Molly Levine joined our staff as Kulanu’s Communications Director in 2018 and became Deputy Director in 2021. She holds an MA in Global Marketing Communications and has an extensive background working in international nonprofits, having worked for StrongMinds, The Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life, Global Nomads Group, Peace Corps, and Seeds of Peace.

As Deputy Director, Molly works with the president and the board to direct the internal affairs and external communications of Kulanu. She supervises staff and interns, manages all our communications, takes a leading role in online programs, fundraising, press relations, and assists with budgeting and financial oversight.

Keshetnitzah Taryan-Kigel joined our staff as an intern in 2020 and became the part-time Multimedia Manager in 2021. Keshi earned her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in 2018. Since then, she has worked at GiGi’s Playhouse NYC, at Dixon Place, and at the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation, before finding a home at Kulanu.

As Multimedia Manager, Keshi curates Kulanu’s photography collection and creates weekly graphics for Kulanu’s Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter platforms.

Click here to see the biographies of Kulanu’s board and staff.

The post Mazel Tov Molly and Keshi! appeared first on Kulanu.

The speakers included:

• Lila Held and Hazzan Lance Tapper of Congregation Beth Shalom of Whitter, California
• Harriet Bograd, President of Kulanu, and Bonita Sussman, First Vice President of Kulanu
• Genie Milgrom, Director of Anousim of Kulanu
• Rabbi Eliahu Birenbaum of Ohr Torah Stone in Israel
• Eliseo Gonzalez
• Rabbi Itzjak Abud
• Najman Gonzales

Click here to watch the ceremony in the United States.

Click here to watch the ceremony in Honduras.

The post Torah Donation to Honduras appeared first on Kulanu.

As 2020 comes to a close we are reflecting on Kulanu’s accomplishments this year, supporting Jewish communities around the globe.

The coronavirus pandemic changed many of our plans this year, but we were able to pivot to more online programming to connect with more people than ever.

From virtual Jewish learning classes to our Online Speaker Series, Kulanu leveraged technology to continue to support and raise awareness of our partner communities.

With more than 7,000 views, our 14 Online Speaker Series sessions connected people across five continents in real-time to share different Jewish perspectives.

Our Kulanu in Song Chanukah Benefit shared Jewish music and dance from 11 countries on five continents that Kulanu supports.

“As we all joined online together, I could feel the sense of community in real-time across continents. For me, the Chanukah Benefit went even further in helping me appreciate how far we have come,” shared Kulanu’s president, Harriet Bograd.

Kulanu also collaborated with major organizations across the Jewish spectrum to help gain recognition for our partner communities. Our photo of brides from Madagascar is featured as a highlight of the museum’s new permanent exhibition at Beit Hatfutsot: Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv.

The photo by Barbara Vinick from 2016 shows four of the twelve brides who had Jewish weddings after they formally converted to Judaism with a team of Orthodox rabbis arranged by Kulanu. They are holding ketubot and challah covers from Ghana given to them as gifts from Kulanu.

Kulanu needs your help to continue its support of our many international partner communities.

Please donate online now or send a check to Kulanu, c/o Harriet Bograd (address below) to secure Kulanu’s future! If you have already given, thank you!

Consider making a multi-year donation or a regular monthly gift that will allow us to efficiently plan for the future.

We look forward to seeing you online in 2021. Thank you for being part of “all of us”!

Warm regards,
Harriet
and “all of us” at Kulanu

Harriet Bograd, President
165 West End Ave 3R
New York, NY, 10023

The post 2020 Kulanu Impact Stories – Our Online Community appeared first on Kulanu.

As 2020 comes to a close we are reflecting on Kulanu’s accomplishments this year, supporting Jewish communities around the globe. Today’s story is about how donations are making an impact in Zimbabwe.

From printing a tri-lingual Passover Haggadah to recording additional original Shabbat service music with Lemba tunes, Kulanu has supported the Jewish community in Zimbabwe in synthesizing modern Jewish practice with their ancient Lemba-Jewish language and culture.

“We are looking forward with all of the help that we are getting from Kulanu to establish more congregations in the countryside where most of the Lemba live. We will keep on growing thanks to Kulanu and thanks to its members. The Lemba tribe is on its way to fully reconnect with modern Judaism,” shared Modreck Maeresera, Community Leader (Modreck’s mother and her two grandchildren are pictured.)

In addition, Kulanu is assisting with an ongoing water conservation project to grow food in Bedza, a rural region of the country where many Lemba live, to support the local Jewish community as well as those living in the capital city of Harare.

Kulanu needs your help to continue its support of our many international partner communities like the Lemba so that they can continue to grow and flourish.

Please donate online now or send a check to Kulanu, c/o Harriet Bograd (address below) to secure Kulanu’s future! If you have already given, thank you!

Consider making a multi-year donation or a regular monthly gift that will allow us to efficiently plan for the future.

Thank you for being part of “all of us”!

Warm regards,
Harriet
and “all of us” at Kulanu

Harriet Bograd, President
165 West End Ave 3R
New York, NY, 10023

The post 2020 Kulanu Impact Stories – Projects in Zimbabwe appeared first on Kulanu.

As 2020 comes to a close we are reflecting on Kulanu’s accomplishments this year, supporting Jewish communities around the globe. We prepared the story below on a Torah for Brazil as the first of our 2020 impact stories. Another Torah for Honduras was ready to be picked up in California, but with Covid-19 we didn’t know when they would manage to get it from the United States. We are thrilled to invite you to join us on Zoom tomorrow, Sunday, December 27 at 1 pm EST to witness the arrival of the Torah in Honduras! (Click here for the Zoom details.)

Earlier this year, one of our partner communities in Brazil received a Sefer Torah, which was donated to Kulanu by the Tree of Life Synagogue in Oil City, Pennsylvania which was closing.

Members of the Tree of Life Synagogue were comforted to see how their Torah was treasured by the Bereshit Olam Jewish community in the Recife area of Brazil. Composed of descendants of Crypto-Jews (Anusim forced to abandon Judaism in prior generations), the Bereshit Olam was a thriving Jewish community with one missing piece, a Torah.

Kulanu volunteer Hana Fried was delighted to be invited to transfer the Torah, as her own grandfather had made his home in this very same community. Leaders of the community, Carlos Maciel and Odmar Braga were overcome with emotion when they arrived at the airport in Rio de Janeiro to meet Hana.

“We were living the greatest privilege a Jew could ever have: holding and bringing a Torah to the community. Every step…was full of hope, happiness and anxiety…Hours seemed to be days and we could hardly wait for the moment to have the Torah held and embraced,” shared Odmar Pinheiro Braga and Carlos José Maciel Alves

Now, the members of Bereshit Olam no longer have to travel to access a Torah and can expand and grow their centuries-old community.

Kulanu needs your help to continue its support of our many international partner communities so that congregations like the Bereshit Olam in Brazil can not only function but thrive.

Please donate online now or send a check to Kulanu, c/o Harriet Bograd (address below) to secure Kulanu’s future! If you have already given, thank you!

Please consider making a multi-year donation or a regular monthly gift that will allow us to efficiently plan for the future.

Thank you for being part of “all of us”!

Warm regards,
Harriet
and “all of us” at Kulanu

Harriet Bograd, President
Kulanu Inc
165 West End Ave 3R
New York, NY, 10023

The post 2020 Kulanu Impact Stories – Torah Scrolls Donated to Brazil and Honduras appeared first on Kulanu.

• Found in Tanzania
• The Jews of Arusha, Tanzania
• Online Jewish Learning
• Kulanu Mini-Grants
• Joy of Judaism in Erode, India
• Online Speaker Series

and more!

Thanks to Judi Kloper, our editor, and Lisa Yagoda, our photo and layout editor, and to all the authors and photographers for another fascinating issue!

The post Fall 2020 Magazine Available Now appeared first on Kulanu.