eJewish Philanthropy.

Friday, I wrote a bit about how funders, like all humans, are programmed by millions of years of evolution to hate failure. But our DNA hasn’t kept pace with the changing times. 

eJewish Philanthropy.

Last year, influenced by the hype around Darwin’s 150th anniversary, I developed an interest in evolutionary theory. I read a few books about it, including the masterful Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, and since then I’ve been kind of obsessed. 

Passover is a holidays of journeys. The journey of the Hebrews from Egypt to the Promise Land; the journey from Slavery to Freedom and the ultimate journey: the Jews' road to peoplehood. Somewhere along this momentous journey, a ragtag bunch of slaves become the People of the Book and gave to humanity the eternal ethical and moral values that guide us to this very day.

JFN President & CEO Andrés Spokoiny's address to the 2012 Jewish Funders Network International Conference.

A person is walking in the street and passes by a dance hall. The windows of the dance hall are very thick and soundproof, so he can’t hear the music. He only sees people making all sort of strange movements. He walks away, thinking he just saw a bunch of totally crazy people, maybe a mental asylum of some sort.

Purim is arguably one of the merriest holidays of the Jewish calendar. Because of that, perhaps, we don’t often reflect on its deep meaning and its contemporary relevance.

eJewish Philanthropy.

Every school child in America knows that Paul Revere rode through Massachusetts warning the militia that “the Redcoats were coming”. Fewer people know that in the night of April 18th, 1775, other riders were sent with the same goal, among them William Dawes.

eJewish Philanthropy.

The fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Arab Spring, the travesty of Argentina’s early elimination in the 2010 World Cup and many other defining events of the last two decades all share a simple truth: the best of our expert predictions about the future are, quite often, wrong.

The New York Jewish Week.

Just a year after economists say the “Great Recession” ended, instability and market crisis are rearing their ugly heads again. For the Jewish community, the ongoing economic turmoil may again threaten many of our institutions that depend on philanthropic support to sustain us culturally, spiritually, and — often — physically. However, as the Jewish community enters a new period of financial uncertainty, we need to recognize that going into “crisis mode” misses the opportunity to learn important lessons and make real strategic changes.