Script, ideation for It's Raining Mensch

Ideated, managed, wrote script for It's Raining Mensch, video thanking Cincinnati's Jewish community for all their volunteering and donating on Super Sunday, February 2018.  See video here.

Created video: Marvin's Story

Created video: Marvin's Story

Video and content for Give Emerson His Life back

I wrote and created a simple video for the child of a friend for GoFundMe; see all details in the link.

Jay Price Wins Federation’s Highest Award: “Selflessness and Leadership”

“Close your eyes,” said Tedd Friedman, President of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, “Take a moment and think about someone who has been a mentor to you. Someone who exemplifies selflessness and leadership.”

For Friedman and for many in the audience on May 17 at the Jewish Federation’s 121st annual meeting, the person they imagined was Jay Price. Friedman went on to recognize Price’s legacy by awarding him the Federation’s highest honor: the Nancy & Robert V. Goldstein Volunteer of the Year Award. He received sustained applause and a standing ovation.

“What I will tell you personally is when I think about a life, when I think about a mentor, I think about Jay. What he brings to our community is incomparable: his steady judgement, his compassion, his thoughtfulness and his caring is tremendous,” said Friedman.

Jeff Goldstein, son of Nancy and Bob Goldstein and the award’s presenter, said, “It is a great privilege and honor [to present the award] and I can’t think of a more deserving person.”

A person of extraordinary talents and energy, Jay Price, often with his wife, Sue Price, has received numerous awards this year, including the Distinguished Service award from Carnegie Mellon, and the Voices of Giving award from the Greater Cincinnati Planned Giving Council, which honors philanthropists from across the city.

Growing up, Sue and Jay Price both encountered various forms of antisemitism, which has been a driving force for them to get involved. Participating and giving back also helped them make friends, be a part of the community, and live out the values their parents taught them.

Price’s volunteer history is impressive and extensive. It includes currently serving as Vice President of Development of Federation, on the Jewish Federation executive committee, and on Board of Directors. He has been President of the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Family Service, Valley Temple, and also Chairman of Cedar Village, and he still serves on the board and the executive committee of Cedar Village.  

In his speech, which served as the close of the entire meeting, Price told the story of how he first met Bob Goldstein, for whom the award is in part named.  In his early days at Procter & Gamble, “on the bottom rung,” he attended a dinner with Bob Goldstein, “a very new vice president,” as special guest. He continues:  

Well, I admit I was pretty intimidated being around a Vice President, much less an industry icon. We had a break after dinner and when I went back to the table, Bob was sitting by himself. I got up my courage and I went up to him and, being the smooth guy that I am [laughter], said “Bob, I was very glad to see a Jew become Vice President at P&G. [laughter.] He just looked at me, smiled, and said “Yeah, so was I” [laughter]. That put me on Bob’s Jewish list. So a few weeks later I got a call asking me if I would like to be on a new technology committee that Federation was starting up…. That was my first volunteer role. So tonight I have come full circle.

Another amusing anecdote spoke to his frequent fundraising across various organizations: “A man answered the phone and I could hear his wife in the background. She said “who is calling?” Her husband said, ‘Jay Price.’ The response was, ‘Ask him how he is feeling and is he calling to ask for money for the Federation, the Temple, or Cedar Village … or all of them?’ [laughter]”

Most poignant was Jay Price’s discussion of our Jewish community’s strength in collaboration and how it has helped him:

“For me, as I have dealt with major health issues this past year, the word “collaboration” has turned into the word “family.” My extended family in the Jewish community has been an unbelievable source of strength for me. For that I say thank you.”

Price concluded simply, saying his message was to “get involved in the Jewish community” and “use your Jewish values to help others and heal the world. The more you do, the more you will want to do. You will be glad you did.”

Showering him with applause, the audience showed how glad it was to hear Price’s message.

How You Help: “What I Brought Back from Israel:” Interview with a UC Student Leader

Why did Ryan James, who is not Jewish, make the choice to go to Israel this past January? A junior at the University of Cincinnati, Ryan James is an African-American student leader, the Student Government Diversity/Inclusion Chair with multiple other leadership roles. He is majoring in organizational leadership with plans for a master’s degree in public administration. 

The answer is that James has an ongoing relationship with Cincinnati Hillel. Through Hillel, he has solidified friendships and attended two conferences: AIPAC and the David Project’s Black-Jewish Summit. On January 8, James returned from a 10-day trip to Israel specially designed for non-Jewish student leaders. He was one of eight from UC who went, including one Jewish student, a Hillel intern. The trip, Israel Uncovered, was organized by the David Project and partially funded through the Jewish Innovation Funds of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. The student leaders were selected by Cincinnati Hillel, which the Jewish Federation also funds, and Hillel’s Israel Fellow staffed the trip.

Cincinnati Hillel’s program is nationally recognized as successful. “Because of the quality of the students that we send on this trip,” said Sharon Stern, Executive Director of Cincinnati Hillel, “we have been designated a flagship campus for the David Project, and were named ‘Campus of the Year’ in 2017.”

I sat down with James after he spoke at a recent Federation board meeting to talk about his recent experiences.  


Minson: Can you tell us why you decided to go to Israel?

James: After going to [the AIPAC and Black-Jewish Summit conferences] I really wanted to learn and grow more. I was very hungry for more answers. [So I applied and went on the trip.] And it was amazing—I just got back about a week ago [laughs] so I am still processing everything.

Minson:  How was it?

James: We had amazing experiences: we stayed in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa. Especially the Old City was amazing with such iconic and cherished religious sites. Every part of that trip was just absolutely beautiful. It gave me the chance to get up at 7 in the morning and not go to bed until midnight, and every minute of the day was new food, new opinions, new people. Seeing so many people with so many different opinions who all wear the Israeli flag so proudly is so eye-opening.

Minson: How is it to be back?

James: I still feel like I have a lot of questions—that’s probably a through-line through all of this. [But] it’s been completely influential in my life. I think Hillel has done something fascinating, which is reaching out to students who have diverse interests and who are bouncing around doing a lot on campus, because that gives us the ability to learn, and then the second half is challenging us to engage with others on campus. Hillel has really given themselves first, and let that lead to authentic sharing. There’s been such a good reception to that in our community. I think that has been absolutely influential on our campus.

Minson: Can we take a step back? What was your relationship with the Jewish community before Hillel?

James: I had had no real touches with the Jewish community in any way shape or form. I grew up in Columbus Ohio, in a suburban community. I didn’t realize how much antisemitism was present, I didn’t know a lot. I didn’t know that there were people in 2018 now as I’m speaking to you that believed that Jewish people had horns. That connected specifically to an experience my mother had where she was actually punished at her elementary school because students looked into the stall while she was using the restroom because they believed that she had a tail. And then when the situation went to the teacher she was punished instead of the other students.

What spoke to me is the parallels between the African-American community and the Jewish community. I think there is a lot of kinship among minority communities.

Minson: So what did you take from this trip? 

James: College is about figuring out one’s identity. I am still learning how I feel about everything and interacting with the world. But being challenged to forge your own opinion on an experience that there is so much energy around, forces you to figure out where you stand. Coming back from Israel I learned just as much about myself and where I stand, with life.

Minson: So where do you stand?

James: [Pause] I think for the first time I am smart enough to know that I don’t know everything. Experiences are so layered and so dynamic there. But seeing how despite the strife that exists, seeing some of the most close communities that I have ever seen in my life and that maybe I will ever see in my life—that’s what came home with me more than maybe anything. If you walk into a store and you have a question someone will answer it not because they want you out of their store but because there’s a very unique dedication to the common good there.  

We were given narratives that were completely disputed by other speakers. But with that combat and that sparring, it’s not attached to real divisiveness like you think it’d be—it’s over dinner, where people are authentically and wholly loving each other, if that makes sense.

Minson:  It does. What else are you bringing back?

I knew that community was something close enough to me that I wanted to pull it into my major, but I’ve never felt it like in Israel. What I saw in Israel [pauses]: what it brings up in me is: authentic sharing, and authentic relationships between communities. Understanding that there are differences, and also understanding that the bridges between those differences are important, is the biggest thing that I brought back from all of these experiences. I really think there’s no finite amount of education or understanding in the world and if people advocate for their experience we need to listen.

[Video:] Why Waldorf: What Parents Say

We asked parents of children at the Cincinnati Waldorf School why they chose Waldorf...and this is what they said. "When I think about why I send my kids to Waldorf, I think about when my kids are older, and the currency that will be important in that world, and to me that's creativity." Ideated, wrote, took videos, edited video. See video here.