“Jews have a long and rich history in Ukraine going back more than a millennium. It was once one of Europe’s largest Jewish communities, and has had a major influence on the development of Ashkenazi Jewish culture. But Ukraine is also the site of some of the most brutal scenes of anti-Jewish violence in history.

This email series will guide you through this complicated history and the ways it sheds light on the battles unfolding in the present.”

Related Grantee: My Jewish Learning

“Starting in mid-June as Senior Advisor, Viewpoint Diversity, Rabbi Wolpe will provide general counsel to Maimonides Fund program staff in this area, serve as a thought leader on the intersection of viewpoint diversity and Jewish wisdom, and facilitate periodic discussions and convenings on this topic and related themes.”

“Unlike every nation of antiquity that lived by our side, we did not disappear when our national sovereignty was dissolved. … But at no time was separation from the Land of Israel considered permanent. . . .At no time did the rabbis sever Torah from Israel, or God from the people. At no time was tikkun olam — the universal demand to do what is just and right — ripped from the moorings of klal yisrael — the centrality of Jewish peoplehood. It was never one or the other. One without the other diminished both. It was all part of a unified whole.”

Related Grantee: SAPIR: A Journal of Jewish Conversations

“When antisemitic conspiracy theories flooded Spanish-language media in Florida ahead of the 2020 U.S. election, some mainstream news outlets joined in amplifying them — then apologized for doing so.

A new effort initiated by Fuente Latina, a pro-Israel Spanish-language media group launched in 2012, aims to combat those ideas and prevent them from seeping into community discourse.”

Related Grantee: Fuente Latina

“Jewish text is both a mirror and a set of binoculars. It reflects back to us and gives us insight into who we are, and it also gives us a set of lenses with which to view the world outside.”

— Rabbi Leon Morris

Related Grantee: SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future

“The gifted population in Israel is a population that has very, very strong potential to impact on issues which are of national interest to Israel….A lot of the time, they are the same population that don’t get the academic programs or solutions that are needed in order to maximize their individual and their collective potential.”

Related Grantee: Future Scientists Center

“The Digital Storytellers Lab of the Jewish Writers’ Initiative has selected thirteen digital media writers/creators for its inaugural program….The fellows hail from a variety of professional backgrounds – including journalists, filmmakers, novelists, songwriters, game designers, and more – and were chosen via an open call for proposals that brought in over 260 applications.

Related Grantee: Jewish Writers’ Initiative Digital Storytellers Lab

“Bombach is the driving spirit behind a new Israeli network of schools that provides ultra-Orthodox children not only with a comprehensive religious education, but also requires them to study a core curriculum of math, English, science, history and civics.”

Related Grantee: The Netzach Educational Network

“One cannot really understand the truth if one does not understand the arguments and views that can be urged against it. Just as we appreciate our blessings when we feel the lack of them, we sharpen our perception of truth when we are confronted by arguments that appear to contradict it…Openness to others, including those with whom we might vehemently disagree, is also essential for creating a robust and living culture.”

Related Grantee: SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future

“The very act of impact evaluation requires narrowing down the problem to make it legible and, in the process, other complex and unwieldy problems, that might be more pressing, will be left out. Impact evaluations only encompass the highest impact philanthropic efforts that we can measure and publish with confidence. Halfway into comparing air pollution and malaria, I had a renewed appreciation for James C. Scott’s ideas on the tradeoff between legibility and complexity. Air pollution mitigation institutions don’t make it to the top five of the GiveWell list because both the causes of air pollution and the interventions to mitigate pollution are complicated.”

“Ne’emanut for Buzaglo indicates trust rooted in your connection to the speaker(s)—a unique and distinct voice among many, that you hear differently from all others because it is speaking specifically to you, in the context of your relationship with them…. The relational act of transmission is what carries moral weight. When one is ne’eman, one sees oneself as a link in a chain and takes on the role of continuing the chain into the future.”

This year’s Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 features two alumni of the Future Scientists Center Odyssey program:

“At the age of 14, [Keshet Shavit] was accepted into the academic studies programs for high school students at Ben Gurion University – Odyssey (of the Center for Future Scientists and the Ministry of Education) and Marie Curie, and began her first degree. She came to Professor Amir Sagi’s laboratory and carried out research there, the results of which were presented at conferences and published in an academic article when she was only 18 years old.”

“In middle school, [Avraham Barbi] says, he got bored and used to disrupt classes….”I wanted to find another place to gain knowledge, so I enrolled in the ‘Odyssey’ program at the Technion (of the Center for Future Scientists and the Ministry of Education). There I realized that the field of physics fascinates me.” Currently, Avraham is a member of Escola – the alumni network of the program, and is about to finish his master’s degree in the track for quantum information at the Hebrew University.”

Related Grantee: Future Scientists Center