Testimonials: It will change your life.
Gabriel Stern
Overwhelmed With Gratitude
"And seek the well-being of the city in which you dwell...
for in its peace you shall find peace." (Jeremiah 29.7)
The Jeremiah Fellowship gave me the context to understand this ancient truth. Prior to embarking on the Jeremiah Fellowship I was seeking a way to feel my Judaism more deeply and experience it more practically in a constructive, fun Jewish social setting. The Jeremiah Fellowship and Progressive Jewish Alliance provided this opportunity.
During an initial Jeremiah leadership retreat I was introduced to Mussar, the study of Jewish Ethics focusing on individual traits of the soul. These traits, such as Yirah (a combined experience of fear and awe -- akin to the feeling of standing atop a cliff) have led me to a deepening of the other traits such as truth, trust, and humility. It is through these understandings that I now find myself transforming from student into teacher as this fall brings with it the launch of the S.U.B.S. program at the Presidio JCC in San Francisco.
S.U.B.S. (Stand Up & Be Seen) is a ten week leadership class for teenage boys that meets one hour per week. It combines physical & postural conditioning, guided visualizations, and Jewish Mussar coupled with Buddhist based ethics studies as we literally practice Standing Up and Being Seen with true Confidence, Character, and Purpose. The seeds for this course were planted during the Jeremiah Fellowship and have been watered throughout my time serving on PJA's Regional Council. Now, as I prepare to pass these lessons forward, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for my newfound community and all it has so generously given me.
Overwhelmed With Gratitude
"And seek the well-being of the city in which you dwell...
for in its peace you shall find peace." (Jeremiah 29.7)
The Jeremiah Fellowship gave me the context to understand this ancient truth. Prior to embarking on the Jeremiah Fellowship I was seeking a way to feel my Judaism more deeply and experience it more practically in a constructive, fun Jewish social setting. The Jeremiah Fellowship and Progressive Jewish Alliance provided this opportunity.
During an initial Jeremiah leadership retreat I was introduced to Mussar, the study of Jewish Ethics focusing on individual traits of the soul. These traits, such as Yirah (a combined experience of fear and awe -- akin to the feeling of standing atop a cliff) have led me to a deepening of the other traits such as truth, trust, and humility. It is through these understandings that I now find myself transforming from student into teacher as this fall brings with it the launch of the S.U.B.S. program at the Presidio JCC in San Francisco.
S.U.B.S. (Stand Up & Be Seen) is a ten week leadership class for teenage boys that meets one hour per week. It combines physical & postural conditioning, guided visualizations, and Jewish Mussar coupled with Buddhist based ethics studies as we literally practice Standing Up and Being Seen with true Confidence, Character, and Purpose. The seeds for this course were planted during the Jeremiah Fellowship and have been watered throughout my time serving on PJA's Regional Council. Now, as I prepare to pass these lessons forward, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for my newfound community and all it has so generously given me.
Josh Buchin
"You Are PJA"
The Progressive Jewish Alliance's Jeremiah Fellowship was a transformative experience for me. Through the workshops, sessions, retreats and action project, I was able to further develop my leadership skills, deepen my connection to social justice, and improve my understanding of Judaism's role in taking care of the earth. But more than all that, the program provided me with an amazing range of resources and tools. Through the Fellowship, I am tapped into an extensive network of friends and contacts, and I am now a part of the broader PJA community – which is a wonderful community to be a part of.
Through the various sessions, the Fellowship enabled me to meet and interact with a diverse range of educators, leaders and activists.
Each session focused on a different concept, and so not only did I get to hear different voices, I got to hear and examine different opinions, and gain new tools to use in my leadership and activism work. Many of these facilitators are people who I'm still in touch with in some form or another. Fostering relationships such as these are key to any kind of successful activism or leadership, and I feel very grateful to have gained these allies.
The two retreats were times of real bonding and connecting, and it was great getting to spend time over a year with such an inspiring group of people. When I was working on my action project, I was able to combine forces with one of the other fellows – I hope to continue working with him and all of the other fellows in my cohort – on future projects, both within the PJA world and outside of it. At our graduation we were told “you are PJA” – over time this message has really sunk in. Today, I feel like I am part of PJA, ready and willing to help out and do more as needed. I feel both lucky and honored to be PJA.
"You Are PJA"
The Progressive Jewish Alliance's Jeremiah Fellowship was a transformative experience for me. Through the workshops, sessions, retreats and action project, I was able to further develop my leadership skills, deepen my connection to social justice, and improve my understanding of Judaism's role in taking care of the earth. But more than all that, the program provided me with an amazing range of resources and tools. Through the Fellowship, I am tapped into an extensive network of friends and contacts, and I am now a part of the broader PJA community – which is a wonderful community to be a part of.
Through the various sessions, the Fellowship enabled me to meet and interact with a diverse range of educators, leaders and activists.
Each session focused on a different concept, and so not only did I get to hear different voices, I got to hear and examine different opinions, and gain new tools to use in my leadership and activism work. Many of these facilitators are people who I'm still in touch with in some form or another. Fostering relationships such as these are key to any kind of successful activism or leadership, and I feel very grateful to have gained these allies.
The two retreats were times of real bonding and connecting, and it was great getting to spend time over a year with such an inspiring group of people. When I was working on my action project, I was able to combine forces with one of the other fellows – I hope to continue working with him and all of the other fellows in my cohort – on future projects, both within the PJA world and outside of it. At our graduation we were told “you are PJA” – over time this message has really sunk in. Today, I feel like I am part of PJA, ready and willing to help out and do more as needed. I feel both lucky and honored to be PJA.
"The Jeremiah Fellowship allowed me to combine two of my greatest passions - social justice and Judaism. Throughout the course of the Fellowship I met an array of like minded young professionals and leaders within both the social justice and Jewish communities. This new organization has a tremendous amount of fresh, new energy and I look forward to continuing my involvement with PJA."
--Liat Blum
"I began the Jeremiah Fellowship without knowing anyone in the Bay Area Jewish Social Justice community... by the end I left with smart and passionate new friends and a connection to an organization I admire and believe in. I honestly don't feel that I've left the Fellowship, but rather it's just transformed into something new and different."
--Shana Heller
