We are happy to share an update from one of our Gendler Grapevine Project 2015 grantees, Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia (see below). Their initiative centers on providing a hands-on experience for their 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students to learn about the environment, urban gardening, and mitzvah. This past year, they worked with Could9 to build a rooftop garden. Over the [...]
Two of our main goals at the Gendler Grapevine Project are to support initiatives that are both lasting and replicable. As a sunset project, requirements for our grantees include showing how their project can continue beyond our formal funding period and how it can be repeated by other organizations. Louisville-based New Roots Inc. is one of our grantees that [...]
Congregation B’nai Israel's (CBI) Gendler Grapevine Project initiative continues to thrive. While their autumn Hakhel Harvest Festival focused on the harvest, their spring and summer activities have centered on planning, planting, and blooming (both food and ideas). In May, they held a special ritual celebration to recite Birkat Ha’ilanot (blessing over flowering fruit trees) on the Farm. Their apples, [...]
We are pleased to announce the 2016 Gendler Grapevine Project's "L'dor V'dor" initiatives! The applicants drew inspiration from the life and teachings of Rabbi Gendler, recognizing that he incorporated his theories and teachings into physical and practical action that resonated with his congregants and the community. Each of our grantees proposed innovative, interesting, and engaging projects, and we look forward [...]
At the age of 87, Rabbi Everett Gendler, published his first book, Judaism for Universalists. We are pleased to share with you a lovely review of that book written by Talya Zax, published May 15, 2016, in The Forward. In her article, Ms. Zax captures Rabbi Gendler's energy and ability to connect immediately, deep into the [...]
Passover is a ritualized holiday with a set script from which we rarely deviate. So you may ask: Why is this year’s Passover Seder different from other years? As you may know, this year, the first night of Passover falls on Earth Day. Everett and Mary Gendler, Passover 1996 Compared to when I [...]
In For Of, Inc. (IFO), a nonprofit organization created by Beth Am Synagogue in Baltimore, Maryland, strives to build relationships between members of the synagogue and the residents of Reservoir Hill, the urban neighborhood where the synagogue has stood since 1921. IFO was awarded a Gendler Grapevine Project grant to develop a “coming-of-age” education initiative [...]
Every year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I’m reminded not only of the civil rights movement, of the sacrifices so many people have made to work toward equal rights, and of the work that people are still doing to ensure that everyone is treated equally, but also of my uncle. My daughter at [...]
With the goal of addressing the important issues of food insecurity, poverty, struggling schools, stressed communities, and lack of access to adequate medical care and valuable social services, Rodeph Shalom's Gendler Grapevine Project initiative is building on their Common Ground Marketplace project to create the Farmer’s Market Youth Initiative. The students' contributions to the Marketplace will be grown at [...]
Temple Sinai DC’s program, The Open Door: Supporting Refugees, has already engaged hundreds of community members in learning about today’s refugee crises in Syria and on the US-Mexico border. On Yom Kippur, Senior Rabbi Jonathan Roos offered a sermon about refugees and the Jewish responsibility to help them. You can hear a podcast of the [...]
