Kol Tzedek Fellows
Applications are being accepted for the 5773 Kol Tzedek Speaking Fellowship!
AJWS invites all RSD/YRD alumni to apply for the Kol Tzedek Speaking Fellowship. AJWS is committed to leadership development and to expanding the national conversation and catalyzing action toward global justice. We seek to provide opportunities for RSD/YRD alumni to cultivate their own passion for global justice and to move others toward action through education and advocacy. Kol Tzedek Speaking Fellows spread the AJWS “Torah” which characterizes our shared work while building their strengths as educators and leaders committed to global justice.
We will accept Fellows based on demonstrated public speaking and teaching skills. The Fellows will travel nationwide over the 2012-2013 school year, speaking and teaching about the intersection of Jewish values and global justice while providing communities meaningful opportunities to become more involved in AJWS’s campaigns and overall work. Through these high-level engagements, Fellows will interact with many sectors of the American Jewish community as AJWS ambassadors, deepening their knowledge while inspiring the communities they visit.
About the Kol Tzedek Speaking Fellowship
- The Fellowship is made possible through a generous grant from the Einhorn Family Charitable Trust.
- Fellows are offered a stipend of $2,000.
- The Kol Tzedek Speaking Fellowship launches with an orientation at AJWS August 26-27, 2012 and continues through June 2013. Fellows are offered ongoing training, mentorship and support including:
- Quarterly hour-long phone check-ins with other Fellows in the cohort to share and brainstorm.
- Regular communication, check-ins, and professional development with AJWS staff.
- Fellows are expected to attend the RSD Alumni Institute in Los Angeles, Dec. 2-4.
- Fellows will be offered up to eight engagement opportunities composed of:
- Overnight trips, including a number of speaking and teaching engagements and which will likely, but not necessarily, occur over a Shabbat ; and/or
- Local engagement opportunities, which may necessitate only half a day of travel to and from the Fellow’s home.
- All travel will be paid through AJWS and will accommodate all Shabbat observance needs.
To Apply for the Kol Tzedek Speaking Fellowship
Please submit the following items:
- A cover letter articulating your interest in the Kol Tzedek Speaking Fellowship.
- Your resume. Please be sure to include Jewish and social/global justice, public speaking and teaching experience.
- The names and contact information for two professional references (please do not include letters of reference).
- A video clip of you speaking, posted to YouTubetm or Flipsharetm. Informal practice clips of sermons or speeches given in other settings are acceptable. The clip should be no more than 5-10 minutes.
- A general lesson plan outline on any topic. Please indicate your intended length, audience and format (e.g. “45 minute lunch-and-learn for undergraduates at a Hillel”).
The deadline for applications is June 22, 2012. Please send all application materials, including video attachments or links, in one e-mail to koltzedek@ajws.org with your name and “Kol Tzedek Speaking Fellowship” in the subject line.
Please feel free to contact Rachel Jacoby Rosenfield, Associate Director of Community Engagement, at 212.792.2927 with any questions.
We look forward to receiving your application!
Meet the 5772 Kol Tzedek Fellows!
Kol Tzedek: Voices of Justice Speaking Fellows serve as AJWS ambassadors to Jewish communities across the United States. As alumni of the Rabbinical Students’ Delegation, fellows translate their personal experiences in the developing world and their passion for justice into compelling sermons and teachings, spreading “AJWS Torah” nationwide.
The Kol Tzedek fellows can speak or teach in many different contexts in your community: perhaps you are looking for a scholar-in-residence, a college campus presenter or a conference educator. They also speak on many topics related to global justice issues, Jewish text and tradition, and AJWS’s current campaigns – particularly this year’s food justice campaign, Reverse Hunger: Ending the Global Food Crisis.
To request a Kol Tzedek visit to your community, please e-mail getinvolved@ajws.org or contact Ilan Caplan at 212.792.2906.
Dan Kaiman is a rabbinical student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, at the American Jewish University in Bel Air, CA. Born in Pensacola, Florida and raised in Maplewood, New Jersey, Dan attended Rutgers University where he earned degrees in Political Science and Jewish Studies while playing varsity lacrosse. Concentrating his studies in Talmud, Dan has spent time living and learning at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Israel. During his first year of rabbinical school Dan traveled to Ghana with AJWS's 5th Rabbinical Students Delegation. Inspired by his own service-learning experiences, Dan has gone on to create and facilitate immersive educational programs for teens and young adults all over the world. Currently Dan serves as the Rabbinic Intern at Congregation B'nai Israel, a Conservative synagogue in Tustin, CA. Additionally, Dan is the Program Director at Camp Ramah Darom, a Conservative Jewish summer camp located in the north Georgia mountains.
Rachel Rosenthal is a third year student in the Drisha Scholars Circle and a graduate of the Drisha Beit Midrash program. An alumna of the RSD 10 program to Muchucuxcah, Mexico, she spent this spring and summer as a program associate at AJWS running the RSD and YRD programs. She has worked on curriculum development and programming for a number of organizations, including JOFA, Jewish Funds for Justice, Uri L'tzedek and Camp Ramah. She has taught at SAR Academy and The Drisha Institute, and served as scholar-in-residence in a variety of settings throughout the East Coast. She was awarded a curriculum prize by the National Ramah Commission for her development of a food justice curriculum at Camp Ramah in California. She has a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Pennsylvania.
Originally from East Lansing, Michigan, Marci Soifer earned a dual B.A. in Creative Writing and English Literature from the University of Michigan in 2004. Her passion for service has emerged in coordinating a youth relief effort called "Caravan 4 Katrina" (in response to Hurricane Katrina) and six months of volunteer work with at-risk youth and incarcerated women in both Peru and Bolivia. Marci expanded her skills as an informal, Jewish educator at Camp Young Judaea Sprout Lake for over 11 summers, including serving as the full-time Assistant Camp Director for 3 years. Summer 2010 marked her 19th summer in Jewish camping and the completion of her year-long fellowship in the Foundation for Jewish Camp's Yitro Leadership Program. Marci is now pursuing a dual M.A./M.P.A. in Judaic Studies and Non-Profit Management at New York University. She has traveled extensively in Latin America, participated on an AJWS Rabbinical Students Delegation in Muchucuxcah, Mexico, and recently worked as a group leader for AJWS on Volunteer Summer in Kanchipuram, India.
David Spinrad is a 4th year student at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and serves as the rabbinic intern at Temple Israel of Dayton, Ohio. He is a Schusterman Rabbinical Fellow, joining students from HUC and JTS in an exploration of a diverse range of issues including the evolving role of the rabbi in the 21st century, the changing face of American Judaism, and the effective use of social media as a tool of communication. In 2010 David participated in the AJWS’ RSD 9 to Senegal, an experience that furthered his interest in working from within the positive tension created when we express our Jewish values through the lens of global issues. He has previously served as the student rabbi for congregations in Trenton, MI, West Lafayette, IN, and Grand Forks, ND, and was the 2010 Schusterman Summer Resident at Wise Temple in Cincinnati. Prior to rabbinical school, David operated a personal training business in his native San Francisco, working with clients ranging from competitive athletes to cancer survivors and people living with HIV. He is joined in Cincinnati by his wife, Gal Adam Spinrad, who serves as the Associate Director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Cincinnati, and by their daughter, Dahlia, age 7. In his spare time, David likes to read, work out and indulge in fantasy baseball.
