After graduating from rabbinical school at JTS and working at a Conservative synagogue for two years, Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum saw something vital missing in the Jewish Community—Kavana.

Kavana, the Hebrew word for intention, is vital to living a meaningful Jewish life. “[Working at a traditional Conservative synagogue] got me thinking about other Jews in my generation — and I became somewhat obsessed with trying to figure out what kind of model would engage people like me in Jewish community in a meaningful way.”

Using those thoughts as a foundation, Rabbi Nussbaum co-founded the Kavana Cooperative in Seattle, WA in 2006. Its mission simply reads, “Kavana is a cooperative that empowers participants to create a meaningful Jewish life and a positive Jewish identity.” A pluralistic community, the Kavana Cooperative helps Jews of all ages and identities find meaning in their Judaism through spirited and musical prayer services, camping trips, and interesting classes such as Kabbalah, Chassidism and Midrash. “What we all have in common is an interest in being ‘producers’ rather than ‘consumers’ of Jewish life.  As a rabbi, I see myself as a facilitator of that process,” explains Nussbaum.

Rachel is a part of a big time for Jewish innovation, with the creation of hundreds of Jewish start-ups and projects. That doesn’t worry Rabbi Nussbaum. She writes, “Even if this explosive growth tapers off, the Jewish community is going to be permanently changed.” All of this work, it seems, is for a bigger purpose. “I hope we’ll be seeing more and more Jews who are meaningfully engaged, more grassroots community organizing, and more Jews using their relationship with Judaism as a catalyst to change the world.”

Just a few generations after the Holocaust, a lot of Jews in this generation can find themselves distant from their Judaism. The Judaism they may have grown up with is now just a distant and boring memory of Bar Mitzvah practice and waiting for the time to pass in Sunday school. Rabbi Nussbaum is aware. “I want people to get over their own shtick (and let’s be honest – this generation of Jews has a LOT of shtick to overcome!) and be able to make thoughtful, intentional choices about how to live their lives, as Jews and as human beings.”

With such a giant goal, one could easily think Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum has a tedious and consuming job. “I love my job!” She says. The Kavana Cooperative is now being used as a model for countless other communities around the country, and is really starting to take off.

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Growing up in fourteen houses, twelve cities, and eight states across America, Ben Murane grew up a true Army brat. “I really thought that all Jews were wanderers like my family,” he says. “You can describe my work in the Jewish community as a struggle to understand a community so familiar and yet so alien to the Jewish values of my isolated upbringing.”

As the Director of New Generations—New Israel Fund’s vibrant 20s and 30s activist community—Ben Murane is doing a lot to try and understand the Jewish community. Through education and fundraising, New Generations raises support for social change in Israel, “But I see out role as more complicated than that,” Murane explains. “This is the only scene where social justice and Israel coexist. We break down the unhelpful walls between then. We show how it’s possible to be a supporter of social justice and Israel together.” And it is most definitely possible. Just this month, New Generations got 100 American lawyers to sign a letter to Israeli lawmakers opposing a Knesset bill that would create indentured servitude in Israel. The bill passed into law, so the letter that New Generations sent is part of the appeal to the Israeli High court. “It is inspiring to work parallel with these amazing Israeli rights activists,” Ben says, “And that’s way cooler than attending rallies or planting trees.”

In addition to New Generations, Ben is also co-publisher of the awesome progressive Jewish blog, Jewschool.com. We’re the voice of critical progressive and pluralistic thought, where once-unpopular views got their first soapbox,” says Murane. In essence, “Jewschool [provides] critical dialogue for disenfranchised Jews alienated—and bored to death—by the Jewish mainstream.”

Prior to working for New Generations, Ben has worked for New Voices Magazine, Hazon, and Breaking the Silence. He’s held local and national lay leadership positions for J Street NYC, J Street’s National Advisory Board, local minyan Kol Zimrah, and the National Havurah Committee. In both his professional and personal life, Ben Murane is dedicated to helping Jewish communities grow.

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A first generation American with South African parents, Roben Kantor grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with one older brother. Though “not lucky enough” to inherit her parents accent, Roben always knew there was something different about their family. “My parents had the true immigrant mentality when it came to school, grades, and achievement,” she explains. Roben holds a Masters of Science degree in Journalism from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Science in psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Currently the Communications Officer at the Schusterman Family Foundation, Kantor gets to use all of her professional strengths—writing, editing, collaborating, curiosity, thoroughness, multitasking—through running the Foundation’s blog, Website, Twitter and Facebook feeds, as well as collaborating on many articles, op-eds, presentations, letters,  and speeches.

The Schusterman Family Foundation was founded 1987, and is devoted to, as Kantor explains, “spreading the joy of Jewish living, giving and learning by empowering young Jewish adults to take ownership of their Jewish identity and lives.” Their most notable outreach achievements have been within the LGBTQ community, “We want to help Jews of all cultures, backgrounds, genders and upbringings find their place in our Jewish narrative, and we believe that our Jewish tapestry is stronger because of the richness and diversity of the people who compromise it,” Roben explains.

Roben’s passion for her work is very tangible, “The Jewish concept I’m more inspired and intrigued by right now is the idea that while God could have created a perfect world, he deliberately chose not to and instead to task humankind with the privilege and responsibility of helping to perfect it.”

The Schusterman Foundation is also connected with other Jewish organizations and institutions, such as the ROI Community, “There are so many exciting initiative and movements taking place in the Jewish world right now, and we want to make sure these efforts are as linked as possible,” she says.

Roben Kantor is without a doubt an inspiring Jewish woman with a passion for tikun olam and the Jewish community. But, who inspires her? “Those who actually get up and do, who lead by example, who don’t get mired in analysis paralysis but rather n’aaseh u’nishma—i.e. put deeds above words—those are the people I look to for inspiration.” It certainly sounds like Roben Kantor is one of those people.

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As the Vice President of J Street, Rachel Lerner has a challenging and rewarding job. A native New Yorker, Lerner has had an in-depth Jewish education and employment history in the Jewish community for close to ten years. Before working for J Street Rachel was Director of Strategic Community Planning Initiatives at the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto and Director of the Israel Advocacy Initiative at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in New York. Rachel graduated with a BA in Literature from SUNY Binghamton and a Masters in Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School, where she focused her studies on the role of religion in public life.

Being passionate about Israel as far back as she can remember, Rachel Lerner fell into the right job. “I’m very lucky to be able to do something I’m passionate about.  I realize that not everyone gets to do that.” J Street Education Fund gives a much-needed voice to mainstream American Jews who find themselves both in strong support of Israel, and advocates for a two-state solution. “I advocate for a two state solution and for a broad open and honest discourse on Israel in the American Jewish Community because I want to see those values manifested in the community and in Israel,” says Lerner.

Being at the top of such a controversial organization definitely has its downfalls. “It’s frustrating to get the kind of hateful, negative responses that sometimes get thrown at me when I tell people what I do and where I work,” Lerner writes, “But I get many more positive comments of support these days than I do negative ones.”

Why would someone want to enter into a job where they can expect some hateful reactions to their work? “I do what I do because I want there to be an Israel for my (theoretical) children and an Israel that they can be proud of — an Israel that speaks to them and inspires them the way it speaks to and inspires me,” explains Lerner.

It is an admirable quality to pursue your dreams regardless of their controversy, and Rachel Lerner definitely possesses this quality, “Even when I’m stressed out about work, I remember what a privilege it is to spend all day focused on issues that matter to me, to the Jewish community and to the world.”

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Born and raised in Ann Arbor Michigan, Adam Soclof is an influential Jew spread between many organizations and communities. After completing the Schusterman Insight Fellowship—a two-year program that places fellows in various Jewish non-profits in New York City—Soclof now works full time for JTA. Assisting in marketing, development, video production and blogging for the JTA Archive.   That alone is enough for one person, but that it isn’t even close to all Adam does in the Jewish world.

Being a member of the PresenTense community since 2007, Adam is now working on developing Gelt Rush, an online resource that aggregates Jewish funding opportunities including scholarships, grants and fellowships.

Soclof is also well known for Haman Song, a Purim video he produced in 2007 with Bible Raps.

Don’t let the fake beard put you off—this video is hilarious, and, not a bad telling of the Purim story.

In his spare time, if he has any, Soclof enjoys nature walks, documentary film, and tracking trends in social media. Check out his blog HyperSemitic, where he occasionally shares offbeat Jewish news and videos.

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What drives a young Jewish woman to leave New York City, convert to Islam, and embrace life in a foreign country? At the age of nineteen, a young Margaret Marcus was introduced to Islam and, by age 24 would become Maryam Jameelah and moved to Pakistan. Deborah Baker’s, The Convert (Graywolf Press) traces the life of Maryam mainly through letter correspondence, and also tracks the internal experience of the author as she confronts these texts. “Self-taught, untraveled, and unlearned in any foreign language, Margaret Marcus had sacrificed the supposed freedoms and privileges of a Western lifestyle to live in upright exile in Pakistan,” Deborah Baker writes.

When reading the actual writings of Maryam Jameelah, one can easily start to covet her passion, devotion, and certainty in her faith. On the boat en route to Pakistan, she writes, “The sun rose on Alexandria. Watching from the captain’s deck after my early-morning salat, I saw the coast come into focus, then dozens of feluccas manned by men in skullcaps and flowing while jellabeyas skirted across the harbor out of the morning mist. It was a most incredible sight. Clearly recognizing me as a fellow Muslim, they called out ‘asalaam aleikum’ and my heart practically lifted me off my feet.”

The Convert alternates between a letter correspondence and the author’s personal journey. While I personally found the latter less captivating, it is still interesting to see how a proud Jewish American (in this case, me) encounters Maryam’s writings about the inferiority of the West.

Deborah Baker acts as a detective of sorts, following each letter correspondence with further questions about it’s implications and meanings, giving the reader something to think about but also very little to do. Though I enjoy Baker’s take on the letters, I would have enjoyed reading them on their own, with the author’s commentary later in the book.
Maryam’s personal letters are beautifully written, engaging, and follow her through almost two decades. Illustrating her arrival in Pakistan, her stay with Mawlana Abul Ala Mawdudi, a man who laid the intellectual foundations for militant Islam, and her admittance to a madhouse.

All in all, I’d say this book is a beautiful illustration of a profoundly unique person, Maryam Jameelah. If you like a biography with a twist, The Convert is for you.

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In a time where many of us cannot directly relate to physical slavery, Pesach is a holiday where us Jews are encouraged to dig to the depths of our souls and find what is enslaving us. For some Orthodox gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered Jews, not much searching is needed to experience the feeling of slavery.

“Being in the closet is one of the worst possible things we experience,” said Talya Lev, a member of Bat Kol, an organization for Orthodox Lesbian women based in Israel. “The hiding, the fear, the paranoia… obsessing over how people will react if they found out.” The word for Egypt, Mitzrayim, literally translates to “narrow” or “constricted”. Being in the closet is most definitely a tangible form of Mitzrayim.

What does freedom mean? And what does it mean to LGBT Jews?

It’s more than just coming out of the closet, “Coming out was freeing in many ways but being a LGBT person in the orthodox community, I feel like I’m still living in a narrow place,” Said Rivka, a member of Tirtzah, an online-based resource for lesbian Orthodox Jews. “Many gay and lesbian Jews in general are still imprisoned by their shame. I am lucky that I have a partner and children and we live openly in our Modern Orthodox community. We do not hate ourselves for being who we are,” she explained.

The main force in the enslavement of LGBT Jews, it seems, is shame. Shame about who one is, loves, and the communal expectations they are unable to meet. “So many of us go through this phase, and so many of us are still in it, in the darkness,” said Talya.

But, LGBT Jews have a lot to be thankful for this Pesach, too.

The founding of Eshel, an organization hosting retreats for LGBT Orthodox Jews, the Statement of Principles, put together by Orthodox rabbis stating the legitimacy of LGBT Jews in Orthodoxy, and many more. “The fact that there are organizations like Bat Kol and Havruta, and religious women living in their religious communities, however few, that are married to each other and have children without being ostracized is nothing short of a miracle,” said Talya.

But, as with the splitting of the Red Sea, these big miracles only occur with equally big leaps of faith. “The men, women and transgenders who have taken those first steps, through fear of the unknown, have begun to pave the way for the rest of us to full freedom,” explained Talya.

The struggle for freedom is only beginning, and there are still many who are suffering. “In our seder we always talk about remembering those who are not yet free,” said Rivka, “The continued oppression of gay people in the Orthodox community who are shunned, humiliated, shamed and often end up either going off the path or committing suicide (G-d forbid) or, on the other hand, staying closeted and marrying someone of the opposite sex, whose lives they destroy along with their own and those of their children.”

The path to freedom for us LGBT Orthodox Jews is a winding, complicated one. Full of both great darkness and light, it takes true faith to walk into the sea of the unknown. But, when we do, not only are we more true to ourselves, we are paving the way for generations to come.

As a queer Jew, I am grateful to be apart of this miraculous time.

*Image via Moment Magazine

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Trying to write a last minute Purim shpiel*? Struggling with where to start? Here are a few steps that may help you write a hilarious shpiel catered to your community.

Step One: Look Around

Ditch the Purim story reenactment. It is a well-known fact that the best shpiels are ones that pick on people in the shul, the rabbi, and/or the Jewish community as a whole. So, good news, shpiel-writer: you have probably been preparing for your shpiel all year and didn’t even know it! The first step to shpiel writing is to look around your community and make a blunt, judgmental assessment. Whereas during the rest of the year you might be afraid to tell people that you’ve labeled them “Insane Palin-Loving Right-Wing Nut Job”, “Spaced-Out Hippie”, “Way Too Religious”, or even “Quiet One Who Never Talks”, Purim is your time to let it all out. So, step one is just, take a look around. Take note of the judgments you’ve already made about these people and the Jewish community. What bothers you? What do you think is outright absurd? Take note.

It’s Purim: anything goes. Well, most things. Definitely avoid making fun of people’s physical attributes/appearances, as well as race and sexual orientation. If you can leave those out, you’re all set to write an awesome shpiel.

Step Two: Mix it Up

Once you’ve made a list of all the people/things you wish to pick on during your shpiel, use your imagination to put one or more of those characters in a completely foreign context. For instance, maybe you want to put “Insane Palin-Loving Right-Wing Nut Job” on a date with “Spaced-Out Hippie”. Maybe you want to have “Way Too Religious”, “Spaced-Out Hippie” and “Insane Palin-Loving Right-Wing Nut Job” in Richard Simmons’ aerobics class, or shopping at the mall (which could possibly include an argument about Shatnes, Fair Trade, and Organic materials). Get creative. What is the most absurd place you can imagine these people together? A cruise? A safari? As characters in the Wizard of Oz? In a rock band? Put them there, and the words will come easily.

Step Three: Getting Actors

Getting actors for your shpiel maybe the most difficult part, as this requires you to have at least a few people who are not being made fun of. Keep this in mind before starting Step One. If you can’t find any actors, a one-man-show with props (McCain-Palin t-shirt, black hat, feathers in hair) is totally doable and hilarious.

Step Four: Practice!

Nothing helps you build confidence in your shpiel like practicing. Practice until you are sick of your own shpiel; then you are ready.

Good luck, shpiel-writers.  Purim Sameach!

*Shpiel: Yiddish for ‘skit’ or ‘play’, it is traditional to do a shpiel on Purim night

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Aryeh Goldsmith is just a young Jewish chap in Brooklyn. Working as an online infrastructure consultant, he has built and founded several online directories and social media companies, and also writes for Jewschool.com. “I do mostly technical work and I enjoy creating resources that help people interact with each other,” says Goldsmith, whose new and exciting creation is Mitzfunder.

“The goal of Mitzfunder is to allow new Jewish initiatives by individuals to get communal support and funding,” he explains. Set up much like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo, Mitzfunder will allow people to securely list projects they wish to raise funds for, and will give the tzedaka-giver a variety of independent Jewish projects to choose from. “I like the idea of breathing new life into the formal Jewish tzedaka and giving sector.” Goldsmith says.

“One evening at the Presentense hub in NY we were discussing the dilemma of whether or not to keep ideas for new projects secret until they’re built or not. The prevailing attitude was that chances are you’re not the only one with that idea,” says Aryeh, “You’ll probably find others who share your vision and possibly get collaborators or encouragement to pursue it.   The impetus for putting this online came from that conversation.”

“Some people have great ideas that their peers fall in love with instantly and would donate to if possible. Ideas that happen outside of the grant cycle. Ideas that don’t fit the vision of granting organizations. Ideas that just need $2000 to get started,” explains Leah Jones, Aryeh’s main partner with Mitzfunder.

In our current economy, even big organizations are starting to look at this model of fundraising again, explains Leah, “Some Mitzfunder projects will be individuals raising seed money, and others will be large organizations raising $100K.”

Allowing the donor to choose from a wide variety of different projects to give to, Mitzfunder would truly revolutionize the way we give tzedaka. “I like the idea of having projects pass the muster of 1000 donors, rather than a handful of grant reviewers,” says Aryeh. A non-hierarchical model such as Mitzfunder allows the tzedaka-giver to feel empowered by choosing from a variety of start-up projects, and know they are making a direct difference.

“Traditional funding is harder to come by,” explains Leah, “our friends are more comfortable making small donations online and people understand the idea of tipping point funding thanks to Kickstarter, IndieGoGo and GroupOn.”

Like the very projects it is hoping to help fund, Mitzfunder is an independent project with great potential. “The first Mitzfunder project is Mitzfunder – if we don’t get funded, we won’t convert pledges to donation and we won’t build the site,” says Leah.

So, you want to feel empowered in your tzedaka-giving? Want to give to an independent, Jewish project that has exciting potential to rejuvenate the way we see tzedaka? Then email mfbr@mitzfunder.org to find out how you can contribute to Mitzfunder.

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In a time where social networking is a large part of almost everyone’s life, many activists have found social networking sites to be a successful venue for social action.

Steph Herold is one of them. A young abortion-rights activist living in Brooklyn, Herold has worked in direct service abortion care and reproductive health advocacy, and recently discovered that Twitter was a surprising way to get women’s voices heard loudly. So loudly, in fact, that they made it all the way to CNN.

#IHadAnAbortion is a twitter hashtag started as a new venue for women to tell their abortion stories. The inspiration, said Herold, was a blog post she read which compares the modern pro-choice movement to the gay rights movement of the 1970s. “What strengthened the gay rights movement then, according to [this blog post], were people coming out, and the general public realizing that homosexuality is more common and prevalent (and normal!) than they ever imagined. The author of the post posed an interesting question: why don’t we do that for abortion rights? That really struck a chord with me. The anti-choice movement has tried to make abortion the sin of a few bad women. In reality, abortion is a regular part of women’s lives,” explained Herold.

Using Twitter for social action hasn’t been an easy road, “Some anti-choice individuals thought I was somehow getting paid to promote the hashtag. Other anti-choice people accused me of exploiting women for my own gain. A few people on the pro-choice side accused me of trivializing abortion, but many just didn’t understand twitter as a legitimate space for people to tell their stories.”

#IHadAnAbortion is not the first Twitter hashtag to be used for social activism, but it may be the most controversial.  “Honestly, I wasn’t even sure people were going to use the hashtag” Herold said, “I wish the media was always as interested in hearing women’s abortion stories and using them for good instead of sensationalizing abortion and the women who have them.”

Steph is also the founder of the website IAmDrTiller.com which honors the life and work of Dr. Tiller, a Kansas doctor who was murdered for performing abortions at his clinic. The site also shares the stories of abortion nurses, counselors, escorts and doctors who put their lives on the line everyday in order to make abortion safe and accessible to women.

Being Jewish has been an integral part of Herold’s activism, “Being a feminist and an observant Jew was an identity that was really difficult for me to inhabit,” she explains, “At one point, a Rabbi told me that I should never be permitted to enter a synagogue because of my (feminist/pro-choice/women are full human beings) beliefs. His words did the opposite of what he wanted: they made me even more of an ardent believer and advocate for abortion rights and reproductive justice. And I never went to synagogue anyway.”

Are you sitting there thinking, “What can I do to advocate for women and make abortions safe and accessible?”  Well, good news: “There are so many ways to support abortion providers.” Says Steph.  “You can become a clinic escort and volunteer to make sure that patients get into clinics safely and with minimal anti-choice harassment. You can donate to places like the Abortion Care Network, Planned Parenthood, and the National Network of Abortion Funds. You can write a letter to the editor of your local paper about supporting providers and reproductive rights. You can talk to your friends and family about why you support abortion rights. You can ask your friends and family (respectfully) to tell their abortion stories.

“Some women regret their abortions, some women feel relieved after they have abortions, and some feel a mix or something totally different. We have to create a culture where all of these experiences are acceptable. I hope that talking honestly, even if just on Twitter, is a step in that direction.”

Steph Herold shows us that activism can begin with a word, an action, or even a Twitter hashtag. Who knew?

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