Giving the gift of tikkun olam

If the thought of spending too much Chanukah gelt on lavish gifts for friends and loved ones seems a little dim this year, adding a little tikkun olam to the presents can give your Festival of Lights a memorable glow.

Ben & Jerry’s co-founder explains how to do well by doing good

A scoop of Ben & Jerry’s may taste like heaven, and for company co-founder Jerry Greenfield, the business of making ice cream has a spiritual side as well.

“There is a spiritual aspect to business, just as there is to people,” said Greenfield.

The ice cream company known for its colorful pint-size containers, funky flavors and creative marketing has implemented smart business practices that have advanced its bottom line as well as its do-good corporate culture.

Passing of Evelyn Lauder marked by Jewish activists against breast cancer

It’s hard to find a Jewish woman without a direct connection to breast cancer. With nearly one in 40 women of Ashkenazi descent possessing a genetic mutation that greatly increases their chances of contracting the disease, breast cancer, like Tay-Sachs and Gaucher’s, is a disproportionately Jewish disease.

So it’s little surprise that the passing this weekend of Evelyn Lauder, the refugee from Nazi-occupied Europe credited with inventing the pink ribbon -- the global symbol of breast cancer awareness -- took on a special Jewish significance.

Estee Portnoy wants BBYO to be like Mike

It might be hard to imagine what Michael Jordan and BBYO have in common, but Estee Portnoy knows.

Jordan, nearly as famous for his product endorsements -- Nike, Gatorade and Hanes, to name a few -- as he is for his slam dunks, continues to be one of the most influential figures in both sports and branding. As the longtime business manager and spokeswoman for the basketball legend, Portnoy, 44, understands the importance of a “brand refresh.”

Weinblatt elected JFNA chair

As a young, newly ordained rabbi in the mid-1980s, the chance to try and save Ethiopian Jewry left a profound and lasting impact on Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt.

"We were presented with the opportunity to do something that the generation before us either couldn't or didn't do, and that was to try and rescue a Jewish community," says Weinblatt, now senior rabbi at Congregation B'nai Tzedek, a Conservative synagogue in Potomac. "I saw firsthand that the words of our sages came alive: All of Israel is responsible for one another."

While that experience helped to shape his understanding of the importance of Klal Israel, he says it also strengthened his belief in the importance of the work of the Rabbinic Cabinet of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA).

Thunder on the Mall - Bikers rally for Shalit

It was impossible to ignore the chest-thudding, eye-popping, ear-blasting spectacle of tens of thousands of motorcycles slowly making their way from the Pentagon parking lot to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in the District on Sunday afternoon.

Since its inception in 1988, the annual Rolling Thunder demonstration has become a Memorial Day weekend tradition, seeking to raise awareness of the plight of prisoners of war and those missing in action from America's wars. On Sunday, the thunderers gained a few more riders, although their focus was a missing soldier from elsewhere - Israel to be exact. The newcomers made their way from the Israeli Embassy to join the processional and raise awareness about Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit. Now 24, Shalit was kidnapped by Hamas at his army post in Israel nearly five years ago on June 25, 2006.

The Jewish state for all tastes - Israel's birthday bash in D.C., Fairfax, Rockville

Mindful of the wide range of viewpoints on the political situation in Israel today, organizers of the Washington area's largest Israel-centric gathering of the year were faced with a challenge: How to present a picture of the Jewish state that is vibrant, compelling - and honest. The chief goal of this weekend's Israel@63 celebration (which takes place in three locations, and is expected to draw some 6,000 attendees) is to celebrate Israeli achievements and strengthen the connection of the local Jewish community to Israel.

The guiding principles [for planning the event] were diversity without division, complexity within consensus. We want to push the envelope without rocking the boat.