Dear ACCESS Friend,

I’m delighted to share the news today that for the second year in a row, AJC’s ACCESS program was named one of the most innovative Jewish projects in North America by Slingshot, the definitive resource guide on the topic.  Your participation in the program helped make this honor possible, and so congratulations are in order.  We depend on you to shape and amplify a smart Jewish voice for the next generation. On behalf of the leadership of AJC, I want to thank you for your commitment to ACCESS.

This is no small achievement. ACCESS is the only group Slingshot honored this year that represents the young leadership of a major organization.

The recognition tells us that we are breaking preconceptions and doing something very right: we are showing that it is possible to combine the expertise, unique access, and reach that a larger organization offers with the openness, dynamism and innovation of a smaller project. It is possible to bridge the generational divide – and to do so in a way that is energizing and enriching for everyone involved and that strengthens the Jewish community and the larger world.

I want to personally invite you to join AJC friends from around the country and world from May 2-4, 2012 at AJC’s Global Forum in Washington, D.C., and at the innovative ACCESS 20/20 Conference from May 4-6, 2012. I look forward to seeing you there.  With your ongoing support, may ACCESS continue to go from strength to strength,  offering such great promise for the Jewish future. 

Sincerely, 

David Harris 

AJC Executive Director

P.S. Click HERE for local upcoming opportunities, including ACCESS international missions in 2012,

Click here for a comprehensive overview of ACCESS’s work around the country this year.

On Wednesday August 24th, 2011 more than 125 young leaders from the American Islamic Congress and AJC ACCESS Boston, in partnership with the Goethe-Institute, came together to celebrate the end of Ramadan with a traditional Iftar break-fast. Ramadan, which is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is a special month during which many Muslims fast, refraining from eating or drinking during daylight hours in order to help deepen their reflections on patience, spirituality, humility and submission to God. This was the 2nd Iftar event which AJC ACCESS Boston has had the pleasure of hosting with AIC.

The tone of the evening was one of celebration and joy as young leaders from the Boston community enjoyed a delicious meal, thoughtful conversation and a special performance by Sudanese piano player Muhammad Araki. In her opening remarks Georgi Vogel Rosen, ACCESS Steering Committee member and Co-Chair of the Iftar event, along with Houman Hemmati, commented that these kinds of programs promote tolerance, mutual respect, and understanding. This theme resonated throughout the night with all who were in attendance.

AJC Boston Director Rob Leikind commented that it was quite remarkable to see how natural and easy it is for all of us to get together and talk to each other, put aside all the things people say and just be who we are. Nasser Weddady, AIC Civil Rights Outreach Director, spoke about celebrating what we have here in America and how different the climate of tolerance and understanding is from other places.

by Erica Daniel
AJC ACCESS Boston Steering Committee and Event Host Committee