In a recent article in the Sunday Styles Section of The New York Times entitled The Family Stories that Bind Us, Bruce Feiler notes a surprising correlation between the resilience and health of children and their fluency in their familys stories: the single most important thing you can do for your family may be the simplest of all: develop a strong family narrative. He quotes research that has identified that the more children knew about their familys history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem.

An article from The Washington Jewish Week

The cow rose gently into the air, looking robust and healthy until, with a brief spray of blood, its head separated from its body and both parts fell. Moments later a second cow flew up. This cow, sickly green and with a bandage on one leg, fell unmolested, not worthy for sacrifice to God.

Learning the rules of sacrificing digital cows popping up and down on the iPhone screen along with doves and bags of oil and flour may not be quite the same as how the ancient Israelites did things but there's a lot of Torah in this brand new game, the first from G-dcast Entertainment, aptly named "Leviticus!"

In order to genuinely learn about the needs and experiences of others, we must put aside our own assumptions, agendas, [...]

This article first appeared on Jewish Futures.

My father grew up in the real Bronx a world very different from the pseudo-Bronx of Riverdale where he raised his children. He played stickball on the streets with the Italian kids, who called him Luigi The Jew, and came home regularly with torn pants, skinned knees, and the fear of facing his mother, who would inevitably say to him: If youd been the first child, you wouldve been the last! Then hed have to suffer shopping for new pants at Barneys, where he was an irregular husky, a size that weighed on his identity. His family was a member at the Young Israel of Parkchester, an Orthodox community composed of the lower-middle class workers of the East Bronx, many of whom were immigrants and did not have any Jewish education or background. (Professor Jeffrey Gurock, who also grew up in that community, writes about this synagogue, and my grandfather, in the introduction to his book Orthodox Jews in America). The youth were the hope and the pulse of the congregation. And when children became Bar or Bat Mitzvah age, they became responsible for ensuring the continuity, relevance, and vibrancy of the community.

An article from eJewish Philanthropy
October  26, 2012
By Maya Bernstein 

Will Schneider, in his recent eJejewish Philanthropy piece Innovation to What End?, states that Innovation is a strategy toward a larger goal, such as creating Jewish community, increasing Jewish literacy, or improving the North American Jewish communitys relationship to Israel. It should not be perceived of, or utilized as, an end in and of itself. It is simply a mindset, and set of tools, that allow us to achieve our overall shared purpose more effectively. It can be utilized within and beyond the walls of established institutions, and it should also be handled responsibly; if something aint broke, theres no need to push innovation at it and try to fix it. And therefore, we dont encourage funders to support the new over the necessary provided they dont fund the existing over the effective. Funders and practitioners alike should focus on purpose: what is it that were trying to accomplish? And what are the most effective and creative approaches and methods we can employ?

Will Schneider, in his recent eJejewish Philanthropy piece Innovation to What End?, states that Innovation is a strategy toward a larger goal, such as creating Jewish community, increasing Jewish literacy, or improving the North American Jewish communitys relationship to Israel. It should not be perceived of, or utilized as, an end in and of itself. It is simply a mindset, and set of tools, that allow us to achieve our overall shared purpose more effectively. It can be utilized within and beyond the walls of established institutions, and it should also be handled responsibly; if something aint broke, theres no need to push innovation at it and try to fix it. And therefore, we dont encourage funders to support the new over the necessary provided they dont fund the existing over the effective. Funders and practitioners alike should focus on purpose: what is it that were trying to accomplish? And what are the most effective and creative approaches and methods we can employ?

The following post is an article from the Jweekly, written by Emma Silvers (j. staff)

On the sixth floor of an office building in San Franciscos Financial District, in a boardroom at the back of a bright, spacious office, Rabbi Noa Kushner is doing something most people dont generally think of rabbis doing: asking for guidance.

You talk, Ill type, a consultant from UpStart Bay Area says to her. Looking ahead six months, what are your main goals?

Kushner is the founding rabbi of The Kitchen, a 16-month-old group that describes itself as one part indie Shabbat community, one part San Francisco experiment, and one part tool kit for DIY Jewish practice. The rabbi has regular meetings at UpStart to talk about where her young organization is headed.

UpStart Bay Area bills itself as a social venture, consulting firm, and incubator for innovative Jewish organizations and entrepreneurs and Kushner is far from the only one who uses its services.
 

Since 2006, she and a select group of other local entrepreneurial Jews many of them young, all of them with innovative and often great ideas have been chosen to link with UpStart and learn how to translate those ideas into action.

The following post was a coverstory in the Jweekly, written by Emma Silvers (j. staff)

On the sixth floor of an office building in San Franciscos Financial District, in a boardroom at the back of a bright, spacious office, Rabbi Noa Kushner is doing something most people dont generally think of rabbis doing: asking for guidance.

You talk, Ill type, a consultant from UpStart Bay Area says to her. Looking ahead six months, what are your main goals?

Kushner is the founding rabbi of The Kitchen, a 16-month-old group that describes itself as one part indie Shabbat community, one part San Francisco experiment, and one part tool kit for DIY Jewish practice. The rabbi has regular meetings at UpStart to talk about where her young organization is headed.

UpStart Bay Area bills itself as a social venture, consulting firm, and incubator for innovative Jewish organizations and entrepreneurs and Kushner is far from the only one who uses its services.

Since 2006, she and a select group of other local entrepreneurial Jews many of them young, all of them with innovative and often great ideas have been chosen to link with UpStart and learn how to translate those ideas into action. 

An article from eJewish Philanthropy.

Quick, what instrument do you associate with Passover? Matzah? Sorry, not an instrument. With Shavuot? What? Blintzes? Wrong again. You seem obsessed with food. With Sukkot? No, a lulav is not technically an instrument.

We dont normally associate our holidays with instruments, or sounds. And yet, if we were to free-associate about Rosh Hashanah, perhaps one of the most important times in the Jewish calendar, we would immediately think of the blasts of the shofar. In fact, the Torah refers to this holiday not as the Jewish New Year, but as a day of trumpeting (Numbers 29:1). Why does this little rams horn, play such a significant role on this major holiday? And what does it have to do with the overarching theme of the holiday, renewal and growth?

The shofar can be perceived as an auditory metaphor for the elements involved in any change, renewal, or innovation process. Its various sounds, legato and staccato, a constant presence in the month leading up to the holiday, and during the services on the holiday itself, are reminders of the steps involved when we seek to make meaningful change in our personal, communal, and professional lives.