Chanukah Acts: Stand Up and Be Counted at Freedom 25

by | Dec 10, 2012

Last year, in his blog post on Chanukah, Yossi Prager, AVI CHAI Executive Director – North America, concluded with the following: “Unlike all other Jewish holidays, Chanukah has no sacred text to be read in synagogue.  The Book of Maccabees is part of the...

Takeaways from Chanukah 2011/5772

by | Dec 27, 2011

By: Yossi Prager As Chanukah draws to an end, I have begun to think about the takeaways from the holiday that I hope will inspire me well into 2012.  Rather than focus on the traditions of the holiday, my thoughts drift to the underlying events and the sense of pride...

While Working on WHY, Let’s Not Forget the WHO

by | Nov 29, 2011

By: Michael Berger At the GA convention earlier this month, Rabbi Elie Kaunfer, the author of “Empowered Judaism,” one of the co-founders of Mechon Hadar, and a 2008 AVI CHAI Fellow, gave an inspiring plenary address on the essential role Torah study must play in...

Moving the Dial on Israel Education and Advocacy

by | Nov 10, 2011

By: Yossi Prager What is top of mind for the wealthiest funders of Jewish education/identity in North America?  Based on AVI CHAI’s conversations: Israel education and advocacy. As part of AVI CHAI’s spend-down strategy, our Trustees and staff have been meeting with...

How Do We Frame Jewish History for Our Students?

by | Oct 25, 2011

By: Rachel Mohl Abrahams Last month in the Forward, Rachel Burstein wrote about day schools focusing on themes of Jewish persecution. She claims that in her courses in Brooklyn College, she could always identify the day school graduates based on their selections of...
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