As part of their larger Gendler Grapevine Project initiative, Outdoor Shabbat and Holiday Program, on Sunday, October 16th, JCC Chicago held a community Sukkot program at the Chicago Botanic Gardens (CBG). The event was held outside in the CBG’s vegetable garden where they built a sukkah that stayed up for the duration of the [...]
Happy shopper at the Gendler Grapevine Fresh Stop Market New Roots, Inc. has been working on food justice issues for years in Louisville, KY, but in 2015, expanded their work into the Jewish community through a grant from the Gendler Grapevine Project. This continued into 2016 when they were awarded another Gendler [...]
JCC Chicago is a 2016 recipient of a Gendler Grapevine Project grant. The primary goal of their Outdoor Shabbat and Holiday Program is to engage families in unique Jewish experiences that will bridge the connection between Judaism and the environment. On Friday, June 17, 2016, over 150 people gathered at the Lake County JCC for [...]
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 [...]
