A man can’t get a break. Okay, a man occasionally gets a break, but they’re few and far between. Let me give it to you straight:
I’m in desperate need of finishing funds for the production of ShulShopper, the first component of Jew It Yourself set to launch in just under two weeks. I need your help to get the site up and running.
For more than two years now, I have tried to raise funds to build Jew It Yourself. Indeed, I have applied to nearly two dozen organizations, and though many took a sincere interest in the project, only one gave funds to support it.
Since embarking upon the wild ride that has been Jewschool, I have tried my best to examine the issues facing the Jewish community and to creatively and actively address them, whether dealing in issues of Jewish identity and affiliation, or of our relationship to Israel. While neither my analysis nor my solutions have resonated with everyone, in these last four years I have found camaraderie and solidarity in hundreds of Jewish people, of all backgrounds and ages, with whom we together collectively share an understanding of, and vision for the Jewish community.
By and large, those with whom I have spoken, whether Jewish professionals or simple am haaretz, have told me that that which I am trying to accomplish with Jew It Yourself, if it’s not the direction that the overall Jewish community is going in, it is certainly the direction in which they would like their Judaism to be going.
I have been offered letters of support from dozens of pioneering Jewish organizations; built a board of directors and an advisory committee consisting of some of today’s greatest Jewish thinkers and innovators — all of whom are committed to this vision; and I have personally committed myself (even to the verge of my own financial detriment) to bringing, not my vision alone, but our communal vision to life.
I’m tired of trying to convince stiff-necked wealthy eccentrics to support this project. They clearly aren’t interested. They’d rather hold focus groups masquerading as young Jewish leadership initiatives and outsource our ideas to disinterested businessmen who are motivated more by their own profit than the fulfillment of our vision.
If you believe in Jew It Yourself — what it represents and what it will do for your Jewish life — I need your money. We’re at the point where you have to be willing to commit more than your ideological allegiance alone. You have to commit the fruits of your labor. And while a kickdown of $10 or so is greatly appreciated, I’m talking about real money: 10% tithings and the like.
We are on the brink. ShulShopper is 9/10ths complete and once it launches and gains both popularity and visibility, it is a surefire funding candidate (whereas federations and foundations alike will be fighting over who gets to attach themselves to it, as per Schopenhauer’s “Three Stages of Truth”). But I need private donors right now. I need your support.
I’m doing this for you. Really, honestly, sincerely, with everything I have in me. But I need your help to get it done. Don’t email me the name of another foundation to try. Give me $1000.
Please, support Jew It Yourself. Make a donation today.