Don Futterman speaks truth to power, to the Israeli government and to United Jewish Communities, in his Haaretz Op-Ed, on the Falas Mura.  Worth reading and sending around.  Nice job Don.

JFL Media Sweeps the Rockower Awards

Three JFL Media publications were recognized with prestigious awards at the 27th annual American Jewish Press Association Awards ceremony in Washington D.C. last night.

In a new AJPA Outstanding Website category for 2008, first place went to the newly re-designed JVibe.com, with BabagaNewz.com right behind in second place. 

JVibe, the Magazine for Jewish teens, received first place for Overall Graphic Design. BabagaNewz, the Jewish classroom magazine for children in grades 4 through 7, was awarded first place in the Supplement or Special Section for its Builders, Dreamers and Defenders Israel@60 supplement. Sh’ma, A Journal of Jewish Responsibility, took first place in the Noah Bee Award for Excellence in Illustration category for its centerfold in the Darfur issue.

“We are honored to be recipients of the Rockower Awards and to pioneer as winners in the new Website category,” says Amir Cohen, CEO of JFL Media.  “All of our projects are equally special and we are delighted that our incredibly dedicated staff is being recognized for their hard work over the past year.”

This year there were more than 870 submissions for Rockower Awards in 16 categories that included news reporting, investigative journalism, cartooning, feature writing, and commentary.

For more information about us and our products, contact Lindsay Harris at marketing@jflmedia.com.

When one is busy with a family with five kids yet still tries to make time to write, it better be for impact. For this reason, and for the mitzvah of what it accomplished, it is an honor to win my 15th Rockower Award for Excellence in Journalism from the AJPA, this one on the Sudanese refugee prisoners in Israel.  Click here for JTA’s brief on it. First Place, Investigative Journalism. Among the many people who deserve thanks, I especially want to thank the Wexner Foundation for recognizing that journalism is an important part of Jewish life and for underwriting my studies at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, where I learned the skills to pen these articles that make a difference. Read more

I was fortunate to be in Tel Aviv on Friday morning to attend the founding conference of a new movement–The Green Movement–whose intention is to form a new political party in time to run in the next Knesset elections.  Alon Tal, winner of the Bronfman Prize, founder of the Arava Institute and many other mainstream and effective environmental efforts here, is one of the two movers of the party.  The goal is not only to win Knesset seats, but for Alon to be the next Minister of the Environment, as per his excellent essay in Sh’ma several months ago.  There were more people at this event than there were at the First Zionist Congress and some of the language and idealism was similar.  More later.

אוֹר מִתְחַדֵּשׁ לַגּוֹיִים

יוֹסֵף יִשְׂרָאֵל אַבְּרָמוֹבִיץ’

הָאֱמֶת הַנּוֹחָה עַל הָעָם הַיְּהוּדִי הִיא שֶׁכְּשֶׁאָנוּ מַפְעִילִים אֶת הַשֵּׂכֶל וְאֶת הַהוֹן שֶׁלָּנוּ, יֵשׁ בְּכוֹחֵנוּ לְחוֹלֵל נִסִּים. אֵין תַּכְלִית אֲצִילִית יוֹתֵר מִלְּהַצִּיל אֶת הָאֱנוֹשׁוּת, לְהַבְטִיחַ שֶׁהִתְחַיְּבוּתוֹ שֶׁל אֱלֹהִים אַחֲרֵי הַמַּבּוּל שֶׁלֹּא לִמְחוֹת אֶת הָעוֹלָם בְּמַּיִם (”וְלֹא יִהְיֶה עוֹד הַמַּיִם לְמַבּוּל לְשַׁחֵת כָּל בָּשָׂר”, בר’ ט, 15) תִּתְקַיֵּם בִּזְכוּת מַעֲשֵׂינוּ – וַאֲפִלּוּ אִם רַק בְּמִדָּה צְנוּעָה כָּלְשֶׁהִי. ּפְּרוֹיֶקְט

Read more

Hot off the press at Sh’ma, my essay linking Peoplehood with Solar Energy efforts.  Enjoy!  Yossi

A Renewable Light Unto the Nations
Yosef Israel Abramowitz 

The convenient truth about the Jewish people is that when we put our minds and capital to work, we can make miracles happen. There is no more noble cause than saving humanity itself, ensuring that God’s covenant not to wipe out the planet with rising waters will be — in some small measure — because of our actions. 

Saving the earth itself from global warming, and the billions of people and animals on it, is not just environmentalism. It is global survival. Of the trillions of cosmic opportunities for life to flourish, this third rock from the sun may be the only expression, the only experiment, to grace the universe with the possibility of collective moral choice. Read more

http://thenewjew.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/guest-author-tsvi-bisk-asks-what-if-one-billion-dollars-a-year-were-used-to-buy-israeli-alternative-energy-technology%e2%80%9d/

http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/200806010529cleantech.html

By the way, today the Public Utilities Authority green lighted the new profitable feed-in tariff for our first small fields.  This means we’re in business!  (Those still interested in investing, please email ASAP to Yosef@AravaPower.com) 

http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/35361/format/html/displaystory.html