| Dear Friends, Below we have listed various articles which reflect our mission and vision for creating a culture of engaged young people, helping to develop strong vibrant communities led by inspired and passionate leaders, and sharing a Jewish Torah ethic that is tolerant, relevant, and meaningful.
We are proud to have sent 160 students on Service Learning Missions and Internships over the Summer, spanning three continents, three countries, and six cities. We have seen time and again, that the more opportunities students have to see and experience how they can be agents of change, the better the chance they will recognize their capacity to assume positions of professional and communal leadership in the future. We look forward to seeing great things from these students and the many others who participate in all of our different leadership programs.
Our Championsgate leadership retreat was extremely well received. I invite you to watch the ELI Talks (Jewish Ted Talks) that were produced in partnership with the Avi Chai Foundation.
We hope you enjoy the contents of the newsletter and, as always, your comments are welcomed.
Rabbi Kenneth Brander
Vice President for University and Community Life
The David Mitzner Dean
Yeshiva University Center for the Jewish Future
| YU'S 8TH ANNUAL COUNTERPOINT Counterpoint a “Winning Formula” for Identity Building and Communal Development
Now in its 8th year, the CJF sent over 60 students to run five Counterpoint Israel programs in the Negev. Over the course of four weeks this summer, students traveled to Israel to run a fun, safe and educational summer camp for Israeli teenagers who are, for the most part, categorized as Youth-at-Risk. The Counterpoint curriculum is centered on providing opportunities for self-discovery, recognition of one’s potential, and overcoming barriers, for both the Yeshiva University counselors and the Israeli teens.
Related
Watch the Counterpoint Israel Shana Tova Video
In the News
Arutz Sheva: YU Students Launch Israeli Summer Camps for 8th Season
Shalom Life: Yeshiva University’s 'Counterpoint Israel' Program Changes Lives Beyond the Classroom
Times of Israel: Counterpoint: When Learning English is No Longer a Chore
Baltimore Jewish Life: Baltimore Students Change Lives at Israeli Summer Camp
eJewish Philanthropy: Eight Years of YU's Center for the Jewish Future Counterpoint Israel
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|  | BRINGING A KEHILLA TOGETHER Hundreds of Community Leaders Gather at Annual ChampionsGate Conference
More than 350 rabbinic, educational and lay leaders from 73 communities across North America and around the globe came together for Yeshiva University’s Eighth Annual ChampionsGate National Leadership Conference held in Orlando, Fla., July 25-28. This year’s theme, “Kehilla: What We Bring to It,” explored the broader narrative of community, inviting participants to journey through four separate realms of communal leadership.
Related
Watch the ELI Talks at Championsgate
In the News
The Huffington Post: Scuba in Search of the Sacred
The Hebrew Watchman: 8 Memhpians experience YU's Championsgate Conference
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|  | MONTHS LATER, SANDY RELIEF EFFORTS CONTINUE Students and Recent Graduates Kick Off Summer Break with Sandy Aid Mission
It’s been more than seven months since Hurricane Sandy struck the greater New York region and some areas continue to suffer the storm’s ravaging effects. When Elana Polster, a Presidential Fellow at Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future, heard that volunteers were still needed to assist in the recovery, she mobilized 10 students and recent graduates from YU and partnered with Nechama, a disaster relief organization, to run a four-day mission to Long Island where students worked to rebuild damaged homes.
Related
Video of Relief Work with Masbia
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|  | SUMMER LEARNING AND INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS YU Students on Summer Break Engage in Service Missions, Internships and Learning
30 students took part in a variety of internships during the day and infused their respective Jewish communities with Torah learning at night. The communities provided internship opportunities in venues ranging from prestigious medical facilities to business technology companies. In addition eight women traveled to Brookline and Newton, MA for an in depth learning program.
In the news
The Jewish Advocate: Program fosters collaborative Torah learning experience for women
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|  | BACK IN THE (FORMER) USSR YU Students Connect with Local Jewish Community on 3rd Service Mission to Ukraine
Just a few weeks after finishing the spring semester, a group of 20 undergraduate men and women from Yeshiva University embarked on a nine day service mission to Odessa, Ukraine, as part of a program coordinated by YU’s Center for the Jewish Future in partnership with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The goal of the trip was for the students “to gain a firsthand understanding of the welfare challenges and identity struggles facing the Jewish community following the collapse of the Soviet Union,” said Aliza Abrams, assistant director of the CJF’s Department of Service Learning and Experiential Education, who led the mission. “By engaging in service projects and cultivating relationships with members of the community, the students learned about Jewish life in Odessa and worked to internalize the messages of the people they were privileged to meet.”
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|  | JEWISH FUTURE DOWN UNDER AND ACROSS THE POND Rabbi Brander Visits with Australian Jewish Community Institutions and Lectures in the UK
Rabbi Kenneth Brander, Vice President for University and Communal Life at Yeshiva University, spent close to three weeks visiting Australian Jewish community institutions in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney, and in early July attended the first rabbinic conference organized by Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, the UK’s new Chief Rabbi where he delivered three lectures.
In the news
Jewish Link of Bergen County: Rabbi Brander Visits with Australian Jewish Community Institutions
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|  | BUILDING JEWISH LEADERS Community Leadership Initiative Graduates First Cohort
19 lay leaders from 5 communities participated in the first cohort of Community Leadership Initiative. CLI is a six-month program designed to identify cohorts of aspiring leaders across the country between the ages of 30-45. The program combined the top talent and resources of Yeshiva University to train, inspire and empower these men and women with the tools they will need to demonstrate and drive positive change within their own organizations and communities. Participants were led through a journey of personal self-discovery regarding their own leadership style, while simultaneously taught the practical skills necessary for long-term leadership – all through the lens of Torah thought and best business practice.
Related
Watch the CLI 2013 Reflections Video
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Join the YU Student Medical Ethics Society for their 8th Annual Conference:
Prescribing for a Nation;
The Interplay of Jewish law and Israeli Health Care
Sunday, October 20th, 2013
Learn More
 yu.edu/CJF Yeshiva University's Center for the Jewish Future home page
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The Millie Arbesfeld Midreshet Yom Rishon Sunday Morning Learning Program for Women
Certificate Program in Jewish Experiential Education
Torah Tours registration for synagogues and YU students
Championsgate Leadership Conference
The Yeshiva University Torah Mitzion Chicago Community Kollel
The Yeshiva University Torah Mitzion Zichron Dov Community Beit Midrash of Toronto
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