What's Happening
2011 Scholar-in-Residence: Dr. John Ruskay
Dr. John Ruskay was this year’s Rabbi Louis Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence on August 1-2. Executive Vice President & CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York, John is arguably the leading Jewish professional in the field today. Consultant to communal leaders, public officials and policy makers, John has a unique perspective on how the American Jewish community can most effectively respond to the challenges and opportunities of living in an open society, the critical role of Jewish philanthropy, and the central role of community.
John led two morning-long seminars with the SJNM students discussing his perspective on the unprecedented opportunities for Jewish life in the Open Society, the mission/passion/calling of Jewish professional leadership, and the need to renew Israel education (beyond Israel advocacy).
“The Role of the Professional in Today’s Federation.”
On Monday, August 1st, the SJNM, together with the Jewish Communal Professionals of Southern California, presented a conversation with Dr. John Ruskay, Executive Vice President & CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York, and Jay Sanderson, President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, and moderated by SJNM Director, Richard Siegel. Bringing together the senior executives of the two largest Federations in North America from opposite coasts, the conversation ranged over the new paradigm of Federation support, lay-professional relations, women in Jewish professional leadership, and the critical need for professional development, among other topics.
Click here to see the video of the conversation.
SJNM 2011 Culmination
The School of Jewish Nonprofit Management held its 42nd Annual Culmination Exercises (the first under its new name) on August 2, 2011. Fourteen students were awarded the Certificate in Jewish Nonprofit Management, having completed a rigorous course of studies over the past two summers covering Jewish studies, Jewish communal dynamics, and nonprofit management. Together, they have forged a strong sense of community in the school and have participated in an intense two-week Israel Seminar exploring the Israeli nonprofit sector, the emerging paradigm of Jewish Peoplehood, and their own nuanced relationship with the Jewish state.
Lisa I. Berney
Natalie Paige Davidowitz
Amanda Beth Greene
Leah Shari Guskin
Igor Khokhlov
Elenna Michelle King
Jessica Rachel Lebovits
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Rachel Fay Levin
Matthew T. Lipton-Schwartz
Makenzie Javina Means
Hannah D. Rubin-Schlansky
Samira Setareh
Mindy Fay Sherry
Lauren Trexler
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Dr. John Ruskay, Executive Vice-President & CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York, presented the Culmination Address on “Embracing and Resisting Change: What’s Enduring?”
Click here for the text.
Click the links below for videos of:
2011-12 Spiegel Seminar
The theme of this year’s Spiegel Seminar on Jewish Values is “Money and the Jewish Community.” The first two sessions sponsored by the SJNM, together with the Kalsman Institute on Judaism and Health, will take place on October 25th and November 8th, looking at individual attitudes towards money and how stigmas about money permeate Jewish communal life. Subsequent sessions will deal with the high cost of Jewish living and how to talk with constituents/clients about money issues.
About Our New Name
In December 2010, the HUC-JIR School of Jewish Communal Service became the HUC-JIR School of Jewish Nonprofit Management. The name was chosen after months… actually a couple of years… of discussion and deliberation. As Richard Siegel, the current director of the school, observed in a recent issue of the
Journal of Jewish Communal Service: “Part of the role of a school that educates Jewish professional leaders is to define the conceptual network in which the graduates will be entering. We believe that in its broadest reaches this network is the nonprofit sector, which aligns the school with those who seek the public good and the betterment of civil society. Within that sector, we have a special responsibility, a scared task to bring the values and wisdom of Jewish history, tradition, and culture to enrich the Jewish experience and improve the societies in which we work.”
In Memory of Debbie Friedman – “Shalom Aleichem”
During the 2010 Summer Session, Debbie Friedman spoke with the SJNM students as part of our series on “Presenting Culture: (In)Forming Jewish Identity.” As she was wrapping up her session, she was asked what she was working on, and she said that she had just written a new melody for “Shalom Aleichem.” We asked if she could give us a preview, and of course she obliged. One of our students, Hannah Rubin-Schlansky, fortuitously recorded it on her IPhone (see link below).
One note. She changed the last verse from “Tsayt-chem l’shalom” (Go in Peace) to “Shuv-chem l’shalom” (Return in Peace) and made a point of asking us to make that substitution when we sing her melody. She wanted to make sure that the angels knew that we wanted them to come back to us. Perhaps as we sing this, her spirit will come back to us, as well. May her memory be a blessing.
Click here for the recording.
