Dan Smokler: Reinventing the Old for an Innovative Future
Episode 39Â of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Daniel Smokler, Chief Innovation Officer of the Office of Innovation, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about how the philosophy of l'chadaysh et ha'yashan, renewing the old, informs his practice of innovation, how his family history of philanthropy influences his own journey, the changes in rabbinical leadership, and the delayed awakening that could come out of the COVID-19 pandemic.Â
Shavuot, or Why Sinatra Was Wrong (Shavuot 5783)
The famous song “My Way”, popularized by Frank Sinatra, is problematic.
For starters, the music belongs to a 1967 French song called “Comme d’habitude,” (“as usual”) by Jacques Revaux. Paul Anka bought the rights, and after a dinner with Frank Sinatra and “a couple of mob guys” in Florida, wrote a new version of the lyrics that, he thought, would fit Sinatra’s persona.
Read moreDavid Bernstein: The Threat of Illiberalism
Episode 38Â of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
David Bernstein, Founder and CEO of the Jewish Institute for Liberal Values, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about the threat of illiberalism facing the Jewish community and the United States at large. They discuss what kind of America the Jewish community should be striving to live in and how that can be achieved.Â
After the Siren: Yom Hazikaron 5783
Israel has two major memorial days: Yom Hazikaron—the remembrance day for fallen soldiers of Israel and Israeli terror victims—and Yom Hashoah Vehagevurah, Holocaust and Heroism memorial day. One is a reminder of the cost of having a Jewish State; the other is a reminder of the cost of not having it.
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