David Kadosh - Moishe House West LA

I love Moishe House! What an incredible experience this has been for me since we started our house in West LA last December. Moishe House empowers its residents to run with their ideas and share their enthusiasms in an inspirational way with the community. I’ve also been lucky to meet so many awesome people in the last 8 months and build strong, lasting friendships. My passion has always been Jewish self-defense and empowerment. Both sides of my family have suffered and been uprooted because of anti-Semitism. My mother’s father had many members of his family killed in the Holocaust and survived 5 years in the Plaszow concentration camp and Mauthausen death camp. My father’s father had his clothing store in Casablanca set on fire twice because it was Jewish owned. Jews around the world have been easy targets of anti-Semitic fueled aggression. I have made it my life mission to practice situational awareness, understand self-defense, and to prepare for a wide array of potential threats. Now, thanks to Moishe House, I am able to share my knowledge with other young Jews in my community. Moishe House West LA runs a monthly self-defense program which focuses on Krav Maga (Israeli close quarters combat). We started our trainings with simple techniques, but as our classes grew and members kept coming back, we needed to expand. I applied for a special grant from Moishe House which helped us purchase some of the necessary equipment we needed to expand our training. We now have punching pads to practice our strikes and rubber knives and guns to practice weapon disarming techniques. At Moishe House West LA we have a core group that looks forward to the monthly training and is dedicated to actualizing a life of Jewish self-defense. Moishe House has given me such a tremendous opportunity to share my passions with my peers and to build strong connections and friendships. I love being a part of the Moishe House community!

Cheesecake and things - Sam Lederer MH Palo Alto

The date is 4 Sivan, 5772 / May 26, 2012, the hour 6 PM. I have two cheesecakes in the oven and I am thinking about quantum mechanics. The venture capitalist, the yoga teacher, the art curator, and the financial-analyst-turned-software-engineer are confirmed, but nobody has heard from the documentary filmmaker. I am beginning to worry, but of course I always worry and things always turn out great when the Moishe House of Palo Alto hosts something this ambitious. Allow me to explain. The event is entitled TEDmh (after the TED talks of internet fame) and it's our way of celebrating Shavuot with a Silicon Valley twist. The holiday commemorates the giving of the Torah to Israel at Sinai, and is traditionally marked with an all-night extravaganza of Jewish learning fueled (for reasons never satisfactorily explained to me) by dairy foods. We decided we liked the dairy foods (hence the cheesecakes) and we liked the late night learning, but that our community could go to almost a dozen places in the area to learn 100% Torah, and that revelations from the arts, sciences, and humanities also deserved a place in this joyous celebration. So we assembled an engaging program of speakers from our community. Some we solicited, others saw the facebook event and stuck their neck out. The diversity of interests and backgrounds was invigorating. As the event took form the guest list grew, as did expectations. Doubts began to form: Will people really sit quietly and listen, or will it just collapse into the usual schmoozing? What if it's too quiet, and just ends up lame? What if my talk on one of history's most elegant experiments runs too long and bores people? WHAT IF MY CHEESECAKE CRUST STICKS TO THE EDGE OF THE PAN?! Fast forward: 6 Sivan 5772 / May 28 2012, 2 AM. The cheesecakes are now little more than stray crumbs of oreo and almond crust (in case you were worrying, they turned out perfectly—not that it would've mattered). All the speakers made it, plus a surprise visit from an astrophysicist who showed that minds near stupefied by fatigue and cheesy goodness could still be blown. To call the event a success would be an understatement. It was fun, meaningful, and just Jewish enough to feel the community spirit in the air. The lesson I've learned from helping plan events like this is that, even when logistics are tricky and things don't go as expected, there is really no such thing as failure. In the two years since the Palo Alto Moishe House got started, a real community has formed. Gather together a bunch of Jews who all want to be there and the results will never disappoint.

Meg Stewart - MHSF

"As a teenager in a suburb of DC, B'nai Brith Youth Organization(BBYO) was a social scene that my high school could not fulfill. It was the first opportunity in my life that i really felt connected to a community of my peers. The stimulation i experienced in BBYO created the foundation for my interest and loyalty to leadership in the Jewish Community. Somehow i am still surprised when i meet a Jew in San Francisco or on my travels and we immediately play Jewography and clearly know someone in common. That kid that showed up to shabbats in college, his brother's girlfriend... yea we went on birthright tommorrow, oh yea, of course, Rachel Cohen?! The infinite community that Judaism provides is so attractive to me. It was only natural that i stumbled upon Moishe House after living in San Francisco for 6 months. The house was exactly what i needed in my life, a positive community to fall into. Moving to a city where you know so few people is daunting, but Moishe House made it so smooth. I feel excited, grateful and honored to be a resident at the San Francisco Moishe House. It is literally a dream come true. I look forward to hosting so many more shabbats, art classes, yoga practies and general opportunities for people to meet and connect. I live for that, Moishe House is the avenue to my success in creating and participating in human relations."

Making Leaders feel Valued - Annie from Moishe House Boston

Every spring Moishe Kavod House hosts our community retreat, when 40 people come together for a weekend of relaxation and community processing. This retreat is also when we elect our new board, a finance chair, a president, a membership chair and a development chair. Each year, finding a board is challenging. The amount of work done by our leaders is daunting and other leaders in the community are more than hesitant to commit to the amount of work they see being done by their predecessors. This year, we were having a particularly difficult time finding a finance chair, ironic since it is the easiest position. It is also the least interesting position however so we found ourselves unable to fill it. We set about trying to find a candidate, creating a list of folks who we thought would be good candidates, and I sent out an email to our current board list asking them to keep an eye out. As I started calling our two top candidates I was surprised to find a reply to the list from one of the current board members, Rachel, volunteering to run for the position. This put me in a tricky position. The board member had been planning on leaving the board after having had a very difficult time in her position. Sensitive to criticism, in constant fear of judgment, and struggling to meet deadlines she was often unreliable and constantly struggling to lead her team. Her fear of judgment often hindered meetings, leading her to go off on defensive tangents or unable to take even minimal feedback, sometimes becoming rude and isolating others when she felt judged by them. As soon as the board member's offer to run went out the the list, I almost instantly had emails from three other board members expressing horror at the idea of her continued board role, and some board members who has planned on resigning offering to fill the seat instead of her. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't tell Rachel, “Sorry, we're going to have one of the other board members take it even though you offered first.” I replied all and thanked her for her offer, explained that had already reached out to a couple of candidates and wanted to follow through with that process rather than rescind all the encouragement we had given folks. Still, Rachel persisted and said she had thought about it and really wanted the position. I was torn between being honest with Rachel and just working incredibly hard to make sure someone else got elected. I decided that though I had reservations about Rachel's running, I didn't think it was worth the tension it would cause to ask her not to run, but other board members persisted in pushing other people to run and pushing me to follow through on my contacts. However, they were unwilling to tell Rachel how they felt, and I was unwilling to get in the middle of it. Unsurprisingly, however, especially given her insecure disposition, Rachel detected the reservations board members had about her candidacy and confronted one of the board members who had been recruiting other candidates. The board member responded by trying to explain to Rachel the concerns that various board members had about her, which of course only made Rachel more upset. In the end, I, and our Board President, ended up having to do what we should have done in the first place, having an honest conversation with Rachel about what she had done well in the past year, what had been hard for her, how that had been hard for us, and openly asking if she really felt continuing would be a good idea. We should have stressed the things we felt she did well, and been creating about articulating roles she might take in the community that would fit her better, make her happier, and be more helpful for the rest of the community. It was a testament to our community and our skills as organizers that we were able to do that in the end, and Rachel was not upset when she was finally defeated in the election. But we shoud have trusted Rachel, ourselves, and our community to have that conversation in the first place. It reminded me that a little bit of honest tension is better than a whole lot of hidden drama, as hidden drama will always explode.

Mauro - MH Buenos Aires

A few times a month, when I look back at my time with MH I realize the huge impact it had in my life. What would it be of me now? Where would I live? In what city? In what country? Who would be my friends? What about my professional life? Would I still care about having a Jewish life? Would I still be interested in studying and learning about Judaism? Every aspect of my life has been changed (for the best) with my involvement in MH, even my eating habits! The picture would certainly look very very different, and would probably look less colorful than it does now, after having lived this time at the MH.

Perhaps, the thing I value the most is that MH gave me the place to meet so many people and expand my personal and professional contacts. I've made friends with people I could never have met, I've been part of different projects that came about thanks to MH. Programs and activities I created around our MH coumminity give me so much joy. I know many people take for granted that Jewish organizations create programming for them. It's not about the credit or recognition for doing this, it's really about knowing that just as my life has been changed, it makes a difference in their lives too. I can remember at least 5 couples formed through the Moishe House Buenos Aires (and so much more that I have no idea of). Some got married, and it was thanks to the MH, to us, to me. How big is that???
I've had more Shabat dinners and Havdallot at the Moishe House than I have had in my entire life! Also, being able to facilitate that for other people is incredibly satisfying.

I believe that the only things one can accumulate is what one gives. In the end, what you think you have can go away, money can go away, friends get lost, things will deteriorate, all but the things you gave. Your good deeds, that's something nobody can take away from you. I'll certainly take this on the rest of my life thanks to the practice I'm getting at Moishe House.

Mauro Hoijemberg
MH Buenos Aires

Adam Schrodl - MH Budapest

I moved to Moishe House Budapest approximately half year ago. First I thought, it won’t be a big change, because I was there almost every week in the last two years, I knew all the faces and I helped with the programs sometimes for the residents.

But it was. To describe why, it is important to know more about our house. We are in the centre of the city, at the heart of the Jewish quarter.  It’s a big difference, if I not only go to a Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday evenings, not only go to the house for a movie screening, or studying, but I wake up every day in the quarter, see the Haredi people go to their synagogue to the morning prayer under our balcony, while I have a cup of tea. Go to buy challa and wine at the kosher shop and bakery, that are just a few streets far from our apartment. To see the rabbis of the closest synagogues every day on the street, to know the latest news and gossip about the Jewish community(ies) of Budapest. Sometimes at night I just need to take my bike, go down to some places and talk with the others about politics, culture and Jewish life.

Now I’m not only helping organize the programs, I also organize the life of the House, I can also make the decisions as to what programs we want in the next month, to what direction we want to go. Being a resident in a Moishe House I feel much more that I’m part of an international Jewish community, that supports and helps me, and I appreciate my work for the community. I believe that our Moishe House is a great forum, where Jews can meet each other and also with non-Jews. It is a space that everybody can form to her/his image and everybody can be a part of. In here I’m never alone, and it really means a lot.

Brett Leboff - London

My time in Moishe House has been an amazing few years of transformation.

When I first moved into the house, I was single, never had a Jewish Girlfriend, had just started keeping shabbat and wasn't really sure where I stood in what community.

Well, the MoHoLo spirit is amazing. The community was growing all the time and it has been a fascinating time to be right in the heart of the Jewish grassroots community in London.

The combination of fun that we have through organising creative events, meeting new people and working as a team within a community is just amazing. The things I have learnt about living and working within a vibrant community like this is also great.

I have now been a resident of Moishe House for over 3 years and have met an amazing bunch of people who I can well imagine I will grow with through various community and social activities. A place where I have been able to openly express my Judaism, and who I am as a person.

A testament to my time in the house, is the fact that only last Sunday, I had my engagement party at the house. From older family members to friends from the community and beyond, the atmosphere was magic and breathtaking. As a reflection it is truly mindblowing what MoHoLo has achieved over the last few years.  I met my future wife many times at the house but we had not spoken much. It was during a sharing group, I heard her speaking about inner thoughts and various things that resonated. After chatting with her for hours after that group it became clear that we had a lot in common. Well, she is now my fiance and we are to be married next February.

Long may Moishe House continue!

XBrett Leboff