AVODAH News
Celebrating AVODAH's Partners in Justice
AVODAH's annual Partners in Justice events have recently occurred in D.C. and New York City, with a final event shortly in Chicago.
AVODAH DC celebrated its seventh annual event on May 13, honoring Partners in Justice Joan & Oscar Dodek and David Reznick. Corps member Billy Kaplan gave the keynote speech, describing his experience working at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School and the impact that AVODAH has had on him professionally, socially, and Jewishly. Special thanks go out to DC Advisory Council members Jennie Netburn (DC '08-'09) and Lara Pukatch (NYC '04-'05) who helped organize the fifteen alumni attending the celebration take on different volunteer roles at the event. The event raised over $76,000 for AVODAH and brought together more than two hundred and twenty people to celebrate our work and our Partners in Justice.
New York's annual event on May 25th honoring Steven Koppel and Rabbi David Rosenn was also a huge success. A special thank you to Cara Herbitter (NY '03-'04) who presented David with his Partner in Justice award. The event was attended by thirty-eight AVODAH alumni and raised over $200,000. Many were invigorated by the event. Some alumni even used their facebook status's to write about the evening. Leia Grossman (NY '02-'03) wrote: "Reinspired by David Rosenn tonight. He makes me want to do very good things" to which Miriam Eisenberger (NY '02-'03) commented: "Ditto! I feel so lucky to have such inspirational people within reach. I hope we can continue to pay it forward..." and Aeli Gladstein (NY '04-'05) wrote: "Hooray for Avodah! Hooray for David Rosenn! Give the organization some of your hard earned dollars if you can swing it -- you can rest assured that every cent will go to a worthwhile cause...www.avodah.net." The event was also covered by the Jewschool blog whose author wrote that "attending [the] event...refresh[ed] my faith in Jewry."
Alumni Challenge Gift - We're So Close! AVODAH is very close to receiving the $5,000 challenge gift for our alumni giving campaign. We need 136 alumni to donate to AVODAH by tomorrow, June 2nd. So far 120 of you have given to AVODAH. Thank you so much to all of you who have supported AVODAH. If you have not yet donated to AVODAH, we still need 16 donations to reach the $5,000 match. Please give to AVODAH today!
Pursue: Action for a Just World (formerly known as the AVODAH-AJWS Partnership) It's official! We've got a new name: Pursue: Action for a Just World. To us, this name captures the essence and spirit of the people who have participated in our regional and national events over the last four years - inspired, motivated, and fiercely smart Jewish change-makers. The people who make up our community. The Pursue community.
Visit our brand new website at www.pursueaction.org, read the Pursue blog, check out the regional and national events on deck. While you're on the web, visit our Facebook fan page too, and give a shout out to the change-makers in your midst.
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Alumni In Action
Naomi Adland (CHI 08-09)
After completing the full year program at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, she will be moving to New York City to work as the North American Director of Recruitment for the Pardes Institute. Email Naomi
Jacob Allen (DC 05-06)
Jacob is in the process of completing his masters degree in educational psychology at the University of Texas and will be attending the Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver starting in Fall 2010 as a Chancellor Scholar. The Chancellor Scholarship is for students dedicated to serving as attorneys in the public interest sector. Email Jacob
Molly Bowen (NY 07-08)
Mollie left Sanctuary in June 2009, spent time traveling in Guatemala, and will begin law school in fall 2010. Email Molly
Aaron Devine (DC 04-05)
Aaron is pursuing an MFA degree in fiction writing at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, beginning in Fall 2010. Email Aaron
Becca Linden (CHI 06-07)
While studying at Pardes Institute of Jewish studies for two years as the Weinstein Memorial Fellow, Becca founded a democratic philanthropy for her extended family, and co-created the Pardes Social Justice Track. Becca now works for Encounter where she helps to plan and lead trips of Jewish leaders into the West Bank. Recently married, Becca enjoys living in the Talbiyeh neighborhood of Jerusalem. Email Becca
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Upcoming Events
Bay Area
Social Change Book Club
Want to read those important books you've been meaning to get to, and talk about them with folks who also care about those issues? Join the Social Change Book Club!
Our next meeting will discuss Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones.The novel follows a Haitian couple that has crossed the border into the Dominican Republic during the rule of Trujillo in the 1930s, when he orders the mass killing of Haitians in the country. Need to find a copy? Try here.
When: Sunday, June 13, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Where: Location revealed with RSVP
RSVP: To jberger@avodah.net
Urban Farming
Save the date of Sunday, June 20 for an informative and hands-on brunch event about urban farming in San Francisco. Details to follow!
Boston
AVODAH and Friends Book Club
The Book Club will meet in June to discuss The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.
Heads up for the summer: we will be reading Moby-Dick in two parts; half for our July meeting in Inman Square, and half for our August 22 meeting on the beach!
When: Sunday, June 20 at 5:00pm
Where: Location upon RSVP
RSVP: To Amy, horninga@yahoo.com
New York
TONIGHT! People of the Book Club
A massive and largely unregulated industry, the US non-profit sector is the world's seventh largest economy. The Revolution Will Not Be Funded (edited by INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence) gathers original essays by radical activists from around the globe discussing the emerging dominance of the 501(c)(3) non-profit, a model which some argue threatens to permanently eclipse autonomous grassroots-movement building in the arena of social justice. Whether or not you work at a nonprofit, the book promises to give a challenging and passionate look at social change organizing in the U.S. today. Our discussion will be led by Abigail Ellman of Make the Road New York, a current NY City Team member!
When: Tuesday, June 1 at 6:00 p.m.
Where: 45 West 36th St.
RSVP: To slipkin@ajws.org.
Get a copy: Click here
Meet the Change with Idealist.org Founder Ami Dar!
We are thrilled to announce the second Meet the Change event of 2010 with Ami Dar, founder and executive director of Idealist.org. Each Meet the Change event presents the efforts of a featured change-maker while providing opportunities for attendees to connect with one another around their own ideas, desires, and plans for making change. Ami Dar founded Idealist in 1996 with $3,500. Today it has become one of the most popular nonprofit resources on the web, with information provided by 90,000 organizations around the world, and 70,000 visitors every day. Ami is an Ashoka Fellow and currently serves on the boards of the Nonprofit Finance Fund and Allforgood.org. He was born in Jerusalem, grew up in Peru and in Mexico, and lives in New York.
When: Wednesday, June 9 at 7pm
Where: Lolita Bar at 266 Broome Street
Why: To meet Ami Dar, founder and executive director of Idealist.org, who will share his philosophy of change making and his hard-earned insights on the power of community.
Why else: To meet a whole host of other awesome change-makers, such as yourself!
To register: Click here (pre-registration is highly encouraged and greatly appreciated).
Click here to submit your Upcoming Event.
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What's Been Happening in the Community
Bay Area
Justice and Jewish Thought Launch
Participants of the first-ever Bay Area JJT cohort gathered on Wednesday, June 5 at the Women's Building in San Francisco to launch this two-month long journey exploring various social identities and oppressions and their implications for us as Jewish change-makers. Through responding to provocative questions and assorted quotes, participants got to know one another and set the stage for the program. We also met our cohorts and started planning our weekly meetings. AVODAH alum Daniel Schaefer (DC 04-05) stood head and shoulders above the rest of the participants (because he's really, really tall).
Meet the Change
Over 40 people gathered at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for the second installment in our new Meet the Change - What Happens Next is Up To You series, featuring David Evan Harris, Executive Director of the Global Lives Project. David shared the history of how he started GLP, and credited teenage leadership programs and Jewish values with planting the early seeds for this work. Champion alum Emily Kates (NY 04-05) served as a facilitator for one of the networking groups. Read more about it at our blog!
Boston
AVODAH and Friends Book Club
On May 16, four alumni and four friends gathered to discuss The Book of Night Women and Greek mythology, and enjoy Anne's Jamaica-inspired coconut curry and rum raisin brownies (among other goodies!).
Shavuot
Alum Elana Brochin (DC 06-07) taught a session titled 'Taxation and Representation: Exploring How Our Tax System Can Relate to our Communal Values,' Brookline Community Tikkun Leyl Shavuot. The session explored Jewish texts about taxation and discussed the implications of a tax system for our communities. Elana taught as a representative of Reach Out! which is a medium-term volunteer program for young adults through the JCRC.
Chicago
Shavuot Shuffle
Hollen Reischer (06-07) and Hannah Gelder (08-09) helped plan a Shavuot celebration hosted by Moishe House Chicago: Sarah Miles (08-09), Kelly Viselman (08-09), Wendy Mironov (08-09), and Hannah on May 18. Thirty people attended the event including Ilana Zafran (06-07), Uri Pachter (06-07), Gabi Russek (06-07), Julia Leis (07-08), Charles Dabah (08-09), as well as 4 of the current Chicago Corps members. The event combined a dairy dessert potluck with break-out sessions. Uri and Hollen led two of the four sessions offered-- a text study on theology surrounding the moment of revelation on Mt. Sinai and an art workshop interpreting the Jewish people's covenant with God. The event aimed to bring together the Chicago alumni community, along with other young Jews in Chicago, for an evening of schmoozing and non-traditional learning.
New York
Growing Food Justice: How Going Local Can Help Feed Our City... and the World.
On May 12, over 60 people gathered in downtown Brooklyn to learn about and discuss the intersection of anti-hunger, food justice, and local garden activism. After a panel discussion with leaders from the New York City Hunger and urban agriculture movements, guests were invited to take action on a number of food justice campaigns. Participants included current Corps member Rachel Levy , Sasha Feldstein (NY 08-09), and Tzipa Chaim (DC 04-05). For a summary of the event click here, and for pictures, click here.
Organizational Leadership for Social Change: A Board Service Training
On May 16 and May 23, Pursue hosted Organizational Leadership for Social Change: A Board Service Training. This is the third year in a row that we've offered this opportunity for members of our community to learn the basic "why" and "how" of non-profit board service. Cara Herbitter (NY 03-04) was among the 16 talented participants. The training includes follow-up sessions that are open to the wider community, the first of which is scheduled for later this month - stay tuned!
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Jobs and Professional Development
Pursue, Program Officer. More information (Washington, DC)
Click here to submit jobs that are available at your agency and professional development opportunities to which you are connected. |
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Rachel Chertok, National Director for Alumni and Leadership Development
AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps
phone:
212-545-7759 ext 307
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