Episode 28: The Messy and Beautiful Truth Behind Philanthropy w/Charlene Seidle

“A pious Jew is not one That worries about their neighbor’s soul and their own stomach; rather, a pious Jew is one that worries about their own soul and their neighbor’s stomach.”

— Rabbi Yisrael Salanter

Charlene is the Leichtag Foundation’s Executive Vice President. She has played a key leadership role in the development and implementation of Leichtag Foundation’s strategic framework and oversees grantmaking. She has designed innovative and creative programs such as funder partnerships and consortia, the Jerusalem Model, the International Office for Jerusalem Partnerships, the Hive at Leichtag Commons, and others; and provides overall management and strategy development.

Charlene won the 2013 JJ Greenberg Memorial Award, an international prize given to one outstanding philanthropic professional under the age of 40 each year. Continue reading “Episode 28: The Messy and Beautiful Truth Behind Philanthropy w/Charlene Seidle”

May 31, 2019October 18, 2019

Episode 25: Finding Your Sacred Space. Thinking Outside Of The Hillel w/Rabbi Avram Mlotek

“Yet I know that there is a small but growing number of Orthodox rabbis from across the Modern Orthodox spectrum who believe that this is where we have to be moving. I hope that in doing so as a community, queer Jews will see themselves as valued in the community and see that their rabbis are ready to celebrate their life choices of sacred covenantal marriage as well. It is not only about upholding the dignity of the human being, but upholding the dignity of the Torah itself, which emphasizes the need for loving partnership.”

–Rabbi Avram Mlotek, excerpt from a recent published article of his Continue reading “Episode 25: Finding Your Sacred Space. Thinking Outside Of The Hillel w/Rabbi Avram Mlotek”

March 15, 2019October 18, 2019

Episode 14: Starting a Brick and Mortar in the Tech Age of Apps w/Emily Weisberg

““When my daughter is playing with Legos… when the dad goes into work his boss is a woman, and when the mom goes into work – she is the boss!””

Emily grew up in a small town in Wisconsin where she started writing recipes and drinking coffee at the ripe old age of 7. She started working in restaurants when she was 14 and has hardly stopped since. She learned Spanish, developed an interest in coffee, went to college, shopped at the farmer’s market a lot, ate at some amazing restaurants, lived in Peru for a while and eventually got married in Jerusalem where she and her husband lived. They came back to the U.S. with a toddler and an even stronger desire to build a diverse community around food. Enter: Moss Café. Emily, her husband Alex and their two little ones live in Riverdale and can probably be found at the café. Continue reading “Episode 14: Starting a Brick and Mortar in the Tech Age of Apps w/Emily Weisberg”

March 8, 2019October 18, 2019

Episode 13: Breaking The Mold, Creating New Ways To Be and Do Jewish w/Roey Kruvi

“Any good innovative organization will tell you that you have to be okay with failure – that they look to ‘not’ have consensus. That those are the ideas that forge new spaces and opportunities.”

— Roey Kruvi

Roey Kruvi is the Senior Director of Immersive Experiences at Moishe House. He was born in Haifa and lived in different parts of Israel before moving to California at the age of 10, where he has been ever since. Since relocating to Encinitas, he has taken on several new hobbies, using his free time to surf, horseback ride, learn the piano, practice yoga, and spend time with his family. He graduated from UC Berkeley with bachelor’s degrees in geography and interdisciplinary studies. Roey appreciates opportunities to live communally, skill share, laugh at himself, laugh with others, go to potlucks, breathe (thanks, lungs!), read books, negotiate bus fares, and eat lunch by gorging on farmers market samples.

Roey’s passion and dedication are in informal education of youth, especially in wilderness and/or outdoor settings, and he has several years’ experience designing and implementing experiential education curriculums, both in and outside of the Jewish world. Also, he’s a big fan of being alive and not taking himself too seriously. Roey is a cancer survivor and doesn’t sweat the small stuff. Roey is also the founder of Beacons Tech Consulting, a business that provides affordable tech solutions to small and medium-sized nonprofits. Continue reading “Episode 13: Breaking The Mold, Creating New Ways To Be and Do Jewish w/Roey Kruvi”