News & Blogs Category: Featured Partner

When the Jews of Color Initiative (JoCI) launched its Count Me In survey earlier this year to learn about Jews’ of Color experiences in Jewish life, the goal was to garner 1,000 respondents. Having surpassed that goal with 1,029 Jews of Color (JoC) completing the survey, the study’s research team housed at Stanford University is now combing through the responses. Later this summer, the JoCI will work in partnership with other JoC leaders nationwide to share the findings and to advocate for changes in the Jewish community.

Beyond the unprecedented nature of the study, which has created the largest dataset of Jews of Color in the U.S., the multiracial research team is a model for successful collaboration across diverse areas of specialization and research methods. To construct a survey that reflected not just the ideas of the research team but of the larger Jews of Color community, the team first held approximately 30 interviews with Jews of Color to determine common themes and questions that arise directly from the community.

“Surveys are only as good as the questions you know how to ask,” said lead researcher Dr. Tobin Belzer. After analyzing the content of these 30 interviews, the research team created the Count Me In survey with the consultation of a research advisory committee of JoC leaders and stakeholders. Key questions considered during this process, and that the Count Me In survey asks, include:

• How does the diversity of JoCs think about Jewish identity?
• How do JoCs self-identify?
• What have been JoCs experiences in Jewish communities–both terrible and wonderful?
• How has systemic racism affected JoCs in Jewish spaces? 
• How can the Jewish community better embody the range of experiences and identities of all people so all Jews see ourselves in Klal Yisrael?

For Jews of Color, many of us have been on the margins in mainstream Jewish institutions. This study aims to better understand stories and experiences about the intersection of racialization and Jewish life for Jews of Color. This work has never been more crucial and timely. To Jews of Color, we say that it is time for visibility, for voice, and for data–for us and by us.
– Dr. Dalya Perez, critical race theorist and equity strategist for Microsoft, who is a Jew of Color on the study’s research team

Once the research team analyzes all the responses, they will conduct another round of interviews to deepen their understandings of participants’ experiences. This type of multi-step research helps studies represent a wide spectrum of perspectives—captured by surveys—as well as the depth of lived experiences—captured by interviews.

The Count Me In research team is led by Dr. Tobin Belzer, Contributing Fellow at the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at University of Southern California, and includes Dr. Ari Y Kelman, Jim Joseph Professor of Education and Jewish Studies at Stanford; Dr. Dalya Perez, critical race theorist and equity strategist for Microsoft; Dr. Gage Gorsky, PhD in measurements and statistics in education from the University of Washington; Tory Brundage a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington, and Vincent Calvetti, a doctoral student at the University of Washington.

To stay up-to-date with Count Me In, visit Jewsofcolorinitiative.org.

Maharat is the only rabbinical school in North America providing training and rabbinic ordination to women to serve in the highest levels of leadership in the Orthodox world and beyond. Through education and credentialing, Maharat’s graduates break through long standing glass ceilings, serving as Orthodox clergy in pulpits, schools, college campuses and communal organizations in a capacity previously reserved for men alone. These graduates, along with Maharat’s intentional community engagement efforts, are building new communities of men and women who are open and welcoming of women’s leadership and scholarship.

“Maharat” (מהרת) is an acronym for manhigut (leadership), hilkhatit (Jewish law), rukhanit (spirituality), and toranit (Jewish Text). These core values are essential to every aspect of Maharat’s work – its curriculum, its community programming, the kinds of students they recruit and the entire strategy of the organization.  In the face of the global pandemic, Maharat leaned even deeper into these core values through the work of its alumnae, new programming, and digital presence. Over the past year, alumnae have drawn upon their Maharat training, the support of their cohort, and the relationships they’ve built with the faculty to provide pastoral care, relevant learning, and innovative community experiences to their constituents. 

View more videos here about Maharat graduates overcoming challenges and helping others during the pandemic. 

In the face of rising numbers of unemployed Jewish professionals due to furloughs and layoffs, Maharat also partnered with Yeshivat Chovevei Torah to launch “Mind the Gap: A Mini Sabbatical.” The program’s next session is March 8 and is designed for Jewish professionals who are headed to or are in between jobs in the Jewish communal sector, with the goals of deepening knowledge of Jewish content and strengthening leadership skills. Fully-funded tuition and stipends (through grants from the Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund) are available for professionals to engage in multi-month long sessions. Through Mind the Gap, participants gain exposure to Jewish values and tradition while also obtaining resume-building experience.

My highlight was waking up and getting to learn Torah every morning with my interesting, insightful, Jewish sisters and brothers. The topics we discussed so deeply hit home at this time, and our conversations gave me strength.
– Sophie, participant in Mind the Gap

Now in its 12th year, Maharat has graduated 43 women, with 36 more students in the pipeline preparing to change the landscape of Orthodox Judaism and the community at large. Maharat has increased its commitment to sharing relevant Jewish text to the broader international Jewish community with its Power Hour of Torah holiday series, specialized workshops like its recent series, Breastfeeding in Jewish Text, Law and Ethics and featured books and topics of interest. Maharat’s new Maharatcast Podcast premiers in March.

Learn more at yeshivatmaharat.org and watch their brand story here. The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of Maharat. (Photos credit: Shulamit Seidler-Feller).

As the Hadar Institute rapidly responded to offer new digital Jewish learning and engagement in 2020, behind the scenes it was conducting a major strategic planning process. Always an important undertaking, developing a strategic plan during a pandemic was both uniquely challenging and one that offered unexpected opportunities. While the pandemic presented unprecedented obstacles, the strategic planning process provided a sense of grounding and the ability to look toward the future in an otherwise difficult time.

The future Hadar envisions is not limited by the current reality. But Hadar took learnings from experiments during the pandemic and incorporated those into their plan. Hadar’s leadership tried new ways of learning they never would have imagined possible before, such as digital education offerings on such a large scale, and new formats for learning, such as digital cohorts.

For example, the ubiquity of online learning in 2020 enabled Hadar to broaden its understanding of who they might teach beyond young adults. In a two-month period of online learning, Hadar taught as many people as it typically teaches in person over an 8 month period. More than 40 percent of those people were new users to Hadar. This expanded reach continued beyond the first few months of the pandemic: Hadar welcomed 30,000 participants to more than 800 class sessions since March. Thus, Hadar recognized that online learning had to become a mainstay and an integrated part of their plan.

Project Zug [Hadar’s online 1-1 learning platform] offers an easy on-ramp to making Torah learning a regular practice in people’s lives. It has certainly become part of my life! – 2020 Project Zug Participant

During the pandemic, Hadar also capitalized on years of investment in the children and families space through Pedagogy of Partnership (PoP), among other initiatives, to run new experimental learning opportunities for this demographic. Hadar’s Mishnah club began in mid-March and a grandparents and grandchildren learning event later in the year enabled Hadar to reach children and parents directly. These innovations and others were so successful that Hadar launched a new Children’s and Families Department. The strategic planning process underway as these experiments occurred enabled Hadar to concretize its vision for this department moving forward.

Hadar was my introduction to Jewish life and thought. It was the first place I had role models for how to live a deeply committed, gender-egalitarian life, and has helped me to develop a deep identification with the Jewish tradition. – Yeshivat Hadar Alum

Along with these learnings, the organization’s growth from the first strategic plan led to mergers and acquisitions of different programs—including the Maimonides Moot Court Competition, the JJ Greenberg Institute, Project Zug and Pedagogy of Partnership—that help chart an ambitious and exciting path forward. This path encompasses five goals over the next four years, which Hadar details in its plan:

1. Vibrant Center: Strengthen our immersive learning center (yeshiva) to fully anchor all parts of our vision.
2. Lived Judaism: Enable Jews to meaningfully explore and sustainably live out Hadar’s holistic vision of Jewish practice.
3. Meaningful Torah: Maximize the impact of Hadar’s Torah by reaching more people in more ways through meaningful content.
4. Our Work in Israel: Enhance the visibility, vitality and acceptance of Hadar’s model in mainstream Israeli society.
5. Organizational Capacity: Build the organizational capacity, structure and foundation to achieve and uphold Hadar’s goals.

View Hadar Institute’s Strategic Plan at Hadar.org/plan. The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of Hadar.

Thousands of educators are turning to The Jewish Educator Portal–a dynamic, growing, virtual community that helps them find relevant resources, share them among each other, enhance skills and knowledge through professional development, and positively influence the lives of tens of thousands of learners. Launched by The Jewish Education Project as the school year began, the Portal offers a wide range of resources–including timely offerings on Civic Education and Engagement in Jewish Education and Surviving and Thriving Through Civic and Civil Engagement, classroom mental health resources, support for digital learning, and so much more.

In the midst of the busy school year, I need to quickly be able to find the right programs and resources for my teaching style and students. The Portal will elevate all educators and will be a hub that enables us to help each other. – Ora Bayewitz-Meier, English Teacher and Director of Chesed Programming, SAR High School

Portal features support teachers who are teaching virtually, in-person, or any hybrid model, and are updated frequently. To get the most out of these resources, educators register in the Portal and create their own profile. This enables educators to save and share these and thousands of other resources in a personal library, explore professional development opportunities, and connect with Jewish professionals around the world.

Since the spring, The Jewish Education Project’s efforts provided resources and programs to help more than 10,000 educators adapt to a new virtual environment. And the Portal builds on its decade-long efforts to spearhead digital initiatives pushing the field to embrace new technologies and new ways of thinking. As an outgrowth of that, the Portal is designed for Jewish educators who work in various Jewish educational settings—including day schools, congregational schools, early childhood settings, youth serving organizations, residential and day summer camps, and Israel and other travel experiences. While The Jewish Education Project runs the Portal, it includes educator resources, professional development opportunities, and other program offerings from organizations around the country that support Jewish education. 

The new Jewish Educator Portal is an amazing tool for me and my colleagues to explore and share quality educational resources. The site is user-friendly and straightforward, and the content is relevant and timely.
-Dina Newman, Associate Director of Youth & Teen Engagement, Congregation Rodeph Sholom, New York City

Educators can create their Portal profile at educator.jewishedproject.org and can access timely resources on civic education here.

Initial support for The Jewish Educator Portal was provided by the Jim Joseph Foundation and the Maimonides Fund through the Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund (JCRIF), and The GS Humane Corp.

My JNTP mentor has stood by me through all the ups and downs of my first year of teaching; consistently observing my class in action and being available to discuss it with me in a non-threatening, non-judgmental setting…This has allowed me to explore many sensitive areas of my teaching career and therefore grow in an immeasurable way.
– Raizy Muller, Educator, Torah Day School of Dallas; Dallas, TX

Mentoring and training programs are hallmarks of the Jewish New Teacher Project’s (JNTP) efforts to support new and veteran day school teachers in Jewish and general studies. JNTP, a division of the internationally recognized New Teacher Center, has worked with more than 1,350 new educators across North America, helping close to 200 schools achieve teaching excellence by utilizing the New Teacher Center’s proven model of new teacher support to dramatically improve new teacher effectiveness, teacher retention and school culture. JNTP-trained mentors—574 in total—support new teachers through weekly meetings, classroom observations, and by using data to inform instruction. More than 20,000 students per year have a teacher trained by JNTP. And now more than ever, JNTP’s efforts reflect a holistic approach, with resources, webinars, and communities of support that focus both on teaching strategies and approaches and on teachers’ wellbeing and mental health.

As more teachers were trained, both as mentors and as beginning teachers…the schools themselves, as a whole, were lifted and transformed into more thoughtful, collaborative, purposeful, and ethical workplaces and learning institutions.
– Rabbi Dr. Steven Lorch, Head of School, Kadima Day School; Los Angeles, CA

JNTP shifted rapidly to meet the needs of this unprecedented moment—and is positioned for myriad scenarios moving forward. JNTP Virtual Mentors can support teachers in any day school across the country and JNTP’s program team has reworked its in-person content for digital platforms that include both synchronous and asynchronous work.

Regardless of the delivery method, JNTP’s resources and best practices are based on almost 20 years of experience and evidence-based insights. Its community and school partnerships have long-term, whole-school impact that build capacity and elevate the entire day school field. In the past five years, 86% of all new teachers supported by JNTP-trained mentors are still in the field of Jewish education. The demand for JNTP’s efforts remains high: JNTP is partnering with 63 schools in 13 states plus Washington, D.C. to train 94 veteran teacher mentors to support 121 beginning teachers through their first two years in the profession. In addition, we are coaching 31 early-career administrators in 25 schools as part of our Administrator Support Program Programs at this time.

JNTP’s model was adapted from the New Teacher Center in Santa Cruz, California, which trains veteran teachers to provide two years of intensive mentoring to support new teachers in public schools across the country. JNTP’s efforts elevate teaching and learning in the world of Jewish education and enable schools to have more effective educators and school leaders positioned to help every student meet their potential.

(bottom photo courtesy of Chana Tzirel Fox)

The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of JNTP.

For nearly two decades, UpStart’s team has been facilitating programs for bold leaders from all areas of Jewish life who, now more than ever, need to bring an entrepreneurial spirit to their work. When COVID hit, UpStart saw these leaders try to adapt programs from in-person to virtual and developed a new Virtual Facilitation Guide to raise the bar for digital gathering. The guide is filled with interactive exercises designed to engage people with different learning styles, in varied locations, and with different access needs. Beyond simply transitioning an in-person program to be online, the UpStart guide helps organizations to think creatively about designing a digital environment that is fresh and has real impact with participants. 

UpStart’s virtual facilitation guide looks stunning! But, more importantly – UpStart created a tool that is so necessary in this new digital space, that helps facilitators to think about their outcomes first and then select the appropriate tool. As I am working with more and more clients in this virtual realm, I will be using this guide as a reference and a roadmap.
– Dana Prottas, Instructional Designer and Educational Consultant

Just as UpStart always works to expand how Jews find meaning and come together, the guide offers an expansive array of facilitation exercises divided into Reflections, Inquiry, and Application. People in different stages of their learning journeys or facilitating for different audiences can elevate their virtual engagement—whether they’re an entrepreneurial rabbi facilitating a program for their community, an institutional leader navigating a team meeting, or a funder conducting a small group conversation with key stakeholders.

UpStart is also taking a holistic look at the larger Jewish innovation field in order to support new collaborations. Organizations are simultaneously facing new challenges and recognizing that the virtual world opens up new opportunities. By building strategic partnerships and alliances, organizations can increase stability, create deeper impact, and build more efficient structures that will meet the evolving needs of the Jewish community. UpStart is working with La Piana Consulting, an authority on strategic partnerships, to help more organizations gain the tools, knowledge, and insights to effectively embark on these critical alliances so that the entrepreneurial ideas, talent, and progress of the past two decades will inform the Jewish future.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of UpStart. Access the Virtual Facilitation Guide here.

This summer, Jewish camp has been put to the ultimate test. But, with resilience, determination, and collaboration, the camp community has navigated through the immediate challenges imposed by COVID-19. Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) has helped lead efforts to sustain and strengthen camps through the pandemic, pilot meaningful virtual engagement opportunities, and foster innovative efforts to ensure camp remains an essential asset to the Jewish community for years to come.

In light of the vast majority of camps not being able to open this summer, FJC served as the valued central resource and advocate for Jewish camps at this unique and pivotal moment. Working together with the field, FJC has provided updated data, insights, and leadership to successfully mitigate the financial gap and keep camp as a top priority on the Jewish communal philanthropic agenda.

FJC recognized that camps needed support in new and creative ways during summer 2020.

This will be our “summer of learning” during which camps will pilot a range of virtual engagement approaches to reach their current communities – campers, families, staff, and alumni – and even broader audiences. Together, we will help camp truly become a year-round, lifelong experience. – Jeremy J. Fingerman, CEO of Foundation for Jewish Camp

In partnership with Mosaic United, FJC has launched Jewish Camp @ Home’s Jewish Experience Shuk – a centralized marketplace offering camps access to the best virtual programming and Jewish educational resources from across North America and Israel.

To help energize the field and foster collaboration, FJC has introduced its new Innovation Challenge, in which camps form teams, attend virtual workshops, and design creative engagement programs with a chance to receive up to $10,000 to pilot their creation.

And, camp staff and alumni, who feel the loss of summer camp as well, can learn, build their network, stay connected, and make a difference through FJC’s new Virtual Staff Lounge.

To learn more, visit jewishcamp.org. To read more about FJC’s efforts to innovate this summer, click here.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of FJC.

At a time when arts organizations and artists are reeling from the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, a new Jewish initiative is stepping in with much-needed grants and an emergency relief fund.

CANVAS, a partnership of five Jewish foundations working with Jewish Funders Network, is awarding grants to five Jewish arts and culture networks totaling $736,000 in operating support, and an additional $180,000 in immediate emergency relief for Jewish artists/creatives whose livelihood has been devastated by Covid-19 and its economic consequences. CANVAS expects to surpass $1 million in funding commitments by September. The group seeks to strengthen and build capacity in the field, with the ultimate goal of helping fuel a 21st-century renaissance in Jewish arts and culture.

CANVAS’ first grantees are Asylum Arts, the Council of American Jewish Museums (CAJM), the Jewish Book Council, LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture, and Reboot, which collectively represent nearly 2,000 artists and creatives and more than 100 Jewish museums. The five grantees will distribute the $180,000 emergency funds to individual artists in need.

Jewish creatives continue to shape our culture, even in lockdown. Now, more than ever, they entertain and distract us, empathize with and educate us, help us reflect and commiserate and open our hearts, reconnect with beauty, process the unthinkable, remind us to smile, help us to cry, capture the essential Jewish nature of these moments. And yet in almost all cases, artists are producing this work without pay. We want to support them as much as they support us.
– Lou Cove, founder of CANVAS

The infusion of new funding and philanthropic coordination from CANVAS comes at a time when artists and arts organizations of all kinds are facing major budget challenges due to Covid-19 and the forced cancellation of performances, exhibits, and other events.

Lead funding for CANVAS comes from the Righteous Persons Foundation. The other founding partners are: the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Peleh Fund, and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

The $180,000 emergency fund for creatives is open to further investment and can be supported here.

CANVAS’ advisory council includes “RBG” Director Julie Cohen, Forward National Editor Rob Eshman, musician and Latin Grammy Award-winner Ben Gundersheimer (AKA Mister G), Executive Director at the International Contemporary Ensemble Jennifer Kessler, photographer and filmmaker Gillian Laub, former Sundance Executive Caroline Libresco, Editorial Director at Godfrey Dadich Partners Mary Melton, The Warhol Director Patrick Moore, and Broadway producer/ARS Nova founder Jenny Steingart.

Learn more about CANVAS and its grantees here.

Artist-Led Workshops to Increase Resiliency, Philanthropy Pop-Ups and Tools to Create Powerful New Rituals Support Teens, Parents and Youth Professionals

This May, the Jewish community is bringing the power of ‘Collective Compassion’ to National Mental Health Awareness Month (www.collectivecompassion2020.com).  Created by Jewish Teens Thrive, a project of the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative, Collective Compassion is a national response to the growing wellness needs of teens. Dozens of events and experiences, many in partnership with artists and organizations, draw on the power of Jewish creativity, culture, learning and values to support teens – and the adults that care about them.

Adolescence is a turbulent time, and COVID-19 is leaving many teens and their families reeling by creating a heightened sense of uncertainty, confusion and loss. We aim to both call attention to these challenges and offer teens and adults new self-care practices they can use all year long, and a deeper understanding of the many dimensions of mental health.
– Sara Allen, Executive Director of the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative

Collective Compassion is free and accessible to anyone. Highlights include:

• Creativity for Coping, a resilience-building workshop series led by Jewish artists including ‘Storytelling for Sanity,’ an intimate concert and open mic with musicians, movement exercises, and guidance on inventing new rituals to mark loss.
• Finding Purpose & Meaning with toolkits for Mental Health Shabbats, integrating gratitude into daily lives and philanthropy pop-ups for teens to support local wellness organizations.
• Education & Awareness with screenside chats and live Q&As with experts such as teen author and mental health advocate Sophie Regal, parent-focused discussions with Dr. Betsy Stone, and panels and trainings with youth professionals.
• Curated books and quarantine playlists.

Addressing and supporting issues of teen wellness has always been a foundation of our work in our Los Angeles Teen Initiative. We know Jewish community, ritual, and values have a tremendous amount to offer to support and inspire families and educators in this increasingly critical area. The current COVID-19 crisis only makes this issue that much more dynamic and essential. Parents and educators in Los Angeles have really appreciated meaningful offerings and programming on these issues, and we look forward to continuing to serve as a key resource.
– Shira Rosenblatt, Associate Chief Program Officer at The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles

Those who work with teens are familiar with the statistics: One in 5 teens has had a serious mental health disorder; 50 percent of all mental illness begins by age 15; and among ages 15-24, suicide is the second leading cause of death.

Collective Compassion is supported by BBYO, The Blue Dove Foundation, Jewish Teen Funders Network, Jewish Teen Education & Engagement Professionals’ Network, Here Now, the URJ, the Mitsui Collective, Moving Traditions, and the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit and harnesses the creative spirit and wisdom of many artists and educators.

Adds Allen, “In this moment we turn to each other and our Jewish tradition with the belief that unity is strength. We are inspired by the ‘Collective Compassion’ of our community as we come together to raise awareness, build resilience and ultimately thrive.”

Taking Judaism’s sacred texts and building an online living library is a major undertaking. But that’s exactly what Sefaria has done. From Tanakh to Talmud to Zohar to modern texts—and all the volumes of commentary in between—Sefaria’s platform for Jewish learning enables students and scholars around the world to learn, discuss, question, and explore old texts in new ways. Today, more than 300,000 users access Sefaria each month. Many thousands more engage with Sefaria’s resources on third-party websites and apps that use Sefaria’s free data and API to power their projects.

Sefaria’s new two-way Linker is the latest major development for anyone interested in learning and exploring these sacred texts. The Linker automatically connects Torah content across the internet to primary sources in its library, and vice versa.

Websites that use the Linker give their users direct access to any primary sources they cite in Sefaria’s library, allowing curious learners to go deeper in their study. At the same time, the Linker brings the world of contemporary commentary to Sefaria by showing links in Sefaria’s sidebar to external websites that embed the free Linker code. Put simply, users can now explore beyond the confines of the Sefaria library and find relevant content from Jewish thinkers across the internet directly from Sefaria.org.

Example of the Linker connecting an external website to Sefaria’s library 

Example of the Linker connecting a primary source in Sefaria’s library to Torah commentary on a third-party website

 

The Sefaria project has become the digital home of the book for the people of the book. Sefaria is not just creating a vital online resource, but it is opening up our ancient heritage to a new generation on a global scale in a digital age.
—Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks

With the launch of this new linker, Sefaria continues to emerge as the nexus of Torah on the internet, connecting more people with more great Jewish content and allowing for new layers of Torah study and conversation to flourish in the process.

The Linker is a free JavaScript plugin for websites that include citations to Torah texts. To learn how to add it to your website, visit Sefaria.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is a funder of Sefaria.

For 18 years, Reboot has gathered some of the best and brightest change-agents for conversations about Jewish identity and meaning.  This combined power of imagination and dialogue helps to turn big issues into transformative ideas. Now, Reboot is opening its doors to the public for the first time to amplify these vital voices and to bring in wider perspectives to inspire more wandering Jews to evolve today’s world. The Reboot Ideas Festival, March 26-29 in San Francisco, will be a deeply personal and communal exploration of the most pressing issues captivating the Jewish world and beyond. Through inspired conversations, curated experiences, live performances, and art-driven showcases, the Reboot Ideas Festival will take a candid look at contemporary challenges – social, spiritual, and psychic – and through art, culture, and imagination will conjure new pathways to address them.

The Ideas Festival reflects Reboot’s role as a unique arts and culture nonprofit reimagining and reinforcing Jewish thought and traditions. It is a premier R&D platform for the Jewish world, with its Rebooter Network of preeminent creators, artists, entrepreneurs, and activists producing experiences and products that advance the Jewish conversation and strive to transform society.

The Reboot Ideas Festival ushers in a new era for Reboot.  With it, Reboot is taking its methodology of asking the biggest Jewish questions of the day, revolving around core thoughts about what we are inheriting and what we want to do about it, and opening it up to a larger audience. During what feels to be a dark time, we are so excited to bring together such an amazing cast of characters to think about the Jewish future and how our traditions and stories can cast a light onto the world. – David Katznelson, CEO of Reboot

All Reboot projects imagine Jewish ritual and tradition afresh, offering an inviting mix of discovery, experience and reflection through events, exhibitions, recordings, books, films, DIY activity toolkits and apps. These projects have engaged over a million participants and continue to inspire Jewish connections and meaning by encouraging participants to become creators in their Jewish experience. The annual Reboot Summit convenes a diverse group of prominent Jewish change agents in an intellectually provocative environment that inspires them to discover new ways to engage with their Judaism.

Register for the Reboot Ideas Festival here.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is a funder of Reboot.

At the intersection of women’s wellness and Jewish wisdom, At The Well is engaging a new generation of women craving connection and wholeness. In just four years, At The Well’s worldwide network of Well Circles and resources rooted in this wisdom have empowered young leaders and made Jewish spirituality more personally meaningful for thousands of women today.

At The Well is an authentic, embodied reply to a question our generation has the luxury to ask: What makes Judaism relevant to us? We’ve seen first hand in Sophia’s/my circle how At The Well has transformed women who were disconnected completely from Jewish life into women who look to our traditions for meaning, spirituality and community. At The Well does this work with young Jewish women with inclusivity and integrity.
– Sophia and Benjamin Abram, Well Circle Host and Funders, Durham, North Carolina

The hundreds of Well Circles—monthly gatherings around the new moon and Hebrew month—each include about ten women with a shared mission, shared responsibility and a sacred sense of belonging. By creating space that blends biblical, talmudic, midrashic and modern texts, prayers, and rituals, Well Circles cultivate meaningful experiences and connections for participants. Importantly, every woman has a chance to lead their Well Circle as a confident host, using At The Well’s resources to facilitate discussion and activities about themes in each Hebrew month. This leadership role allows women in each Circle to not only grow more connected to their Jewish spirituality, but also to become stronger as Jewish leaders within their communities.

I met an empowering group of women through my Well Circle who helped me get a better grip on the version of Judaism that I was looking for. I’m now finding myself in countless places with a community of Jewish women and men…I feel confident for the first time talking about my version of Judaism.
– Nina Stepanov, Well Circle Attendee, New York

Beyond Well Circles, At The Well teaches, coaches, and facilitates other transformative Jewish practices for women in their network. They use the Mikvah as a technology for marking transitions. The laws of Niddah are reframed so that diverse women can connect more deeply to their bodies. And last year, more than 1,000 people counted the Omer with At The Well daily text messages and 860 people participated in a forgiveness campaign during the month of Elul.

All of these efforts help women from different backgrounds link Jewish practice to their health, wholeness, and spirituality—and combat the increasing epidemic of loneliness facing young adults today, which, along with depression and anxiety, are twice as prevalent with women than with men. Ultimately, At The Well offers a space to connect to one’s community, body, and spiritual life. Women come together to lift each other up and to build personal foundations for living healthy Jewish lives.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of At The Well.