Alumni Update

Bracha Weisman – (Genesis 2002)

“I had a really good experience at Genesis and loved hosting all of my friends who visited me in Israel over the years. I am now in my 3rd and final year at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, learning Jewish Studies and Bibble. In the Genesis program I had a really positive enriching Jewish experience which was part of the reason I decided to continue on to graduate school. I am part of the commitee of students that arrange academic and social activities such as: giving a platform for MA students to share their ideas with students from BA program, arranging activities for ‘chagim’- (last year  for Shavuot we had a lecture then dinner together, and then we split to study groups). We are now planning a sing along and a ‘seder’ for Tu-Bishvat.” 

Sarah Kaplan – (Genesis 1999)

“After going to Brandeis and getting a BA in NEJS in 2005, I continued directly to law school at Widener University in Wilmington, DE. I graduated in 2008, and clerked in Superior Court in NJ the following year. Finding a law job isn’t easy these days, and I actually took a position as the Director of a non-profit in Philadelphia for a period of time after my clerkship. After that job, I was lucky to finally find myself at a small firm in Cherry Hill, learning a lot and gaining experience quickly. Unfortunately my stint at the firm was not as long as I had hoped for, but new adventures lay ahead. My best friend, Ben Ruder, who himself went to Genesis in 2000, was working on his second start up company and asked me to a partner in his new venture. I agreed, and there are three founding partners. We are getting ready to open our doors next month, as the only dedicated plasmapheresis center in New Jersey. So be on the lookout for two Genesis alum opening B Positive National Blood Services, Inc. in the immediate future! We are super excited and ready to put our leadership skills to the test!”

Lauren Statman – (BIMA 2004)

“I graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 2009 and now live and work in Washington, DC. I loved BIMA’s inter-disciplinary approach to the arts and Jewish learning, and continued that theme through my studies at Wash U, earning degrees in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology, Spanish, and Modern Dance. During my sophomore year, I participated in a service-learning trip to Nicaragua that was organized by American Jewish World Service and led by Wash U’s Hillel Rabbi Avi Orlow, who I had met at BIMA years before. During my senior year, I mixed my love for dance and social causes by directing the 2008 St. Louis Area Dance Marathon, a 12-hour dance fundraiser benefiting children’s hospitals through Children’s Miracle Network of Greater St. Louis. Upon graduating from college, I joined AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps in Washington, DC, where I lived in a pluralistic Jewish community, studied social justice, and worked as a program coordinator and educator at D.C. Central Kitchen. I now work at Arabella Advisors, a philanthropic advising consulting firm, and devote my spare time to dance, yoga, cooking, and performing with the Capitol Hill Chorale.