The Jewish Community of Louisville’s popular Kesher Kentucky program will be returning to the Louisville Jewish community this fall. This yearlong Jewish educational institute is devoted to leadership development and provides participants with the opportunity to explore contemporary issues of Jewish life today locally, nationally and internationally with communal professionals and community leaders. This year, Kesher will be open to all 11th grade students.
The Kesher program is limited to 25 students to help create a warm and welcoming environment that allows participants to strengthen their Jewish identity and personal leadership skills. The Kesher Kentucky chairperson is Linda Spielberg; Justin Sadle will staff the project.
Past programs that are likely to be part of this year’s program are a discussion on civic engagement with former Louisville Mayor and Lieutenant Governor Nominee Jerry Abramson, an in-depth look into historic Jewish Louisville, meetings with prominent Jewish Louisvillians in the business, medical and legal fields, and more.
This year, the program will also include opportunities to participate in national conferences on different subjects, such as the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) High School Summit in Washington, D.C., a Teen Summit on Equality and Civil Rights in Boston, or a Social and Political Action conference with the Panim Institute.
The Kesher program for 2011 will begin in October. Applications will be available at the beginning of September.
Justin Sadle is the Jewish Community of Louisville’s Teen Director and Regional Director of the Kentucky-Indiana-Ohio BBYO. He participated in Kesher Kentucky in 2000-2001 and feels the program offers “a really good opportunity to introduce our future leaders to our Jewish community and strengthen their ties to it. We also hope,” he said, “their participation will motivate them to want to return to Louisville in the future.”
If you would like further information about the Kesher program, please contact Sadle at 238-2778 or jsadle@jewishlouisville.org.