MHP Personal Blog - Rebecca

It’s now been a little over three months since ROI, the four-day conference held in Israel, put on by CLI, Taglit and The Schusterman Foundation. For the past three years, the conference has been held in Jerusalem, but this year, in honor of Tel Aviv’s 100th Anniversary, it was at a beautiful resort in Kfar Maccabiah in Ramat Gan.

ROI stands for return on investment, a business term that was re-appropriated for the world of Jewish non-profits. I think this title is very fitting, as the conference showcases the concept that if Jewish funders invest in the up-and-coming generation of leaders, those leaders will, in turn, continue to invest in the Jewish community.

I was one of the 120 selected to participate in this year’s conference and was amazed at the talent and potential of the other 119 participants. ROI is all about Jewish innovation – being able to tackle an old problem from a new angle with beneficial results and Jewish sensibility. Being a member of the Moishe House community, I felt very proud of our innovations since we started as a private foundation in 2005. Along with myself, there were other Moishe House representatives at ROI, and since, we have even recruited one of the 120 to open a new Moishe House!

For me, the idea behind Moishe House is exactly what ROI is striving for. Moishe House invests in us – by allowing us the financial means to get creative with our Jewish communities – and, in turn, we are fostering a new generation of enthused and engaged community members. Through our diverse programming, we provide the space to meet other Jews where they are and get them excited about who they are, whether it’s through intellectual discussion, sports, the arts or religious activities.

As we grow and change individually, so to does Moishe House evolve as an organization, and with so many of our house members (and our Executive Director) having been involved in the great exchange of ideas on innovation through ROI, I can only imagine what we will accomplish as we continue to work together within Moishe House and reach out to the larger Jewish community.