Upcoming Alumni Events
National
AVODAH Alumni Retreat
Check out who is coming to
the AVODAH Alumni Retreat here. Please register today! We want to be able
to provide you with your own bed and delicious food, so we need to know if you
will be joining us! You can access the retreat registration form by clicking here. See you at the retreat on Friday, January
9th.
Retreat
Planning Committee Members: Julia Leis (CHI 07-08), Ilana Zafran (CH 06-07),
Debbie Appel (NY 06-07), Arash Nafisi (NY 05-06), Laura Menyuk (DC 05-06), Merav
Lichtenstein (DC 03-04), Becky Wolf (DC 03-04), Ari Shapiro (NY 02-03), Miriam
Eisenberger (NY 02-03), Sarah Damelin (NY 00-01), and Yosh Schulman (NY
98-99).
Bay Area
Festival of Rights at Super 8: Hub Hanukkah Party
Join the AVODAH-AJWS Partnership,
The Hub at JCCSF and Progressive Jewish Alliance for a First Night of
Hanukkah Party, featuring eight local activists lighting the hanukkiah!
The party will feature:
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Live performances by JDub recording artists DeLeon and Sway Machinery
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4th Annual PJA Festival of Rights: a hannukiah-lighting ceremony to champion the vital contributions of local social justice leaders
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Latkes made by your favorite San Francisco restaurants
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He'Brew Beer
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Nostalgic candies from the owners of The Candy Store
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DJ's
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Hanukkah survival kits for the first 150 people at the door
When: December 21, 6:00pm
Where: 111 Minna Gallery, 11 Minna Street, SF
RSVP: To Heidi.
Tickets are $8.00 presale and $12.00 at the door .
DC
Pre-Hanukkah Party with the Corps!
Come to the Juniper St. Bayit for
latkes and Hanukkah celebrating with corps members and local community
supporters for a pre-Hanukkah celebration. We'll be serving plenty of latkes
and other home-baked goodies between 5:00 and 7:00pm.
RSVP by December
12th.
When: December 14, 2008, 5:00-7:00pm
Where: Shepherd House Bayit
1532 Juniper St. NW, Washington, DC 20012
RSVP: To Jessie or the Evite in your inbox! Please RSVP by December 12th.
Greenlight
Join Shomrei Adamah, the AVODAH-AJWS Partnership, JUFJ, and other Jewish
social justice organizations for an evening of locally grown potato latkes and
applesauce along with other local treats, fair-trade chocolate gelt, and
beeswax candles.
Activities will include a fair-trade chocolate display, an environmental and
social justice booth, music and more.
When: Monday,
December 22nd 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Josephine Butler Parks Center
2437 15th Street, NW
RSVP: Email adamah@shomreiadamah.org to RSVP.
New York
Inside the Activists' Studio
Come to the event that the Jewschool blog is calling "the answer to the staid and hobbled mainstream." Join us to learn from and be energized by local Jewish
change-makers and to celebrate the multitude of ways we are
collectively working to create a more just and equitable world. The
afternoon will include a panel of emerging young activists and
skills-share workshops with talented young leaders. DJ Dan Saks of JDub Records' Deleon
will provide the music, there'll be plenty of food to go around, and
lots of social justice networking opportunities. Don't miss the Jewish
social justice event of the year! Brought to you by the AVODAH-AJWS
Partnership, Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, the New Israel
Fund's New Generations, and the Young Leaders of the Hebrew Immigrant
Aid Society.
When: Sunday, December 7, 4pm (Registration @ 3:30pm)
Where: NY Society for Ethical Culture
Cost: Sliding scale, $8 - $18
To register (required): www.whoinspiresyou.org (and click on the NY link).
Jew Roots!
The AVODAH-AJWS NY City Team is pleased to announce its highly anticipated second event of the year! Don't miss it!
Winter can be a time of hibernation, but Hanukkah remembers a time of
liberation. What does December mean to you? Join the AVODAH-AJWS NY
City Team for an evening of reinvigorating your Jewish and socially
conscious self. Learn about your community as a group, then choose 1 of
3 interactive sessions focusing on spirituality, text study, or
activism. You'll be challenged, nurtured, and you'll help to grow our
community. Then join us after the official event for more
community-building over beer and pizza at a nearby bar.
At Jew Roots you will be able to...
DIG into your opinions on dating people of other
faiths, fasting on Yom Kippur, your comfort discussing Israel and
Palestine... and more; -
DIP into the growing world of Jewish meditation practices; DELVE into the texts that make us the People of the Book; -
DISCUSS how activism relates to our Jewish identities; and DEVOUR snacks (including latkes and applesauce)
When: Monday, December 15 @ 6:30pm
Where: We'll tell you when you RSVP!
Cost: FREE! Bring your co-workers, your friends, and your second cousin twice removed!
To register: Click here. For more information, contact newyorkcityteam@gmail.com.
To see the Forward's recent coverage of the AJWS-AVODAH NY City Team's exciting efforts, click here!
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What's Been Happening in the Alumni
Community
Bay Area
Creating a Life Worth Living
came to a close after six amazing sessions with Life Coach Laura Sari
Geduldig. All the participants felt the course provided them with
opportunities for personal and professional growth, skills and tools
for going after their "Big Dreams", as well as networking and
meaningful Jewish learning opportunities. We'd love to offer the
course again next year so let Heidi know if you might be interested.
The AVODAH-AJWS Partnership and Brandeis Hillel Day School launched a Social Change Book Club in late October. AJWS Group Leaders Sharon Turner and Sarah Shulman (who is also a teacher at Brandeis) co-facilitated the group and they read Starved and Stuffed
by Raj Patel about the food industry. If you are interested in coming
to the next meeting in January and/or have suggestions for books let
Heidi know.
Boston
In late October, Amy Horning (DC 04-05), Aaron Devine (DC 04-05), Ari Shapiro (NY 02-03) and a friend held a Book Club at Amy's house to discuss The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot D�az.
DC
Over 50 alumni and friends of AVODAH attended Inside the Activists Studio at Sixth & I synagogue on
November 23rd to learn from each other, from 9 amazing workshop leaders
(including AVODAH alumni Lindsay Morris (DC 07-08), Rebecca Shaloff (NY 03-04), and Ilana Lipsett (DC 05-06)), and awesome panelists. Participants shared that they felt motivated
and re-inspired to work hard for change and justice. Check www.whoinspiresyou.org for blog postings and photos of the event.
Israel
AVODAH alumni gathered for a potluck Shabbat lunch in Jerusalem on November 15th.
In attendance were Meredith Weinberg (DC 04-05), Becca Linden (CHI
06-07), Brian Fink (NY 99-00), Joline Price (CHI 07-08), Alana Alpert
(NY 05-06), and friends.
New York
On Wednesday, November 12th, the AJWS-AVODAH-Hazon Book Club gathered to discuss Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. The alumni team's own Audrey Sasson
facilitated, sharing clips of Klein on The Colbert Report and leading
an animated conversation about the information attendees felt to be
most shocking in the book. The group included Ari Shapiro, AVODAH
Program Officer. Please look out for the date of the next book club
meeting, which will be a discussion of Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
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Alumni Highlights
Mazel Tov to Jon and Ayala Livny (NY 98-99) on the birth of their daughter Talia Lucia Livny. The happy and healthy baby arrived on September 24th weighing 7.1 lbs. Best wishes from all of us at AVODAH and we expect Talia's application in 21-26 years :-).
Becca Linden (CHI 06-07) is interning at Bema'aglei Tzedek,
an Israel organization that works to support restaurants that treat
their workers fairly and are handicapped accessible. After completing
AVODAH, Becca studied at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem and helped start Pardes' Social Justice track. Keep up the good work Becca!
Amy Blumsack (NY 03-04) and Avi Rosenthalis (NY 06-07) are both part of the first group of JFREJ Grace Paley Organizing Fellows. A total of 13 fellows will work with JFREJ
leadership and mentors to develop their organizing skills, deepen their
political analysis, strengthen their knowledge of Jewish culture and
history and develop their leadership capacity. Congratulations to Amy
and Avi!
Do you have great
news that you want to share with the AVODAH alumni community? Do you want to
see your name in e-print? Please tell us about all the great stuff you are up
to so we can feature you in our alumni highlights.
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AVODAH News
AVODAH in the News
The "ridiculously just" AVODAH-AJWS partnership was featured in a Jewschool blog post about the Inside the Activists' Studio events and an article in The Jewish Daily Forward highlighted the work and goals of the newly formed New York City Team.
Happy
Hanukkah
The AVODAH-AJWS partnership team wishes you a meaningful, festive, and socially conscious
holiday! If you are interested in fair trade gift retailers, we
suggest:
We hope your
holiday is full of light and laughter.
AVODAH on your Itunes
AVODAH and AVODAH's New York City Program Director, Amy Ravis Furey (NY 99-00), are featured on The Idealist.org Podcast. Click here to listen to Amy talk about the influence of AVODAH in her career path, and her mission of lifting up youth to change the world.
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Awards and Fellowships
Professional Leaders Project Academic Fellowship (Various)
Interested in using your free MBA to be a change agent in the Jewish community? Apply now to the PLP Academic Fellowship, a highly-selective, full-tuition stipend for outstanding next generation leaders pursuing their MBA or MPA. PLP
Fellows receive personalized coaching and mentoring, a customized
Judaic curriculum, experiential learning, and proactive career coaching
and placement. Be a part of a leadership pipeline setting new standards
of excellence in Jewish non-profits! Applications are due Tuesday,
February 17, 2009. For more information or to apply, please click here.
Rothschild Fellowship (NYC)
The Baroness Ariane de Rothschild, of the Edmund and Benjamin de
Rothschild Foundation (Geneva), has launched an innovative new program
in partnership with Columbia University's Business School and Cambridge
University's Center for the Study of Muslim-Jewish Relations, for
outstanding social entrepreneurs interested in intercultural dialogue
between Jews and Muslims in the USA, France and the UK. Applications
are now open for qualified candidates in the United States, France and
the UK interested in participating in the two week program, funded in
its entirety by the Rothschild Foundation, to be held in New York City
from July 13-24, 2009. The deadline for submission of applications is
January 30, 2009. Applications, a message from the Baroness Ariane de Rothschild and more information can be found online here.
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Programs
Brandeis Collegiate Institue (Los Angeles)
BCI: June 25th-July 20th. BCI
invites young Jewish adults ages 18 to 26 to think deeply, express
creatively, and live fully. Through artistic expression, dynamic
learning, spiritual reflection, and outdoor and nature exploration, BCI
programs give you the unique opportunity to be immersed in the
diversity of Jewish culture, to envision your own Jewish life, and to
connect to community. You will learn and interact with some of the
world's finest Jewish scholars and artists. The outdoors is a stunning
platform for the experiential education that makes BCI programs unique. Located in a spectacular natural setting amidst 3,000 acres of mountains just north of Los Angeles, BCI
brings together Jewish adults of all levels of knowledge, background
and affiliation from around the world to have a once-in-a-lifetime
experience. For more information, contact Preston at pneal@ajula.edu, call (310) 440-1246 or visit http://bci.ajula.edu.
Global Engagement Summit (Chicago)
Since
its conception in 2006, the Global Engagement Summit has hosted
undergraduates and recent graduates from over 40 counties and 50
universities, with more than 35 global nonprofits for five days of
exchange and capacity building at Northwestern University in Chicago,
IL. Through workshops, direct mentorships with nonprofit leaders, and outcome opportunities, GES delegates develop projects in microfinance, community development, global health, sustainable engineering, and many other change-based ideas. This year's GES will take place April 8-12, 2009. For more information or to apply, please visit http://www.northwesternges.org/.
Hornstein Program (Brandeis University)
The mission of the Hornstein Progam
is to train the next generation of Jewish leaders. This 5 semester,
dual masters degree program offers three tracks leading to an MA in
Jewish Professional Leadership along and one of the following: an MBA
from Brandeis's Heller School of Social Policy and Management, an MPP
also from the Heller School or an MA from the Department of Near
Eastern & Judaic Studies. In addition to classwork, the program
includes professional field experience, 2 seminars in Israel and a
variety of forums and seminars with prominent members of the Jewish
community. The Hornstein Program is pleased to announce that all
students accepted into the program for Fall 2009 will be considered for
very generous tuition funding. For more information or to apply, please visit http://www.brandeis.edu/jcs.
Judaism and Human Rights Conference (DC)
Join Rabbis for Human Rights North America for this critical discussion
on the intersection of the core values of Judaism and human rights,
December 7-9 in Washington, DC. Open to all human rights activists, the
conference includes panels on "Israel, Zionism, and Human Rights,"
"Human Rights in the Abrahamic
Faiths," and "A Renewing America's Commitment to Human Rights." Other
highlights include study sessions with leading Jewish scholars on
Jewish texts and values related to human rights, study sessions with
human rights experts on issues in Israel and North America, a concert
with Pharaoh's Daughter, and opportunities to learn more about RHR's work in Israel and the United States. For more information, please click here.
Kivun Intensive 2009 (DC)
The Center for Leadership Initiatives, in partnership with the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, is excited to announce the launch of The Kivun Intensive 2009. Kivun,
which in Hebrew means "direction," is a five-month professional
development program that will equip 40 of the finest young Jewish
professionals in North America with the top tools for excellence and
impact in the Jewish non-profit sector. Please visit the Kivun Intensive Page for more information and applications. Applications are now open and are due Friday December 12, 2008.
Yeshivat Hadar (NYC)
Apply now for Yeshivat Hadar: Transformative Summer and Year-Round Experiences. Apply to Yeshivat Hadar, a transformative summer or year-round experience in New York City. The summer program offers 36 men and women an intensive 8-week experience (June 14 - August 8, 2009) that combines traditional text study, egalitarian prayer and social action with a special focus on personal religious growth. Next fall, Yeshivat Hadar will launch the first full-year, full-time egalitarian yeshiva in North America. The program will offer 15-20 fellows an intensive program in New York City, anchored around empowerment, community and the search for meaning and purpose in Jewish life. *Fellows receive generous stipends.* Deadline to apply is February 1, 2009. For more information and to apply, please visit www.yeshivathadar.org. For a short video of last summer, click here.
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Jobs
AJWS (DC)
AJWS
seeks an energetic and motivated Director of Advocacy to join its
senior team. Working closely with other relevant departments including
Grants, Service, Communications and Development, this position will
oversee the strategic development and implementation of all advocacy
and policy related activities for the organization. For more
information or to apply, please contact opportunities@ajws.org. To learn about other positions available at AJWS, please click here.
AVODAH-AJWS (Bay Area)
Are
you committed to making the world a better place? Are you excited to
meet with and bring together Jews in their 20's and 30's who care about
social justice? Are you interested in helping young Jews put their
values into action through intentional decisions about their careers,
their volunteer experiences, their philanthropy, their political power,
and their consumer choices?
As the AJWS-AVODAH
Bay Area Program Officer you will help strengthen this community in a
number of ways, including: nurturing networks of people with shared
interests and values; developing opportunities to celebrate and
showcase local Jewish Bay Area change-makers and the incredible work
that they do, and providingAJWS and AVODAH alumni and the broader
community with opportunities to build leadership skills and put them to
use for the greater good.
For the complete job description, please click here.
AVODAH (NYC)
AVODAH
is seeking a Communications and Development Intern who will work to
create and maintain marketing materials at AVODAH that help advance
development efforts. AVODAH is looking for someone who can work 12-15
hours a week. The schedule can be reasonably flexible with the possibility of a new
internship term at the start of the summer. Position is based
in mid-town Manhattan. Internship is unpaid. This is an excellent
opportunity for someone interested in communications and in advancing
social justice by working for a Jewish organization. For the complete
description, please click here.
Center for International Environmental Law (DC)
The
Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), a non-profit public
interest international environmental law firm with offices in
Washington, D.C. and Geneva, Switzerland, is seeking an Attorney for
its Washington, D.C. office. The Attorney will join a team of lawyers
and staff, including well-known experts in critical areas of
international law, who are dedicated to using principles of ecology and
justice to strengthen international environmental law, protect the
global environment, and promote environmental justice and sustainable
development. For a complete job description, please click here.
The Curriculum Initiative (NYC)
TCI is the premier organization supporting Jewish identity and culture at independent high schools. TCI
works in partnership with students, teachers and administrators to
catalyze meaningful Jewish opportunities for students at multicultural
high schools. TCI seeks a Director of External Affairs. This position
offers an outstanding opportunity and a diverse portfolio to an
entrepreneurial individual to lead the development of TCI's organizational capacity and effectiveness. TCI
is positioned to grow and the Director's contribution is central to the
effort. For more information or to apply, please contact info@tcionline.org.
Footsteps (NYC)
Footsteps
provides educational, vocational and social support to individuals
seeking to enter or explore the world beyond the insular ultra-Orthodox
communities in which they were raised. Footsteps seeks a highly
motivated and experienced nonprofit professional, with the ability to
help lead the organization through a period of exciting growth, to
serve as Executive Director. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the
Executive Director will play a key role in guiding the organization
through effective program and staff management, fiscal efficiency and
resource development, and high-quality external relations. Working in
conjunction with the Board and staff, the Executive Director oversees
the strategic implementation of programs, communications, and
fundraising initiatives. For more information or to apply, please
contact Jobs@footstepsorg.org.
Foundation for Jewish Camp (Various)
The
Foundation for Jewish Camp knows that the level of leadership skills
camp professionals have is directly correlated to the quality of the
camp program. They therefore offer several Professional Development
programs that are designed for the full scope of camp professionals.
The Foundation for Jewish Camp is currently seeking faculty for two of their programs. For more
information, please visit the job announcement here.
GreenHOME (DC)
GreenHOME's mission is to make affordable housing and its neighborhoods green. GreenHOME is now working to launch GreenSPACE,
a green learning center, which will extend its reach to realize a
regional transformation of the marketplace of green building,
development and living. GreenHOME and GreenSPACE are currently seeking a
creative and entrepreneurial candidate to fill the role of Associate
for Education & Training. The Associate will provide a wide range
of expertise and support to the design, implementation and coordination
of a program that will train over 500 individuals and teams in two
years. The Associate will work with partners to implement new programs,
research and disseminate best practices, collect and analyze
qualitative and quantitative data, and plan workshops and seminars in
green development. For the complete job description, please click here.
Marin Institute (Bay Area)
Marin Institute - the nation's leading alcohol industry watchdog group
- is looking for a dynamic researcher and policy analyst to join its
action-oriented group of dedicated public health, public policy, and
advocacy experts. If you want to help expose the alcohol industry's
dirty tricks in promoting harmful products, engaging in deceptive
marketing, and undermining public policy, and have performed a similar
function in another industry watchdog or public health-oriented
advocacy group, this job is for you. For the complete job description,
please click here.
Story of Stuff (Bay Area)
The goal of the Story of Stuff Project
is to build an effective, diverse, decentralized, cross-sector movement
for transforming systems of production and consumption so that they
serve ecological sustainability and social equity. The Story of Stuff
Project needs an energetic, highly skilled, experienced organizer to
lead the development of its online and on-the-ground presence and
programs. The Associate Director/Lead Organizer will work closely with
Story of Stuff staff, Board members and allies in the broader
community. For more information or to apply, please contact StoryofStuffTeam@gmail.com.
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