Bring a Speaker to Your Community
We offer two different kinds of speaking events, which give you the opportunity to bring an individual to your community. We have helped organize events at synagogues, university campuses, high schools, private homes, and many other kinds of venues.
The first is our annual speaking tour, which you can learn about here [link to speaking tour landing page] – a chance to bring a member of one of our partner communities into your own Jewish world for a weekend. You can also bring a Kulanu board member or affiliated volunteer to your community. These usually require a $500 honorarium plus travel expenses. Here are a few of the speakers that we can currently offer. Please write to us if you are interested in exploring these or other options [link to contact].
- Rabbis Boni and Gerald Sussman
Our vice-president Boni Sussman can speak to Kulanu’s mission, her travels, and what she has gained through her encounters with emerging, returning and isolated Jewish communities worldwide. She is a prolific writer, photographers, and speaker on the topic of global Jewry, and maintains a YouTube channel documenting her experiences. Her husband, Rabbi Gerald Sussman who often serves as the “mara d’aytra” spiritual guide and rabbi of these communities is also available to speak on their rabbinic questionings. Their travels together for Kulanu include Nicaragua, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Gabon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon and India.
- Remy Ilona
Remy Iona, currently a student in religious studies at Florida International University in Miami, is a lawyer from Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. For many years he has been an emissary and spokesperson for the Jews of Nigeria, native-born Igbo people whose customs and traditions, as understood throughout Nigeria, are rooted in ancient Israel. Author of “The Igbo: Jews in Africa?” (2004) and “The Igbo and Israel: An Inter-Cultural Study of the Largest Jewish Diaspora” (2012), Remy looks to the past and future of the 30 million Igbo of Nigeria – who they were, who they are, and who they are destined to be. His presentation is fascinating and sure to inspire lively discussion.
- Miriam and Mordecai Feinberg
Miriam and Mordecai Feinberg can speak about Kulanu’s work, their travels, and what they have gained through their encounters with emerging, returning and isolated Jewish communities around the world. They have volunteered under the auspices of Kulanu as Judaic teachers for communities in Uganda, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, and Poland, and are available to share those experiences through speaking and visual presentations.
- Sonya Loya
Sonya Loya, an Anousi, is a well-known glass artisan and founder-director of the Bat-Tzyion Hebrew Learning Center in New Mexico. Sonya travels the country to share her own fascinating story of return, as well as her beautiful Crypto art work. Invite her to visit your congregation or other group and learn not just Sonya’s story, but also the trials and triumphs of the Anousim from the Inquisition to today.