I've been a board member with a lot of organizations. Most operate the same way: attend a meeting, donate some money, set some policy, raise some funds, oversee the budget.... Most boards have a process for vetting prospective board members. They evolve slowly over time and measure a lot against past accomplishments. The Jewlicious Festival taught me how ineffective a board can be. Or it taught me how to make other boards more effective and their organizations more adept. Jewlicious Festival is one of the most amazing organizations I've ever been part of. It does so much with so little--but those who attend Jewlicious events don't have any idea! If any typical organization set out to put on a weekend-long program for 1000 people, with round the clock (Kosher) food, entertainment, panels, hanging out, etc...they would require a budget of no less than $250K. Somehow, Rabbi Yonah and the Jewlicious team pull it off for less than half of that. The reason? Well...start with the full time professional staff. There's Rabbi Yonah and...um...that's it. Rabbi Yonah has somehow managed to convince dozens of entertainers, staffers, panelists, experts, artists, to volunteer to make the festival a success. And truth be told, Rachel Bookstein is Rabbi Yonah's partner in making the event happen--official staff or not...she is there at every turn. The Booksteins outsource the creativity. Or maybe they distribute the creativity and responsibility. Instead of having to manage every detail themselves, the Jewlicious core team empowers anyone with a great idea and a passion to make it real. Want to bring attention to Darfur? Find panelists and put them on the agenda. Want to make the event "green?" Organize the purchase of biodegradable utensils. Want to insure there is great music? Volunteer to manage the musical acts. The idea of distributed ownership in this grassroots Festival teaches the young (mostly college students or young professionals) core team how to turn passion into a program. The Booksteins set the loose theme. Their goal is to help young Jews be proud of who they are and to learn about themselves, their religion, culture, and the Jewish homeland, but not by sitting them in lectures. They learn by seeing, doing, experiencing, singing, listening, dancing, helping clear the tables, blogging, debating, eating, talking, studying unusual topics...and whatever else comes along. People have literally come from across the country and across the world to participate. Other professional organizations send their people to watch and learn. The second half of keeping the costs down is to get as much media coverage as possible so that advertising expenses are kept low and companies want to donate goods and services. Key to this is the association with the blog "Jewlicious.com" Jewlicious has been the media partner which helped put the festival on the map from day 1. David Abitbol is a bit of a cult hero to the old time Jewlicious Festival attendees and a broadly recognized blogger. From his office in Jerusalem, David works year round with Rabbi Yonah finding ways to expand their reach. I think the biggest challenge for the Jewlicious Festival is how to expand without losing the tight knit spirit. The festival seems to work in part because everyone is crammed into the Alpert Jewish Community Center. I love the energy and enthusiasm of the Festival. I wish that something like this was offered at my university. It wasn't. I'm fortunate to have been involved since the first Jewlicious@theBeach and to have an ongoing invitation to help out during the Festival. It is the highlight of my year.
I have been involved with Jewlicious Festival for 3 years now, and it is one of the most amazing things I've ever been a part of. Rabbi Yonah Bookstein and his wife Rachel are inspiring, loving, and amazing people to work with. I have experienced Jewlicious Festival from two sides, being on staff and just being a participant. I can honestly say from both sides of the coin, its changed my life. I know many people say that everything is "life changing," but when I say that this was life changing for me, I'm not exaggerating. I am a full-time student at Cal State Long Beach, working 25 hours a week, and running my own Hebrew tutoring business. I'm very very busy... but will ALWAYS ALWAYS make the time for Jewlicious. This festival brings people together, makes Jewish college students and young professionals feel like they belong with their culture. There are chassidic Rabbis leading meditations and lesbian peace groups, all under one roof. The diverse people there not only makes for a great JEWISH weekend, but a great WEEKEND regardless. My best friend wants to come this year, and she is not even Jewish! It is an incredible weekend for anyone of any age.
I think the best way to express my experience with Jewlicious is to make public the letter I wrote last year to help fundraise for Jewlicious in 2009 after several donors had to back out due to the financial crisis: ----------------- Dear Friends and Fam, I'm pretty sure I have never written a letter like this before, which at first made me concerned about my own care for all the amazing organizations that could use help, but after further consideration made me realize how important I find this particular organization for it to inspire me to write such a letter. The organization is Jewlicious, and here's the story. Three year's ago I recieved an email from the director of a Jewish conference and music festival called Jewlicious asking if I was interested in performing at the festival, along with a slew of other amazing artists. I had heard rumors about this conference/festival and its directors Rabbi Yonah and Rachel Bookstein over the years from a diverse group of people including Matisyahu and his wife Tahli who had atteneded the previous year's festival. I knew the blog "Jewlicious" was one of, if not the most read Jewish blogs on the internet, and altough I wasn't sure how it was all connected, I was excited about the opportunity to play at such an event. As it turned out, when I inquired about the date of the festival, it conflicted with the Shabbat Tent at the Langerado Music Festival I was helping to organzie with Matisyahu during the same weekend. A few months passed and the weekend of Langerado in Miami and Jewlicious in Long Beach, California arrived. After Shabbat was over I was with Matisyahu when his wife Tahli, who was at Jewlicious again called. The excitment in her voice was unquestionable and her joy was projecting from the phone as making it impossible not to ease-drop. As the conversation continued, it was undeniable that something special was going on out in Long Beach. I knew another musician who was playing at Jewlicious who came from a very different background and perspective on Judaism than Tahli, and called him a few days later to get his take. His enthusiasm for Jewlicious, and for what it was providing for young Jews from all walks of life was insipiring. At that point, I had no choice, and immediately emailed Rabbi Yonah to set up a call and see what was really going on. Several weeks later we spoke...for a long time. What I learned was that Rabbi Yonah, his wife Rachel, and a handful of volunteers had created a festival and conference for Jewish college students and young professionals to meet these young Jews where they were at. To respect their perspectives while giving them an intense 72 hours of inspiration helping them grow, question, and become leaders within their own communities. To provide for them avenues of connection in Judaism by infusing tradition with deep meaning, while exploring music, art, politics, environmental concerns, spiritual and philosphical discussions, and the ultimate love of every Jew. What was equally impressive was that the Bookstein's with virtually no paid staff had grown this idea from less than 100 participants in its first year to nearly 500 participants in its third year. Furthermore, the Bookstein's wanted no financial barriers for their participants and worked around the clock to secure enough donations to keep entry into the weekend long Jewish immersion extravagenza to $36; providing food for three days, a place to camp at the festival, dozens of classes, workshops, and a concert with some of the best up-and-coming alternative Jewish acts in the world. After listening to the present results of the festival and the vision for growing the festival in the future, I must admit I was a bit jealous. Producing a festival to inspire college-aged Jews in an open, accepting, and insipiring format coupled with amazing performers to help keep the participants motivated to continue Jewish involvement was my dream, and now someone had gone ahead and beaten me to the punch. Again, I had no choice and immediately insisted that I could help. For some reason The Bookstein's beleived me, and last year I had the honor to work as the music director and production assistant for Jewlicious 4.0. The festival had more than 700 registered participants, and exceeded my expectations in every way. Friday night, as services were winding down and table settings were being finished on the most massive Shabbat Dinner I have ever been a part of, people were still lining up to get into the festival. With Shabbat already underway, there were no more tickets being sold, but what else was there to do? Over the next hour more than 100 additional people showed up and were welcomed as a dozen volunteers without hesitation seemlessly found new tables, new space, and new table settings. Friday night participants participated in all-night disccusion pannels with pioneers from the US and Israel concerning Jewish spirituality, halacha, the arts, the environment, the media, etc. Saturday followed with more incredible services, classes and workshops. After Shabbat the 800 room concert hall remained packed from 9pm until 2am with some of the best in new Jewish music, and Sunday was no different. This year I once again have the honor to serve as music director for the festival, and in watching the incredible dedication each and every volunteer has to the Festival in preparing for its most impressive and inspiring year yet, I am also sadened at how the economic downturn is theatening the Festival's vision. With a little more than a month until Jewlicious 5.0, major donors from year's past have cut their contributions, smaller funders have been whiped out in the current economy and simply can't afford the donations of year's past. With lack of funding the Festival will have no choice but to downsize and limit particpation for scheduled presenters, musicians, and those simply attending. It is very hard to describe the beautiful nature of Jewlicious, and the lasting impact it has on each and every participant; even with my lengthy ramblings. Therefore, I humbly ask that you trust me. If you know me, than believe me when I say if I could have created the perfect Jewish Festival that allows all Jews to feel welcome while inspiring each at their own level and beliefs to grow and become leaders themselves, Jewlicious would have been that Festival. Fortunately, thousands of college-students and young adults didn't have to wait for me to figure it out, and The Booksteins have been leading the vision for five years. I hope that you can all recall those individuals who helped insipre each of us to be better and more active Jews and human beings when we were in college, and can consider a donation at any level to help ensure that Jewlicious continues to provide, in my humble opinion, the most impressive and impacting weekend for Jews in the country. Please feel free to contact me with any questions at any time. Only love! Peace Adam
A friend forced me to go to the Jewlicious Festival in Long Beach. My expectations were not very high, to say the least. But wow was I blown away! That weekend was the singular most positive Jewish experience I have ever had - and it happened in the context of an event that included everything from chassidic Rabbis to lesbian peace activists. Since then I have been reading Jewlicious.com regularly and looking forward to the next Festival. Jewlicious has helped me get back in touch with my Jewish community and Jewish identity and for that I am very thankful!