the leader he is destined to be. If not for Joseph "going down to Egypt," the Jewish people would not have survived the drought and the true emergence of a nation 400 years later would never have occurred. And Joseph's time in the dungeon, after acting properly and responsibly with Potiphar's wife, demonstrates his personal growth since his earlier stay in the pit.
These inherent sparks of the miracle of growth even at the lowest moment are reminiscent of the Chanukah story. So, when our Chanukiahs grow in light each night of the festival as we celebrate the sparks that are the miracle of freedom, we can also remember Joseph in the pit experiencing his own personal growth. And, when our clients come to us in a particularly dark place, or when we personally experience such a "dark" moment, we too can look for those sparks of growth and potential that are symbolized by the growing light of each successive night of Chanukah.
Have a peaceful Shabbat and a joyous Chanukah.
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Reduce Expenses and Increase Savings in 2012 with Purchasing Point
Looking for ways to save? Need to reduce program expenses? High overhead costs can push your budget to its breaking point. Login to Purchasing Point to get a head start on saving in 2012!
42 AJFCA Member Agencies are Currently Registered & Saving!
Deep discounts on products and services include everything you need from car rental to online employee training. Access these amazing s avings that will reduce your overhead expenses. Inside your portal there are hundreds of opportunities to save. Last year nonprofits using the program saved over $14 million on office supplies, IT equipment, food, furniture, travel, and much more. Sign up with these vendors today! The more vendors you use, the more money you save. Make your Purchasing Point portal the first stop when making a purchase of any kind. You can discover new savings every time you log in.
Visit the Members portion of the AJFCA website, login and access the first-time Invitation Code.
Did You Know that more than one person in your office can have an account on your portal? Share login information with anyone in your office that makes purchases. This makes the program accessible to those who need it.
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Insure Kids Now!
Children or teenagers may qualify for no-cost or low-cost health insurance coverage through Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Many parents may also be eligible.
 
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have released, Insure Kids Now! a website that allows one to select a state, linking them to a page that provides information on that state's insurance program and application. Concentration is being focused on states with high rates of uninsurance for children such as Texas, California and Florida.
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Selecting Officers and Members of the Board: Does the CEO Have a Say?
Selecting Officers and Members of the Board: Does the CEO Have a Say? December 14, 2011, eJP, by Stephen G. Donshik
Recently, in a meeting with a colleague a question came up about the process of engaging leadership and finding the most appropriate person to lead a nonprofit organization. Every nonprofit organization goes through a process every two to five years of selecting a new volunteer leader who serves as president or chair of the board of directors.
In general, the person in this role, the person is the volunteer "head" of the organization and is responsible for chairing the meetings of the board of directors and officially represents the organization in public events. The chair of the board leads the process of establishing policies and is responsible for the fiscal accountability of the agency, among other duties.
The chief executive officer (CEO) is head professional who is responsible for implementing the policies and the services of the organization successfully within the budget approved by the board of directors. The CEO is hired by the board and is accountable to the chairperson. In many nonprofits the CEO is evaluated annually or periodically by the chairperson and the level of compensation is dependent upon the evaluation and the financial situation of the organization. It is not unusual for the CEO to experience the board chair as a "boss" as well as a partner in developing the organization.
Read the entire article to learn more about the CEO's role in selecting board members.
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The State of Social Marketing 2011-2012
At the end of 2011, Social marketing stands at a profound crossroads. Some organizations are finally embracing the importance of social networks and, as a result, increasing investments in creative engagement, marketing, and service programs. Others see the future value, but lag behind in execution. At the vanguard, Social Businesses drive a virtuous cycle of discovery: Their successes in Social marketing lead to new data, which lead to insights, which lead to new and more effective programs as well as the business systems and processes necessary to improve internal and external collaboration.
In 2012, social media marketing, driven by these innovations, will only continue to mature. Bottom-up learning about what really works in Social will be essential for this expansion. Research conducted by IBM in 2011, for instance, revealed a gap between consumer expectations toward the businesses they support in social media, and executive assumptions about what these consumers wanted. This "Perception Gap," as defined by the IBM study, demonstrates the importance of bottoms-up, informed social marketing programs, as opposed to the traditional top-down strategies tied to the usual monologue-marketing channels.
The following report is brought to you by the Pivot Conference due to take place in New York on October 15-16, 2012. You can read a full copy of the report for free by clicking here. |
| The Duck Call
The Duck Call, December 7, 2011, by Farra Trompeter
Are you feeling the magic of year-end fundraising? From the letters and emails your organization is sending out to the requests pouring into your own inbox, solicitations are everywhere. This should come as no surprise given that 73% of contributions come from individuals (Giving USA) and that a third of all online giving occurs in December (Network for Good).
But in the midst of the holiday giving excitement, don't forget that the best fundraising programs build relationships with donors every day. So as you get ready to ring in the New Year, here are four principles to boost your fundraising year-round, and not just during year-end (with slides below from a recent talk on this very topic).
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Jewish Family & Children's Service of Sarasota-Manatee, Inc. was recently awarded a multi-year $100,000 grant from the national membership organization the Alliance for Children and Families to implement a pilot project meant to explore, test, and gain understanding of the elevation of strategy within nonprofit human service agencies. JFCS will institute its own Strategy Counts at JFCS! Program which is a transformational project which will build stronger teams and transform the current culture into a culture of shared ownership and responsibility. This team approach will build an understanding and strengthen the commitment of ownership of mission and strategy by mid-level and direct service staff. This will allow the agency to elevate its strategy at a time it is experiencing unprecedented growth. 
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  Jewish Family Service Association of Cleveland offers CEUs in salon domestic violence training. Lavish Color Salon in Warrensville Heights is the latest salon to take part in JFSA's Family Violence Services "Cut It Out" domestic violence training. JFSA staff Ginny Galili and Jen Roth will address different types of abuse, what a stylist should do if he or she sus pects abuse in a client and how to talk with a client, at the training session on January 9th. Lavish Color Salon stylists will be the first to receive continuing education credits. If you would like to bring this program to a salon near you, contact Ginny, 216-378-3420. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ NORCS are the latest in keeping seniors safe and healthy. Spending time at the St. Sophia's senior center is routine. They're part of a growing, graying community in Albany's Whitehall neighborhood. It's called a NORC. Jewish Family Services of Northeastern New York manages the Neighborhood Naturally Occurring Retirement Community.
"It's a naturally occurring retirement community" says Michael Burgess with the Statewide senior action council. "It wasn't planned, but it became one."
In this NORC there is senior housing, senior centers, hospitals and shops. Albany's NORC, along Whitehall road, encompasses about a 3.5 mile area. And it's more than structures, it's services from social to medical to even home maintenance. Read more about the great work JFS NENY is doing for the community in the WNYT-TV 13 segment that aired on Wednesday, December 14th. |
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