Donations from alumni and their families have enabled us to award 12 grants this October to innovative alumni-led projects that are helping to shape the Jewish community and the wider world. In 2009, the BYFI Alumni Venture Fund distributed $24,800 to 24 project. Support the Venture Fund and contact alumni listed below to get involved in these projects:
- Artistic Workshops at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue - Rachel Farbiarz ‘94 will lead a series of workshops exploring the interplay between the artistic process and religious practice as a means of invigorating and enriching both. The workshops will incorporate hands-on creative work, investigation and experience of Jewish ritual and practice, and discussion of artworks, scholarly and theoretical writings, and Jewish texts. The workshops will be held at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, D.C., and will later be offered at other community centers, conferences, learn-ins, retreats, Hillels, and synagogues.
- Bay Area Learning Initiative (BALI) - Early 20's Initiative - BALI makes the study of classical Jewish subjects including the Talmud, Bible, Jewish philosophy and mysticism accessible to small communities through regular text study sessions in small groups. Since receiving an AVF grant in May 2009, BALI has successfully launched 15 small learning groups in the Bay Area, thereby creating a community of young adults who have a regular outlet for social networking and for deepening their Jewish knowledge and connection. This grant will help support a bi-monthly study initiative for young ‘social connectors' primarily in the 22-25 post-college age bracket. Sara Bamberger (Yozma) is Director of BALI and Rachel Finkelstein ‘03 is the volunteer-lead helping to launch the early 20's initiative.
- Boulder Stepping Stones - Boulder Stepping Stones, founded by Deb Dusansky ‘87, is a program that provides Jewish education and experiences to interfaith and unaffiliated families, reaching a database of over 1,000 people from across Colorado. Stepping Stones, which also received alumni funding in 2008, focuses on Friday night Shabbat rituals as a time to strengthen Jewish family and community. This grant will help market and create programming for single and GLBT parents, who often feel even more uncomfortable being part of the Jewish community. Two other alumni, Idit Klein ‘89 and Julie Geller ‘91 have been involved with programming and planning.
- The Capital Good Fund - The Capital Good Fund (CGF) is a non-profit green micro-lender based in Providence, Rhode Island and founded by Brown University students. CGF makes loans to individuals that cannot access affordable capital from traditional financial institutions in the belief that access to this capital can have transformational impact on the lives of borrowers by building good credit and, thus, impacting, their communities, and the environment. CGF recently developed a new green credit builder loan product- one that would reduce the borrower's energy expenditures by financing the installation of a programmable thermostat while improving credit scores. An AVF grant will support the purchase of materials and training about building credit. Jonah Fisher ‘06 is the volunteer Fundraising Director of CGF.
- Darkhei Noam - Darkhei Noam is a lay-led Modern Orthodox independent minyan that comes together for Shabbat and holiday services on the Upper West Side. An AVF grant funded the printing of a parent-created siddur for young children to be used at weekly children's services. The minyan plans to create two siddurim; one for very young children (under age five) and then another older children (ages five to seven). Noam Lockshin '01 and Allie Alperovich ‘93 are members of the Executive Committee. Allie is also chair of Youth Programming. She plans to share the siddur with members of the BYFI community and with other independent minyanim. Shoshie Lockshin '98 is text study coordinator at the minyan.
- Dimensions of Kigali - Following a study program in Rwanda, Karen Zasloff ‘91 is now creating and directing a multimedia puppet performance relating to the experiences of Rwandan survivors in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, and current tensions between reconciliation and the pursuit of justice. This piece will be performed as part of Labapalooza, a festival of new puppet works at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn.
- Documentary: How Many Jews in Poland? - This documentary film project, created by Judy Batalion ‘94 will explore contemporary Polish-Jewish relations, focusing on the question: "How many Jews are in Poland today?" -some say 4,000 while others say four. This short film documentary will trace six Polish inhabitants and their varied answers to a straightforward question. The project aims to explore the current perception of Jews and the state of the contemporary Jewish community in Poland, and hopes to ask uncomfortable questions about what it means to be a Jew. The AVF grant serves to help Judy in securing the support of other Jewish funders.
- The Jewish Education Workshop (J.E.W.) - The Jewish Education Workshop is an inter-denominational program which aims to democratize Jewish education and access to prayer skills. Founded by Barnard and Columbia Freshman, including Mitzi Steiner ‘06, J.E.W. pairs students who wish to learn how to lead religious services with one-on-one peer teachers. Students from J.E.W. have gone on to become leaders in their respective communities and maintain their cross-denominational ties with other J.E.W. participants. Further funding will help increase programming to include Lunch n' Learns and pot-luck Shabbat meals with text studies on both Jewish leadership and liturgy.
- Jewish Sex Education for Adults at the Kavod Moishe House - Margie Klein ‘96 and Michelle Sternthal ‘95 were awarded a grant to adapt a sexual health course created by the Unitarian Universalist movement into a Jewish context. The curriculum, "Our Whole Lives," involves 14 units and focuses on different aspects of sexuality for adults in their 20's and 30's. With the help of Hebrew College students, the curriculum will incorporate Jewish sources to help participants explore their sexual relationships and identities not only as people, but as Jews, and will help the community develop Jewish sexual ethics. The workshops will first take place in Boston at the Kavod Moishe House before rolling-out to other networks. BYFI alumna Abby Friedman ‘02 will also collaborate on this project.
- The Network for Young Religion Journalists - The Network for Young Religion Journalists, founded by Michael Pomeranz ‘04, aims to support student journalists of religion. The Network will provide a place and space to foster conversations about religious tension, inter-religious dialogue, and world events through the lens of religion. A primary goal will be to support student journals of religion, which encourage the next generation of scholars and journalists of religion. This grant will help fund a one day seminar in NYC on January 24th that will gather journalists, students, and professors to discuss best practices and the future of the Network.
- Tikkun Leil Shabbat (TLS) - Tikkun Leil Shabbat (TLS) is a pluralistic havurah (prayer and learning community) that meets Friday nights in Washington D.C. The community emphasizes song-filled, egalitarian services, as well as a commitment to social justice. The group meets every three weeks in Dupont Circle with an average attendance ranging from 90 to 120 members, most of whom are in their 20s and 30s. Services at TLS include a dvar tikkun (a teaching linking Judaism to a local social justice issue), prayer, and a potluck vegetarian dinner. Past BYFI grants have helped the minyan with costs such as siddurim (prayer books) and with funding to find a larger prayer space. A number of alumni are involved with TLS, including Sarah Beller ‘98, Ariella Kurshan ‘01, and Daniel Greenspahn ‘96.
- Uri L'Tzedek - Uri L'Tzedek is an Orthodox social justice organization guided by Torah values and dedicated to combating suffering and oppression. They recently launched the Tav HaYosher, a local, grassroots initiative to bring workers, restaurant owners and community members together to create just workplaces in kosher restaurants. The Tav is working to transform the business practices of the kosher food industry into a strict moral code of ethics, more representative of the Jewish community. The Tav HaYosher aims to revitalize and reenergize the practice of kashrut, including accountability of restaurant owners, while educating the Jewish community about the ethics that they should be applying to their eating habits and food consumption. An AVF grant will help expand the Tav Hayosher and will contribute to increased involvement in the Tav by Princeton students under the leadership of Rabbi David Wolkenfeld '97. In addition, BYFI alumni Rabbi Steven Exler '97, Jodi Meyerowitz '05 and Danny Cohen ‘04, are supporters of this initiative.