AVODAH News AVODAH Commentary As you might know, AVODAH offers weekly social justice Torah commentaries to Corps members. We thought you would enjoy this reminder of your AVODAH experience and the opportunity to do some learning: Parsha, Tzaria: Wealth and Access to God. We will share these in future Alumni Announcements. AVODAH Launches Open Source Passover Resource Site for Alumni There is often much excitement in the alumni community around Passover preparation, as you share resources and haggadot suggestions via the listserves. We hope to maintain a Google Site (about Google Sites) that contains materials collected from alumni and staff that may serve you on your journey bringing justice into the Passover season. Visit the Alumni Community Passover Resource page. We've reviewed past iterations of the pre-Passover conversation on the listserv and started to compile resources! What: The hope is that you will submit any of the following for inclusion on this page: - Haggadot: full Haggadot created over time by individuals, organizations and advocacy initiatives,
- Justice Rituals: discrete rituals or sections of the Seder that embody the social justice tropes of the Pesach story,
- Inspiration and Commentary: Essays, source-books, discussion guides for use in preparation for and during Passover,
- Issue specific resources: Resources, rituals and Haggadot that speak to particular issues of contemporary injustice (i.e., Gender and Sexuality, Immigration, Economic Justice)
How: Email materials to Rachel Ann Gross. Items can be original, or sourced from others. If you have tips or reviews of any of those materials, please pass those along to us and we will post them on the site as a guide for others. Resources can be in the form of web link, Word document, PDF, JPEG etc... We hope this will be a pilot for other such resource and ritual sharing spaces within the alumni community. If you have suggestions for this project, or ideas for future initiatives, please be in touch! Alumni Begin to Mobilize Across the Nation As AVODAH Grows into 13th Year AVODAH is approaching its 13th year, which we consider a right of passage. In tough economic times, we need to brainstorm about how we can bring opportunities to engage in meaningful social change work through a Jewish lens to more young adults, making a difference in the lives of so many. In that spirit, we are beginning a conversation to help us examine our organizational priorities. We consider you, our alumni, some of the most important stakeholders in this process. To this end, AVODAH's Executive Director, Marilyn Sneiderman has hosted alumni gatherings in New Orleans, Chicago, Boston, and New York to initiate important conversations about AVODAH's work. Alumni have participated in brainstorming around changes to the year-long program, as well as the purpose and activities of the alumni community in furthering AVODAH's mission. An additional gathering will be held in Washington, D.C. in May, and one-to-one's will continue with Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay. These activities are only the beginning of this effort. If you are unable to attend one of these gatherings and have thoughts about AVODAH's future and ideas for the alumni program, please be in touch with Marilyn Sneiderman or Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay. AVODAH 2011-2012: In the midst of matching - and still accepting applications! The incredible year-long program team has completed one round of matching for next year's Corps. Currently 42 out of 70 placements are matched with Corps members! We are still looking for more fantastic applicants to apply to AVODAH. Please, continue to tell people about AVODAH, and the opportunity to spend a year combining work for justice, Jewish learning and community building with us. The application will remain open until all our spots are filled, and we will continue to accept applications on a rolling basis until that time. Help us find a Washington D.C. Program Director! Click here for an announcement for the Washington D.C. Program Director position. Please post far and wide! Our track record thus far is that word of mouth is our most effective way of recruiting program directors. Can you think of individuals who might be good for the job? If so, please take a few minutes to contact them and let them know about the opening. Who knows? You may come up with the next program director for D.C.! Questions? Email Jevera Temsky. | 
