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If You Build It, They Will Come

By Jaime Bassman, Consultant, Whole Community Inclusion / Back in the 1980’s, after the movie “Field of Dreams” was released, I heard a particular line from the film that was frequently quoted (and often misquoted): “If you build it, he will come.” When the Pew Study, A Portrait of Jewish Americans, was released in the fall of 2013 (and the hand wringing over the future of American Judaism began anew), it spurred many organizations to consider how to rebuild their institutions and offer fresh, relevant programming in order to keep Jews in the fold. 

The Olympics, Dis/Abilities and Human Rights

By Margot Stein, Board Member and Consultant, Whole Community Inclusion / I have been watching the Olympics with a mixture of delight and disbelief.  The athletes are so extraordinary.  A lifetime of relentless preparation has brought them to this moment, the pinnacle of desire, ambition and performance.

JDAM: Cakes and Miracles

By Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer, Program Director for Special Needs“You've got to be taught to hate and fear, You've got to be taught from year to year, It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear, You've got to be carefully taught. You've got to be taught to be afraid Of people whose eyes are oddly made…” In 1949, these powerful lyrics from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s award-winning musical “South Pacific” challenged assumptions about relationships between different racial and ethnic groups during the pre-Civil rights era, suggesting the highly controversial idea that prejudice and fear of differences is not born within us, but rather is transmitted from one generation to the next.