Hosted by JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny, "What Gives" is a space for exploring and debating the ideas that matter in philanthropy and the Jewish community. Along the way, we'll build a deeper sense of community by sharing stories, getting to know the people in our field, and spreading ideas that can help all Jews and all givers change the world.
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Want more Jewish philanthropy podcasts? Check out Honeycomb's "Outside the Tzedakah Box"!
Dr. Mijal Bitton: Translating Sephardic and Mizrahi Stories in America
Episode 44 of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Dr. Mijal Bitton, Rosh Kehilla and co-founder of the Downtown Minyan, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about being a translator for the stories of Sephardic, Mizrahi, and other non-Ashkenazi Jewish communities. Andres and Mijal talk about what the trajectory of those communities has been in the United States, and the misunderstandings that the larger American Jewish community has about the recent waves of immigrant Jews, politically and culturally. Mijal also gives insight into being a woman leader in an orthodox religious community, and witnessing the transcendence of god through parenthood.
Rabbi Leon Morris: Creating Communities of Meaning Through Submission
Episode 43 of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Rabbi Leon Morris, President of the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about his essay in Sources, "In Defense of Surrender in Liberal Jewish Life." Morris argues that a Jewish response to individual agency having eclipsed every other important value is necessary, and can be done through a sense of surrender (of our defenses, our time, and our notion of isolated individualism) to community, rather than submission to authority. Leon talks about what he finds excited about pluralistic spaces, how thoroughly modern Jews are having trouble finding places for Jewishness in their lives, the enormous relevance that traditional texts still have for our modern time, and what gives him hope for the Jewish future.
Works referenced in this episode:
Yotam Polizer: IsraAID's Humanitarian Road to Global Compassion
Episode 42 of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Yotam Polizer, CEO of IsraAID, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about how IsraAid is able to deploy to places where Israel doesn't have diplomatic relations, and the knock on effects of sending aid from Israel to unfriendly territories. Yotam spoke about how a humanitarian organization fundraises at times when there isn’t a disaster in the news, and about the steps that he and his team take to ensure that they stay mentally and emotionally happy in the face of this difficult work.
Casper ter Kuile: Building Spiritual Connections Locally and Digitally
Episode 41 of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Casper ter Kuile, CEO of the Nearness, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about Casper’s work in seeking to create a new structure of community experience that uses the ease and accessibility of the internet while also building local connections that become deep friendships. Casper and Andres dive into what the spiritual leadership of the post-COVID world looks like, which models of community we can learn from in creating spiritual belonging, and the importance of the Jewish community asking itself the hard, uncomfortable questions about where it’s going, like what the boundaries of Judaism should be.
Dara Horn: The Problem with Holocaust Education
Episode 40 of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Award-winning author, essayist, and professor of literature Dara Horn talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about her recent essay in the Atlantic, Is Holocaust Education Making Anti-Semitism Worse? They speak about this hallmark of Jewish education, and education about Jews, that has been so prevalent for the last 50 years. Dara talks about what she found in her research for the piece, her thoughts about identity, antisemitism, Jewish culture, and much, much more.
Dan Smokler: Reinventing the Old for an Innovative Future
Episode 39 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.
David Bernstein: The Threat of Illiberalism
Episode 38 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.
Eli Paley: Opening Our Communities to the Haredi Sector
Episode 37 of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Eli Paley, a businessman, social activist, and chairman of the Paley Family Foundation, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about strategies for opening our communities to the Haredi sector.
Ari Wallach: The Long-Term Goal of a Vibrant Jewish Future
Episode 36 of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Ari Wallach, Executive Director of Longpath Labs, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about the case for presenting a positive vision of the future. They discussed the long-term goal of a vibrant and meaningful Jewish future, and spoke about working backwards to determine what steps are necessary to get there.
Yohanan Plesner: Democracy in Israel
Episode 35 of What Gives? the Jewish philanthropy podcast from Jewish Funders Network.
Yohanan Plesner, President of the Israel Democracy Institute, talks to JFN President and CEO Andres Spokoiny about the consequences of the new Israeli government’s judicial reform initiatives, how today’s issues compare to those of Israel’s past, and Yohanan's hopes and aspirations for the future of Israeli democracy.