Upcoming Events
Bay Area
Organizational
Leadership for Social Change: A Board Service Training
Do
you have more interests and passions than your day job alone can
fulfill?
Want to make a sustained impact and lasting difference in the
world?
Kick your volunteer work into a higher gear by participating in
our upcoming program:
What: An opportunity to
gain valuable skills & knowledge about the systems and functions of
nonprofit organizations, how board service is a vehicle for changemaking, and
how to identify the right board for you
Who:
20s-30s adults
serving currently or interested in future nonprofit board service
When:
Two
day-long sessions, 10am to 5pm on Sundays, August 9 and 23
Where: Jewish Community
Center of San Francisco, 3200 California St
Cost: $36 materials fee
How
do I participate? Call (415-593-3284) or email Program
Officer Jocelyn Berger for an
application and more information.
Social
Change Shabbat Dinner Series
The AVODAH-AJWS
City Team is happy to announce the second episode in our Social Change Shabbat
Dinner series. We sold out the debut event on June 19, and can't wait to see
more of you on Friday, August 21.
Come break
challah, share a potluck Shabbat meal and nourish your body and mind with yummy
food, inspiring conversation and the chance to connect with folks who care about
justice and change.
We'll meet again
every other month to build community and revitalize traditions together. Join us
now to take part in creating this new series!
Where: Meals will be held in private homes
throughout the city. Space is limited!
How do I participate? Register now. More details after RSVP.
Social Change Book
Club
Save the date for our next Social Change Book Club
meeting on Sunday, August 23. Our next selection is Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin, a new soon-to-be-published novel about a cake baker marking celebrations in post-genocide Rwanda.
Date: Sunday, August 23, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Place: Private home in Noe
Valley
RSVP
and to reserve a copy** of the book: Dana Edelman
**We a few
complimentary copies of the book to give to the first few people interested.
Please contact Dana Edelman to pick
up your free copy, first come, first served. We will create a waiting list to
share the books.
Boston
August Book Club
Come join us for a potluck picnic and to discuss Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.
When: Sunday, August 9th at 6pm
Where: Cambridge Commons (Park)
RSVP: To Elesheva Soloff (DC 03-04)
DC
Food Justice Barbecue
Join
the Partnership, along with Moishe House Silver Spring, Jews United for
Justice, and Shomrei Adamah for a delicious and informative BBQ. We'll
be feasting on homemade local, organic, Kosher burgers and vegetarian
delights, and exploring what being a consumer of [Jewish] food actually
means. Details forthcoming.
When: Sunday Afternoon, August 9th @ time t.b.a.
Location: MHSS, 639 Mississippi Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland.
RSVP & for more info: To Aaron Lawee (NY 05-06)
New York
AVODAH-AJWS-Hazon Book
Club
Please join us for the next book discussion on The Yacoubian Building by Alaa al Aswany! The discussion will be
facilitated by AJWS staff member Alexis Kort.
Have you spent any significant time in Cairo?
Let us know at Suzanne Lipkin if you are
interested in sharing your experiences during this session!
Date: Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Place: AJWS Office, 45 West 36th Street, 11th
Floor
RSVP: To Suzanne Lipkin. The book club is open to
alumni, staff and friends of our organizations.
Justice and Jewish Thought
For twelve
weeks this fall, the AVODAH-AJWS Partnership will host an intensive learning
opportunity for anyone interested in exploring how race, class, gender, and
sexual identity intersect with and affect our identities as Jews and our work
for social justice.**
Justice and
Jewish Thought will run as a city-wide study group that will meet in small
groups of ten on a weekly basis to engage with a challenging curriculum related
to identity, privilege, social action, and Jewish values. The groups will meet
in September through December, 2009.
If you are
interested in learning more please contact Audrey Sasson. A limited number of spaces
are available for volunteers to take on official leadership roles.
** The AVODAH-AJWS Partnership
offered this program in collaboration with Jews United for Justice (JUFJ) this
past spring in DC. Previously, various iterations of the curriculum and program
have also been offered to members of JUFJ exclusively as well as at Wesleyan
College and in the Boston community through the leadership of the Moishe House
/ Kavod Jewish Social Justice House. The fall curriculum will be informed by
the accumulated feedback on these different initiatives.
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What's Been Happening in the Community
Bay Area
Sergent Garcia and Curumin at the Stern Grove Music Festival
A
dozen friends and alums of AVODAH & AJWS joined thousands of fellow
Bay Area music fans for a lively day of international music in a
beautiful eucalyptus grove on Sunday, July 19. We shared organic fruits
and enjoyed the sunlight when it shined through the clouds and fog.
Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, and Social Justice Kosher BBQ & Banquet in the Streets
Hosted
by our very own Rabbi Mark Asher Goodman (NY 99-00), a crowd of justice seeking folks came
together to pre-party before Banquet in the Streets, a creative
street action honoring hotel workers boycotting Le Meredian and Hyatt
Fisherman's Wharf hotels. Our partner Progressive Jewish Alliance
organized the Jewish contigent for the action, which drew over 200
supporters and was a rabble-rousing time.
Lunch and Learn with Mark Hannis, Founder and President of the Genocide Intervention Network
Cosponsored
by our neighbors at the Holocaust Center of Northern California, 30
friends of both organizations shared a midday meal with one of the
foremost Jewish social justice activists of our generation. Hanis spoke
about the current situation in Darfur and other conflict zones GI-Net
monitors, as well as more personal remarks about how his Judaism
influences his work.
DC
Organizational Leadership for Social Change
Our second cohort has now been trained in how to serve on a non-profit Board! Blair Cirlin (DC 05-06), Abra Lyons-Waren, Margaret O'Connor, and Lindsay Morris (all DC 07-08) joined
with 13 AJWS alumni and community members to learn from Marie
Ziger. The group is interested in starting a book club and joining together for the follow up sessions. Be in touch with Jessie Posilkin for more information!
World Refugee Day- God Grew Tired of Us
On July 1, over 70 alumni and friends came together at Sixth
& I Synagogue to watch God Grew Tired of Us and learn about local,
national, and international advocacy efforts. Panelists included Lisa
Sferrazza from the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, Sarah Cady from the
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, and Amy Asheroff (DC 08-09) from Bread for the City.
Welcome to the Alumni Community
Twelve
alumni gathered with the current Corps members to celebrate the growing
alumni community, share networks, and give advice about how to live
life after AVODAH. We were so happy to have alumni Rivka Burstein-Stern (DC 06-07), Aaron Lawee (NY 05-06), Mollie Churchill (NY 00-01), Abra Lyons-Warren, Margaret O'Connor, Sarah Kirschenbaum, Lindsay Morris, Jeff Gluckman, Sara Sirota (all DC 07-08) Emma Levine (NY 07-08), and AVODAH Program Director Suzanne Feinspan (DC 04-05) share in delicious Amsterdam Falafel at Moishe House.
New York
Money
Talks
On Tuesday, July 7th,
close to 30 people attended "Money Talks", a workshop about giving and
getting the dollars that fuel our social justice work. The workshop was
led by two of the Jewish community's emerging grassroots fundraisers -
Miriam Barnard, the Senior Director of Development at the Fortune
Society, and Helena Tubis, the Development Director at Jews for Racial
at Economic Justice. The AVODAH-AJWS Partnership offered this
skills-building program as one of four follow-up sessions to the Board
Service for Social Change training that happened in March. Outgoing Corps member
Mollie Spevack (NY 08-09) was among the participants.
Reel Talk: A Film
Screening and Conversation on Storytelling and Social
Justice
On Sunday, July 12th,
over 60 people came together for Reel Talk: A Film Screening and Conversation on
Storytelling and Social Justice. The event was the first program that this
year's AVODAH-AJWS NY City Team organized and hosted. By all measures, it was a great
success! The event
was held in Brooklyn - at Congregation Beth Elohim, in Park Slope - and involved an opening
icebreaker and some Jewish framing, the screening of a series of shorts produced
by young people around the world, and then four break-out conversations with
skilled facilitators from within the community, including Leia Grossman (NY 02-03) and Rick Barinbaum (DC 02-03). Members of the City Team, including Miriam Eisenberger (NY 02-03) and Diana Levy (NY 07-08),
skillfully ran the entire program. To see pictures of the event, click here.
WOCMAC: Welcoming the Outgoing Corps Members to the Alumni Community
On
Tuesday, July 14th, 10 AVODAH alumni joined 18 outgoing corps members
at the Crown Heights Community Mediation Center (an AVODAH placement
this year) to officially welcome the Corps members into the alumni
family. In addition to Amy Ravis Furey (NY 99-00), the NY Program Director, the alumni present included: Jenny Ackerman (NY 03-04), Sarra Alpert (NY 02-03), Jenn Bloustine (NY 00-01), Miriam Eisenberger (NY 02-03), Elisheva Gould (NY 03-04), Leia Grossman (NY 02-03), Diana Levy (NY 07-08), Sarah Novick (NY 05-06), Rafi Pristoop (NY 00-01), and Lani Santo (NY 02-03). Lisa Ochs (NY
00-01) was with us in spirit thanks to the beautiful gift she designed
as a joint offering from the alumni community and the outgoing Corps
members to the incoming NY cohort. The evening was pulled together
thanks to the efforts of the WOCMAC planning team: Jenn Bloustine, Leia Grossman, and Sarah Novick.
Poetry as Protest Beit Midrash
On
Wednesday, July 22nd, over 60 people came together for Poetry as
Protest, a social justice Beit Midrash hosted by Uri L'Tzedek and
Mima'amakim, and co-sponsored by the AVODAH-AJWS Partnership and
Pardes. You can see pictures of the event here.
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AVODAH News
Alumni Giving Campaign Continues Through the End of August
Alumni know better than anyone else the value of the AVODAH experience, and
the impact Corps members make on low-income communities. Please consider making
a donation to AVODAH to help make that experience possible for others, in a time
when the services of Corps members are needed more than ever.
Donate Online and check
out the fundraising progress of the alumni community as a whole. Or consider becoming a Sustainer
through a monthly gift of $10 or more.
Alumni Website Section - Bigger and Better
Take a look at some of the recent additions and improvements to AVODAH's website.
Alumni Events - See what AVODAH-AJWS Partnership events are coming up in your area. You can even add us to your Google calendar.
Alumni Spotlight - A page which highlights alumni and AVODAH-AJWS partnership friends who are taking their social justice work to the next level. Currently posted are interviews with City Team members from New York, San Francisco, and Washington, DC.
Alumni Announcements - Can't remember the name of that awesome presenter? Trying to find a specific job blurb? Deleted the announcements by accident? Never fear, you can now find archived versions of the AVODAH Alumni Announcements posted on our website.
Alumni (in the) News - AVODAH alumni are kind of a big deal and the media seems to agree. Go here to check out the latest media coverage of the alumni community.
New
Staff Welcome!
We are pleased to
introduce Rachel Gross as AVODAH's new Program Associate.
Rachel
Gross, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, comes to AVODAH from the Jewish
Outreach Institute where she served as the National Coordinator of the
Big Tent Judaism Coalition. She earned an interdisciplinary BA from
Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, in religion, cultural studies, and
sociology, completing a thesis titled, "Disorganized Jews: An
Ethnography." When she isn't working Rachel enjoys spontaneous dance,
arts, cooking, and being outside in the rain.
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Jobs
AVODAH (NYC)
AVODAH is seeking a Program Director who will plan and implement the
educational, work-related, and community-building aspects of AVODAH's year-long
program in New York City. The Program Director will be the primary resource for
Corps members and serve as liaison to NYC-area worksites. He or she will also
play a key role in AVODAH's national network of program staff.
This is an
excellent opportunity for someone whose own work and life is defined by a
commitment to connecting work for social change and Jewish life. Qualifications
include: 4-5 years work experience in the field of social change, experience
with team-building and skills-training, familiarity with and respect for a wide
range of expressions of Jewish life, interest in leadership development for
people in their early 20s, ability to prioritize and multi-task. Established
connections to local activists and Jewish leaders preferred but not
required.
Competitive salary and
benefits. E-mail resume and cover letter only to Jevera Temsky at pdjob@avodah.net. Please indicate NY Program Director in the subject line. For a more detailed job description, please click here.
AJWS (NYC/DC)
AJWS works with campus-based Hillels, Jewish Federations, Jewish
day-schools and community leaders in offering short-term
service-learning programs to groups of teens, college students and
adults. AJWS seeks Group Leaders for 2010 short-term service programs. Group Leaders work collaboratively in pairs to jointly lead all aspects
of AJWS' short-term service programs. Program length ranges from one
to three weeks.
For a full description of this position and instructions on how to apply, plus a listing of other jobs available at AJWS, please visit http://www.ajws.org/jobs.
Amazon Watch
(Bay Area/DC)
Founded in 1996, Amazon Watch is a nonprofit organization that
protects the rainforest and advances the rights of indigenous peoples in the
Amazon
Basin. Two opportunities
are available: Program Director (in SF or DC), responsible for managing and
directing program staff to deliver results in advocacy campaigns for human
rights, corporate accountability and the preservation of the Amazon's ecological
systems; and Communications Director (in SF), responsible for media relations,
publications, advertising, marketing and messaging for the organization and its
campaigns. For the complete job descriptions, please click here.
American
Civil Liberties Union (Bay Area)
The ACLU is
a nationwide, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the defense and
expansion of civil liberties and civil rights. The ACLU of Northern California
seeks an Associate Director
who will be responsible for directing the organization's policy and organizing
activities, working in concert with all program related departments in enhancing
programmatic and political capacity and effectiveness.
The Associate Director will also
help build the future constituency and leadership of the organization,
particularly from communities of color, young people, the LGBT community and
other marginalized communities. For the complete job description, please click here.
Congregation
Beth Simchat Torah (NYC)
Since 1973, Congregation Beth Simchat Torah
(CBST) has been a home and haven for LGBTQ Jews and allies in and around
New York City.
CBST is currently seeking a Social Justice Coordinator for GLBT rights. This
new, full-time position has been created to amplify' s unique history,
experience, and vision in radically changing the religious and Jewish landscape
on the issues of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender rights. Candidate will
work with the senior rabbi, lay leaders and committees to enhance the
congregation's effectiveness as a public force for social change. For the
complete job description, please click here.
Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation (Geneva)
The
Edmond J.
Safra Philanthropic Foundation is a prominent grant-making foundation whose work
encompasses a broad range of philanthropic causes around the world, from support
for Jewish religious institutions to educational programs, medical research and
care, cultural organizations and the granting of humanitarian relief. The
Foundation seeks a Program Assistant who will, in cooperation with other
foundation staff, help monitor and coordinate various grant-making programs of
the foundation. For the complete job description, please click here.
The application deadline is August 15, 2009.
Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr.
Fund (Bay Area)
The Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund is a private family
foundation that strives to contribute in meaningful and effective ways at the
local, state and national levels to create a just and caring society where all
people are able to live, work, and raise their families with dignity. The Haas,
Jr. Fund is seeking a highly experienced Executive Assistant who will be
responsible for managing the President's office and a complex range of
activities in support of the President's leadership of the Fund. For the
complete job description, please click here.
Global Citizen Year
(Guatemala/Senegal)
Global Citizen Year is a San Francisco based
non-profit which is preparing a new generation to lead the fight against global
poverty. Through an innovative cross-sector model, Global Citizen Year creates
opportunities for diverse high school graduates to work as apprentices in Asia,
Africa and Latin America during a "bridge
year" before college. Global Citizen Year seeks Team Leaders in
Guatemala and
Senegal to implement the
international component of the programs in these countries and to design and
facilitate training and re-entry for Fellows in the U.S. For the
complete job descriptions, please click here.
Jewish
Funds for Justice (Nat'l)
Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) helps people in
the United
States achieve social and economic security and
opportunity by investing in healthy neighborhoods, vibrant Jewish communities,
and skillful leaders. JFSJ is inviting qualified applicants to join its service
learning team as Program Leaders for the 2009-2010 season. Program Leaders will
deepen their skills as leaders and educators by leading JFSJ service learning
travel programs, participating in leadership development training, and joining a
peer network of Jewish social change leaders. For the complete job description,
please click here.
The application deadline is August 3, 2009.
Operation Access (Bay Area)
Operation Access (OA) is a non-profit organization that
mobilizes a network of medical volunteers, hospitals, and referring
community clinics to provide low-income, uninsured people with donated
surgeries & specialty care that significantly improve their health,
ability to work, and quality of life. Operation Access seeks a Bilingual Program Coordinator to determine patient eligibility, coordinate
case management, coordinate administrative and interpretive volunteers,
cultivate hospital staff relationships in Alameda County and participate as
an essential team member in building OA's capacity to meet the growing need
for specialty care access in the Bay Area community. For the complete job description, please click here.
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