by Yosef I. Abramowitz

“Every year it’s basically a disaster,” says Michael, “but my parents did it to me and I guess I’m just continuing the tradition.”

If your experience as a family mirrors Brenda and Michael’s attempt to do the Jewish thing, here’s my advice to you:

Stop the madness!

Read more

If you didn’t catch the NYT article on Shawn Green’s move to the NY Mets, and all the Jewish themes, you’ll really enjoy this. Note my dad’s quotes.

In the chadar ochel (dining room) of the kibbutz, there’s a big bulletin board, which includes the latest book that the library here has received. This week they are featuring a thought book by Rabbi Judith Abrams and another writer on Judaism and baseball.

We landed right after the Evil Empire swept a five game series at Fenway, dashing another season’s potential. We found out there are Yankee fans here on the Jordanian border and they are on this side of the border…

Thank you for all the emails and calls checking in our relocation to the Arava desert. The kibbutz is beautiful and welcoming. The kids begin school tomorrow (in Hebrew!) and there’s an endless list of details and forms and challenges.  These have been off-set, however, by the majesty of the Journey the promise it holds. I am often overwhelmed by the sheer decency of the people, their commitment to their children and to education and to Israel.  The kibbutz has a more Israeli flavor than my memory allows and I think this has come alive most in the back-to-school night parents meetings.  Jewish identity is on the move here and it is very exciting. More later.

(photo above is me on Ketura in 1983 on Young Judaea Year Course)

Dear Peoplehooders,

Tomorrow my family and I board an El Al plane to Israel.  From Ben Gurion, we are going to the main cemetery in Tel Aviv to pay our respects to Ahad Ha’am and have a little birthday (his 150th!) celebration there.  He was a great intellectual pioneer of the Jewish people. From Tel Aviv, we go to Sde Boker to visit the graves of Ben Gurion and his wife Paula (who we are related to), over looking the Negev. Another pioneer in many other ways.

We arrive at Kibbutz Ketura in the mid-afternoon on Thursday.  What’s it like picking up a family of seven and heading to the desert?  How will my role evolve in Jewish life and at Jewish Family & Life!  What’s the book going to be about? 

Tune in regularly on peoplehood.org. Thanks for everyone who has made the journey thus far so rich and meaningful. Look to the Forward this week for an important article.

THE ON-GOING ABANDONMENT OF JEWISH STUDENTS

A student activist’s lament: when will the community realize that we are the answer?

YOSEF I. ABRAMOWITZ

When the Jewish people stood at Sinai, the Holy One asked for a guarantor before He would present them with the Torah. “Our ancestors are our guarantors,� they responded. But this was not enough. Then the people offered, “our prophets are our guarantors.� And again it was not enough. Finally, the People of Israel said, “Here, our children are our guarantors.�

Then, the midrash tells us, the Master of the Universe replied, “They are certainly good guarantors. For their sake, I give the Torah to you.�

In our generation, the guarantors of God’s Torah have been abandoned. This is not just my feeling, but the cumulative conclusion of two decades of Jewish student leaders.

Student leaders come in all shapes and sizes. Harvard senior Lori Fein pioneered a national Jewish pride week because “the first thing students shed when they reach campus is their Jewish identity.� University of California at Davis junior Donny Orenstein founded a chapter of the Progressive Zionist Caucus on his campus because “the anti-Israel forces on the left are so powerful that Jewish students mindlessly also adopt anti-Israel positions.�

Name an issue, and there is a Jewish student activist doing something about it. Yet while there is little uniformity among this politically diverse and largely unconnected group of activists, there are two things we all agree on: One, the overwhelming majority of Jewish students on campus are not involved, and, two, the Jewish establishment couldn’t care less. It’s a sad story. Here’s mine. Read more

Aug. 20, 2006 9:28 | Updated Aug. 20, 2006 15:53
Iran tests short-range missile
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHERAN, Iran

Talkbacks for this article: 4

Iran on Sunday test-fired a surface-to-surface short-range missile a day after its army launched large-scale military exercises througout the country, state-run television reported.

“Saegheh, the missile, has a range of between 80 to 250 kilometers,” the report said. It said the missile was tested in the Kashan desert, about 250 kilometers southeast of the capital of Teheran.

Saegheh means lightning in Farsi.

Iran has routinely held war games over the past two decades to improve its combat readiness and to test equipment such as missiles, tanks and armored personnel carriers. But the new tests, in the wake of the Lebanon-Hizbullah fighting, seemed certain to create new tensions with the West.

State-run television said the missile was built based on domestic know-how, although outside experts say much of the country’s missile technology originated from other countries.

State-run TV showed video showing 10 missiles being launched from mobile launching pads. Read more

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/08/16/from_suburb_to_kibbutz/

Our Shlicha, Tova Grushko (TovaG@jazo.org.il), has been doing a great job on many levels in helping our family prepare for our big move to Kibbutz Ketura. On top of all the regular services the Jewish Agency provides, she threw in a big story in the Boston Globe that hopefully will inspire others to try this journey. Susan, the kids and I want to thank the Jewish Agency and Tova for all their encouragement and assistance. And, of course, for the Globe mentioning your favorite blog:-)

photo here

Yosef Abramowitz played ball with three of his children yesterday, in the midst of preparing for the the family’s move to Israel. (Suzanne Kreiter/ Globe Staff)

The Boston Globe
From suburb to kibbutz
Despite turmoil, or because of it, some American Jews begin new life in Israel

By Adrienne P. Samuels, Globe Staff | August 16, 2006

NEWTON — He’s the founder of a nonprofit Jewish agency. She’s a well-respected rabbi and author. They, along with their five children, live in a big house in a beautiful neighborhood.

But they are leaving for a new life in Israel, where the children will be expected to shovel out camel stalls and all will face the risks of a region in upheaval.

The Abramowitz-Silverman family, like thousands of American Jews, are making aliyah — or going to Israel — despite tensions in the Middle East and the country’s recent uneasy cease-fire agreement with Lebanon. The family of seven is moving to a communal-living town located on a spit of desert wedged between Egypt and Jordan in southern Israel. Still, the constant threat of war and the ongoing worldwide argument over Israel’s right to exist doesn’t deter them.

“I think this is the right thing to do,” said Yosef Abramowitz, 42, who recently stepped down as chief executive of Jewish Family and Life, a nonprofit publisher. “Not going is giving in to terror. It’s also taking away our own dreams as a family. Why would we let that weaken the Jewish spirit and our own family’s dream?” Read more

I spent 5 1/2 hours on Monday with Gordon Zacks in Kennebunkport, ME. Gordy, as his friends call him, has penned a must-read book for Jewish leaders and others who are interested in the field of leadership. “Defining Moments: Stories of Character, Courage, and Leadership” is coming out shortly and will be backed by a major speaking tour and lots of publicity.
Zacks was a macher at AIPAC when I worked for Steve Rosen and we wrote a monograph together on How Americans Feel About Israel. He led the Jewish community’s AWACs battle in 1981, which was my first burst of Israel activism. When he called out of the blue, I was happy to take his call. When he told me his mother was Florence Melton, a pioneer in Jewish education, I agreed to see him.
It turns out that Zacks and I had lived somewhat parallel lives. No, I was not a key figure in anyone’s Presidential campaign. But when I was organizing Jewish student demonstrations in 23 countries, he was introducing VP George Bush at the Soviet Jewry rally in Washington, D.C. While I was an organizer of the first major international activist campaign for Ethiopian Jewry, he played a key role in having Bush Sr. green light and implement Operation Moses and Solomon. While I organized the only international activist conference ever for the rescue of the remaining Jews of Yemen, he, well, that part is not in the book so I’m not allowed to say. But it does involve a graveyard in Florida and a top Mossad official.
That’s the charm of Gordy Zacks. Was at the center of some of the great campaigns for Israel and the Jewish people, is a believer in Jewish education and now sees his role as inspiring the next generation. We didn’t talk politics, even though the view from his home overlooked the Bush family compound on the ocean. We had more important things to discuss and agree upon. JNF will be coordinating the book tour in the fall.

Iran promised the world a response on Aug. 22nd on the nuclear issue, particularly the package of incentives and sanctions. I predict that on Aug 22nd, the day we’re off to Israel, Iran will test-fire a long range missle into the Indian ocean. You heard it here first.

I had a strange feeling on Tuesday when I was flying out of Ronald Reagan in DC about carry on liquids and explosives and then the whole London story broke…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Newton, MA
August 8, 2006

Contact: Jill Baker, Marketing Director, ext. 249
Adam Marks, Marketing Associate, ext. 265
Phone: 617-965-7700
marketing@jflmedia.com

New CEO Named at Jewish Family & Life!
(JFL Media)

Following a four month nationwide search, Amir Cohen, current Chief Operating Officer at Jewish Family & Life!, has been named Chief Executive Officer. Cohen takes the reins from founder, Yosef I. Abramowitz, who will recast his role with the organization from his new home in Kibbutz Keturah in the Arava, Israel.

The search, conducted by Mersky, Jaffe and Associates, was chaired by Michael Rukin (Boston). Committee members included Jeffrey Solomon, President of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies (New York); Stuart Matlins, President and CEO of Jewish Lights Publishing (VT); and JFL Chairman of the Board, Martin Kaminer (New York) along with board members Evan Schlessinger (Los Angeles) and Sally Narodick (Seattle).

Amir Cohen,
New CEO of JFL

Cohen joined JFL Media as COO in 2005, following a year on the Board of Directors at which time he owned Mediabuy LLC, an advertising agency and consulting firm. Prior, Cohen was the Associate Publisher at the New Jersey Jewish News, business manager of the Forward (New York), and a General Manager of a weekly newspaper at the Schocken Group in Israel, where he started his publishing career.

Cohen, an active member of the Rhode Island Jewish community, has served on the board of the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island and the Brown University Hillel. Born in Israel, Cohen served in the Israeli Army and holds an MBA from Tel Aviv University. He lives in Providence with his wife and two sons.

In his new role, Abramowitz will focus on enhancing editorial content across JFL Media properties. He will continue to bring his big picture vision and Jewish values approach to future strategies.

JFL Media (http://www.jflmedia.com/) is a nonprofit, pluralistic enterprise and leading producer of original Jewish content for print and web channels. Flagship publications include the award winning classroom magazine BabagaNewz, published in partnership with The AVI CHAI Foundation; teen magazine JVIBE, underwritten in part by the Marcus Foundation and the Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund; and the journal Sh’ma.

JFL Media also produces a variety of websites including JBooks.com, which is managing the prestigious Koret International Jewish Book Awards; SocialAction.com, in partnership with the Picower Foundation, JewishFamily.com, and JPhilanthropy.com, an initiative of the Manuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation.

Key people comment on the change of leadership at JFL Media:

Says Yosef I. Abramowitz, Jewish Family & Life! founder:
“Amir Cohen brings a wealth of leadership, business, publishing, and communal experience and is very focused on results and impact. He is a Peoplehood leader, and I am proud to continue my relationship with JFL and to follow his lead.�

New JFL CEO Amir Cohen replies:
“Today I’m honored to succeed Yossi after having had the privilege of working with him as a board member and COO. His founding principles and values have positioned JFL to uniquely impact Jewish life. I learned a great deal by his side and as a result feel ready to lead JFL into the next chapter. Furthermore, I could never ask for a better foundation than the support of JFL’s superb staff and strong board. With their creativity, hard work and experience and with the commitment of our many partners in the funding community, no vision is too ambitious.�

David A. Mersky, Founder and Managing Director of Mersky, Jaffe & Associates, states:
“It is always difficult to replace a founder, but this search attracted more than fifty candidates from around the world and from every conceivable field of endeavor – from private sector entrepreneurs to government official, publishing executives to nonprofit organizational leaders. The search committee functioned well and the result is an excellent choice for JFL’s next state of development.�

Philanthropist Jeffrey Solomon, President of The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies in New York, concurs:
“There was a unanimous view that Amir would bring the necessary leadership to JFL to continue its tradition of innovation and quality. I am confident he will move JFL into an increasingly vital role in the larger Jewish community.�

Martin Kaminer, Chairman of the Board of Jewish Family & Life!, concludes:
“The choice of Amir Cohen as our next CEO represents a significant accomplishment for the organization and strong step forward as we continue to grow, to professionalize, and to seek excellence in all our endeavors. Amir has already demonstrated his ability to conceive, to execute and to lead; we all look forward to working with him as he charts the course for the next age of Jewish Family & Life!�