There are good things we can only achieve together — if we can first come together. It\’s not clear how we do this when 10 friends, some cash and a Web site are enough to create a Jewish world unto themselves.
This speech, by writer/editor/blogger Esther D. Kustanowitz, was delivered at the 2007 General Assembly convened in Nashville by United Jewish Communities as part of the \”Next Generation\” plenary. At the plenary, a range of young Jewish and Israeli activists, bloggers, an Oscar-winning filmmaker and others described their visions of community building and the power of the collective.
The Torah Outreach Program, an independent Placentia-based nonprofit organization, will attempt to offer educational programs for unaffiliated Orange County Jews without the stigma of a denominational orientation.
For the past three weeks, the theme of Rabbi Elazar Muskin\’s Shabbat sermons at Young Israel of Century City has been the same. Thundering from the podium, he chastises his congregation for not doing enough to support Israel, and he urges them to pray better and give more charity in response to the horrors of the terror attacks.
Like many communities in Los Angeles, Young Israel of Century City has taken upon itself the support of a large number of charities in Israel, specifically those that fall between the lines; causes that are neither affiliated with the large Jewish fundraising bodies such as The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, nor supported by the Israeli government, despite the urgency of the cause.
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