When I was ten years old I sat at the front of Mrs. Vetoso’s English class and listened as a girl named Dana read aloud an essay about a boy in the room who had big ears and dandruff.
The class thought the essay was hilarious. Twenty years later, I remember exactly where I sat and how their laughter felt as is shattered through my back and down my spine. Maybe it was the big ears.
Dana read the entire essay. The class laughed at every line.
Mrs. Vetoso just sat there.
Mrs. Vetoso is who I think of when I hear the word “evil”.
She once called my dog fat.
But calling a dog fat doesn’t make you evil, it makes you a bitch.
Evil is knowing something is wrong and not doing anything about it.
Mrs. Vetoso’s watching a girl bully someone and not stopping it is what makes her evil.
This “It Get’s Better” campaign is great, BUT…
If you’re a teacher and you let a kid bully another kid, you’re evil.
A friend was renting space in the living room of an apartment, using Chinese Shoji screens to divide his space, and canvas taped to the ceiling to fill the four-foot gap above them — not a pretty, private, or quiet solution.
I had the idea to use styrofoam insulation boards, which come in different widths (2′ or4′) and thicknesses (.5′ to 2′) and are 8′ tall, to create light, temporary walls. Since foam insulation is used to dampen sound and insulate against temperature changes, it would have that added benefit.
Foam walls
Tools and Materials needed:
Foam Board (we used 10 pieces of 8′x2′x2″ Dow Styrofoam Blueboard)
Furring Strips (we used 16 pieces of 6′ strips. Although 8′ would have been ideal)
Screws (3.5′ self-drilling screws and 2′ self-drilling screws)
Drill
Saw
Metal L brackets
The process is simple:
Line the boards next to each other on the floor,
Place a furring strip on the top edge, above and below the board (so the board is sandwiched between two strips)
Drill a screw through the top strip, foam, and bottom strip.
Repeat steps 2 and 3 on the bottom edge and in the middle of the foam boards (to add rigidity to the wall.
The total time to buy the materials and assemble is 2 hours. If you can build Ikea furniture, you can handle this.
Building a foam wall
Creating a Corner
To make a right angle, you can screw foam-into-foam and also screw metal L brackets into the foam on the inside. Having a corner enables the walls to be free-standing. (Otherwise, you can screw an L-bracket into the furring strips and then into the wall. Use anchors before screwing into drywall or plaster.)
Wall Color / Style
The Dow material is nice as it’s clean of writing on one side. The inside of the walls have the Dow logo and printing, and you can paint or wallpaper over those if you choose. This friend decided he liked the “industrial” look of it and is keeping it.
Gaps
If your ceiling is slightly higher than the boards, you can screw molding or strips of wood into the furring strips. This friend chose to leave a 1″ gap for air and light.
Door:
To create a door, simply affix hinges to the furring strips. Do not affix hinges directly to the foam, as they’ll pretty soon pull out of the foam.
Note:
The walls created are not “Load bearing” and I’d hesitate before hanging pictures and other items on them.
Add Comments and Questions:
This is a first-time idea, so comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome.
It’s the final hours of Holocaust Remembrance day and like most folks I didn’t do much for it. For me, it was a normal Sunday, volunteering with kids, brunch with friends, sushi dinner, intimate late night conversation. It feels a little wrong to have such a great time on such a day, which got me thinking about a old man I met at a senior center while volunteering with JCorps. He was a Polish man.
For those who don’t know, the Polish were horrible to the Jews during the war. While some countries begrudgingly went along with the Nazi takeover, the Polish willingly and eagerly assisted in the extermination of the Jews. Today, when young Jews walk in the streets of Poland, the natives are still known to spit at them. And so I felt torn, sitting next to this lonely Polish man. He was weak and old and his memory was spotty, but he was Polish and would have been in the army then, and that made me uncomfortable. And then he began to talk about The War. I readied myself to walk away in disgust, but curiosity got the best of me.
I asked him where he was during the war, and he said, “All over Europe.” It felt evasive, and feeling no respect for this man, I pressed impatiently, “Were you in the camps?” “Oh yes.” And then, after a silence, he said, “We helped liberate them.” “Wait, what army were you in?” “The US Army,” he said, becoming taller and prouder in his wheelchair. Needless to say, my tone changed.
He discussed what it was like to see the camps and their prisoners — “unbelievable”, was a common word. He discussed living skeletons of human beings, starving children, broken men. Sixty years later, I could see his eyes still could not process what they saw.
Today, I had a great day because of what that man did 60 years ago. And chances are, so did you.
I was fortunate to sit with one of the last living American heroes who freed my people from the worst tragedy to ever befall us. Let us remember their contributions, a gift we can never repay, and let us us pray their incredible light continues to outshine the formidable darkness of evil. It is because of men like that Polish-American man that we can say…
When I was a kid, I complained of being busy. “Good,” someone said, “busy people get more done.”
Now I run a “social volunteering” network that’s entirely volunteer-run — by busy people. My greatest challenge is in finding them, so I thought I’d share some things I’ve learned and ask for your ideas.
We have a lot of A Players. The girl who runs our New York senior center volunteering is a marketing exec who also runs her synagouge’s young adult division. The person who oversees our Jerusalem branch is a full-time student who travels and dances and organizes events for other programs. They don’t “have” time, they “make” it.
Then we have the deadbeats. These are people who take more time to write letters about why they can’t do something than it’d take to do it. They immediately run to schedule meetings, and talk about why things aren’t feasable rather than jumping in and trying them. They don’t seem to notice their total lack of progress. Worse, they involve friends who are even flakier than them. Steve Job’s rule that “A Players hire A Players, but B Players hire C players…” is true.
So the question is: How do you find the A Players? (And, how do you avoid the deadbeats?)
Here are a few things I’ve tried that seem to work.
PLEASE comment with your ideas, and give brief examples of how they worked.
Look for people already active in their community.
These are busy people getting things done.
Make it easy to express interest and then a bit tricky to join.
Capture their names immediately and then give them a task requiring some persistence. Leaders follow through.
Look for people who challenge your rules (not who just ignore them!)
These are people looking to improve your organization. Fear them, then follow them. They’re your best source of new ideas.
Be open about your needs, your failures and mistakes.
A simple status update on Facebook (”I’m looking for reliable people in … “) has netted me more quality referrals and offers than contacting a dozen leaders of major organizations.
Welcome criticism.
When I published a newspaper (remember those?) a guest writer wrote a harsh and detailed email lambasting us for how we’d edited his article. We made him the News Editor. He was the best we ever had.
Reward Selfishness
The girl who runs one of our children’s hospital programs is obsessed with babies (her words). So we don’t try to get her to run a Soup Kitchen event. She likes kids.
Appreciation
When someone does something, no matter how small, give them huge thanks! We all want to feel needed.
=== What doesn’t work:
Cold Emails
I’ve seen people post on our Facebook Walls and contacted them for help. Maybe people who are willing to post on a wall but not hunt-down a leader aren’t leaders.
Asking unreliable people to recommend reliable people.
They don’t understand the definition of reliable.
Paying people.
If someone can’t keep their word, they can’t do it with your money in their pocket either.
—-
I originally posted this April 6, 2009 @ triiibes.com
Ari Teman joins the growing list of American comedians looking for a laugh in Israel.
Over the past few years, Israel has seen a surge of American comedians performing on its stages. The Comedy for Koby Tour continues to bring comedians recognizable from TV and films; and New York veteran Jim Gaffigan recently performed for a few small crowds while vacationing in Israel. Continuing the trend, Jewish American comedian Ari Teman will appear in Tel Aviv with a few local performers for a one-night show.
In a Jerusalem Post interview,Teman explained that while there is a lot of demand from comedians who want to go on the comedy tour, there are also many comedians who don’t want anything to do with Israel. “There are comedians in front of hundreds of people, or thousands if they are on TV; they will tell jokes (about Israel), never having been here,” said Teman.
The comedian regularly performs in comedy clubs around New York City as well as on the road. He appeared in a VH1 commercial and once performed at the White House for US President Barack Obama. “I know they are calling Obama a Nazi, which I think is fantastic, because if you thought US President is a tough job for a black guy to get, a Nazi? We have overcome.” Teman said the president laughed after hearing the joke and gave him a hug.
This is Teman’s second time performing in Israel. This trip he will be leading a comedy show called ‘American Comedy in Israel’. Last year he did a single show at Jerusalem’s Off The Wall comedy club while on vacation. He expects to do a few topical jokes about current events in Israel and said that he received positive reactions in the past when making jokes about Israeli topics like the disengagement from Gaza. “On the one hand I’m a big supporter of the people from Gush Katif, and on the other hand my family owns a bulldozer company,” Teman said to a crowd at a New York fundraising event.
Teman also discusses his dating life on stage. “I think Ikea is a good place to pick up a girl who’s not looking for something permanent,” he jokes.
Besides his career as a comedian, young Jerusalemites might recognize Teman as the founder of the social volunteering network JCorps. JCorps organizes events where Jewish young adults can volunteer for a local cause while meeting new people.
In addition to Teman, local comedians Benji Lovitt and Yossi Tarablus will also be performing at Teman’s show. Benji Lovitt is a well known comedian among the Anglo communities of Israel, and native Hebrew speaker Yossi Tarablus is doing a unique performance in English.
American Comedy in Israel takes place at the ZOA House this Monday at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are available at www.telavivcomedy.com
Comedian and Jewish Community Hero to perform at Heritage Academy
By Stacey Dresner
LONGMEADOW - Comedian Ari Teman will perform at Heritage Academy’s Comedy Night on Sunday, June 6 at 7 p.m. at City Stage in Springfield. This year the school marks its 60th anniversary, and during the event its founders and people instrumental in the establishment of the school will be honored.
Teman is an award-winning comedian, headliner and regular at A-List clubs, colleges and around the country. Recently seen on VH1, and featured in “Time Out NY” magazine for the Joke of the Week, Teman is also a Jewlarious Magazine-featured comedian, along with Jerry Seinfeld, Larry David, and Robert Klein. Teman is the host of “Further,” a stand-up showcase, a regular headliner at the Meshugeneh Comedy Festival, and a frequent performer at universities and premier events.
Teman, founder of JCorps, the Jewish social volunteering network, is also the Jewish Federations of North America’s “Jewish Community Hero of the Year,” selected from more than 400 nominees and after having received more than 570,000 votes.
JCorps, which Teman runs entirely as a volunteer, groups Jewish young adults of all denominations and from over 170 colleges and 450 companies together to help in hunger-relief, children’s hospitals, senior centers, and park and environmental projects. JCorps is now active in four countries and eight cities. Teman, a graduate of Brandeis, is also CEO of 12 gurus, a company that helps start-up firms “innovate with integrity.”
The Ledger recently spoke to Ari Teman about his comedy and his role as Jewish Community Hero.
Q: Can you tell us about your Jewish upbringing?
A: I was raised Modern Orthodox in Teaneck, N.J. I went to various yeshiva and day schools.
Q: You majored in studio arts and psychology at Brandeis. So how did you end up in comedy?
A: I got into comedy pretty much the year after graduating from college. It was something I always wanted to do - It was something people were always telling me to do. I got up and did it, and fell in love with it and kept doing it.
Q: How would you describe your comedy? Is it very Jewish?
A: It’s mostly Episcopalian, which was a surprise to me as well as the audience - especially when Federations hire me to perform.
I mean, I am a Jew and sometimes when I complain it sounds like I am ordering at a deli. For the most part it is observational humor that is about life and relationships. I have one or two jokes about Jews.
Q: When did you found JCorps?
A: December of 2007.
Q: And what was the impetus? Were you a volunteer before you founded JCorps?
A: No, I don’t really like helping people. I am actually a registered Republican. I basically said to myself, how do I meet nice people? I just didn’t feel like going to synagogue or temple, and I didn’t feel like going to nightclubs was a great way to meet decent human beings. So I said, volunteering, and the idea for JCorps came into my head.
The idea is to keep it social. The basic idea behind JCorps is that helping people can and should be a selfish experience in the sense that you should feel you are getting back what you are putting in - people who like working with kids should work with kids, people who like working with animals should work with animals. [If you are in JCorps] one of the things you want to do is connect with other people, so we want to preserve an environment where people can connect.
We also make it very convenient to volunteer. People are busy - they don’t have a lot of time to run around and go on-line and find volunteer places, sign up and apply. We make it so you fill out a form, we screen you and you show up.
So it is definitely a convenience issue, and it is also the fact that if you’ve got to choose between two volunteer opportunities and one will let you meet a bunch of great people you are going to choose the one that lets you meet a lot of great people.
Q: You were nominated for and were named the Jewish Community Hero of the Year by the Jewish Federations of North America. Was that exciting?
A: Yeah, a friend nominated me, obviously making a huge mistake…
But it was great for the organization. It gave us a lot of visibility and credibility.
It was a mixed bag. I beat a guy from my hometown who gave away a kidney, and that made me feel really great. Although for the record he was unwilling to do it twice whereas I volunteer almost every Sunday. The Federations like consistency - that is the message here. If you are going to give up a kidney, don’t be a quitter.
Q: You are also CEO of a company called 12gurus. Can you tell us about it?
A: “12gurus” helps organizations start ventures. We have a few start ups of our own…and then we are hired by organizations, foundations and companies that want to launch a venture and make it popular and successful. We help them do it…It is very much an innovation process that from the very start of a venture helps shape it.
Q: So you do a lot - you are a CEO, a volunteer and a comedian. How would you describe yourself?
A: Poorly focused.
I guess I try to get a lot done in a short amount of time so I can spend the rest of my life doing nothing - the American dream.
I started JCorps with big goals, it’s legal name from Day One was “JCorps International, Inc.” . We started in New York City in December of 2006 and quickly expanded to Jerusalem, Montreal, and are now open in cities as far as Russia and the Ukraine. We’ve had thousands of volunteers from over 180 schools, 450 companies, and 20 countries. Every year, we feed over 21,000 meals to the hungry, beautify acres of parks, and visit hundreds of sick children and elderly around the world.
One of my goals from the outset was to prove we could build a great organization with just volunteers. By designing a simple franchise system with clear rules and guidelines, the JCorps model could be replicated and grown with little reinvention. Our model was Wikipedia, which was built by a team of uber-dedicated volunteers. However, like Wikipedia the scale and scope of JCorps has grown to demand full time staff. When JCorps hit three cities I started to feel my time limited. Now we’re opening in eight.
The potential for JCorps demands full time staff. And in the spirit that “A Players Hire A Players”, I’m excited to announce our first full-time staff person, a Chief Operating Officer who will support our volunteer Division Leaders and Team Leaders as well as built our presence around the world.
We’re happy to welcome Giselle Mazur to JCorps as COO.
Giselle volunteering
Giselle was a star player working at the UF Hillel, and recently worked with a rising startup company. In JCorps, she says, she has found her dream job, engaging and connecting the Jewish community through service.
Our goals are only getting larger and our reach is growing broader every day. Stay tuned for announcements of JCorps in new cities in the USA and around the world, as well as internship programs, training programs, and nighttime First Responder and CPR classes that will enable thousands of JCorps volunteers to respond to crises and save lives.
People have asked, “What’s Jewish about JCorps?” I believe one of the greatest contributions Judaism gave the world is the idea that people can repair and grow themselves and that perfection is not an ideal; struggle is. Included in that is the idea that the path to true happiness and meaning in life is in helping others, which is one way to improve yourself. None of our heroes are perfect. Their heroism is that they persist in improving themselves. JCorps has always been a selfish endeavor, for it is about helping others with the aim of improving yourself.
Ari Teman
I’ll be alongside to see JCorps into its next phase, and then I’ll leave it in Giselle’s trusted hands. JCorps has been an amazing ride, and I feel like I’m putting my child up for adoption. (That’s probably a good analogy, since sometimes I feel like a bad parent.) I’ve learned a lot, met thousands of amazing people, and even gotten invites to the Mayor’s house and the White House. I’ll be forever indebted to the kindness you have all shown, and so I’ll be forever available to help JCorps.
It’s amazing what we can build with $300 and a big idea.
A friend at Birthright NEXT NY asked me to host a Shabbat Dinner since I’m around the corner from their West Village offices. National Birthright funds the dinner and sends over a “Shabbox”, which is a box of Shabbat-related stuff.
Shabbat-related is speaking generously. It comes with a CD, presumably for the Sabbath Observant to set-aside for use as a Shabbat coaster (It his a nice metallic sheen on one side), instructions for slow-cooking a meat Chulent with a butter-coated (oops!) Jachnoon, a pewter kiddish cup from India, and this:
Shabbat-themed softcore cartoon p*rn.
This is great for the Birthright alum who wants to dress-up for the sabbath, but has never worn clothing before. That’s a lot of Birthright alumni, judging from their photos.
I also appreciate the Shabbat Bicycle juxtaposed with a Shaitel. I’m not religious, but I guess the Eruv is up, because she’s gonna be carrying a basket — while still showing a little cleavage, you know, to be fruitful and multiply. I’d cover that Challah before it gets jealous!
Now, don your favorite-vest-with-extra-flair and enjoy Shabbat!
Epic Fail.
Shabbat Softcore P*rn
Disclaimer: Birthright is a great organization (usually), and this is my personal blog, not the blog of JCorps (which has no opinions and is not political or religious).
Tonight, after White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel spoke to their General Assembly, the Jewish Federations of North America named me “The Jewish Community Hero of the Year“. I’m sure I’m not the first to say, “They made a huge mistake.”
To put it in perspective, I beat a father of nine who gave away his kidney to a stranger. (I think it’s because if they asked him to do it again, he’d say no. Donors like consistency. ) Then I was selected over people who work with thousands of special-needs kids, soldiers, imigrant workers, poor brides, and lost teens. In short, thanks to the wonderful people at the Jewish Federations of North America and their judges, I’m out of karma.
I walked around the Federation’s Assembly in awe of the thousands of Jewish leaders and volunteers who give their time, money, and passion to their communities in the pursuit of knowledge, peace, health, and meaning. There was a great positive energy there, with Jews of all backgrounds gathering to focus on the future. It was a gathering of thousands of heroes.
I’m humbled and grateful that they chose to highlight the work of the thousands of young Jewish heroes who are JCorps.
JCorps exists because committed people create it every day around the world with their actions. From the beginning, Rafi Farber, Barry Berkowitz, Eliana Bavli, Rebecca Saidlower, Ron Arazi, Shira Berenson, Jesse Nowlin, Leora Schanfield, Sara Cole, Doris Miriam, Jennifer Goldman, Jessica Leiter, Rebecca Gross, Oliver Josephs, Jennifer Citak, Steyer Reyhorn, Elad Blumenthal, Matthew Solomon, Nataly Gutflais, Gregg Alpert, and thousands more have contributed to the growth of JCorps, making events happen and getting people involved in making a difference. There would be no JCorps without them. Last year they fed over 21,000 hungry people, visited hundreds of seniors and sick children, and turned acres of unusable park into play-spaces for kids and families.
There are people who inspire and assist me every day. I would not be here without Peretz and Chanie Chein at Brandeis. This is their victory. I am humbled by their unconditional love for all people. They are part of my family, which is one that relishes and reveres out-of-the-box thinking, education, and community. We get that from our passionate and always-amused Grandma and Bubbeh. Mom, Dad, Alana, Mendy & Ariela, Israel, Bina & Tzvi, Elaine & Alan, Rachel & George, Debbie & Larry, Jesse, Danny, Daniel, Jill, Yodels & Bagels, Daniel, Aaron, Janelle, Arianna, Ilan, Max, Yoni, Avner, Mike and Elissa, have all taught me how to laugh and see the world differently. For a few years this resulted in medication, but I am still grateful.
I am grateful to my dear friends who have stood behind my crazy ideas, and supported me constantly. If you can judge a person by the friends they keep, maybe I’m not out of karma. Or maybe they are.
I’m also grateful to those along the way who recognized JCorps’ potential and gave us encouragement, and taught me some of the many things I need to learn. Tamar Snyder and the Jewish Week, the JTA, NATAN and Felicia Herman, Shawn and Joshua at Jumpstart, ROI and Lynn Schusterman and Sandy Cardin, Alan Feld, Blank Rome, Google, David Sarna, Graham Hoffman at Hillel, the Birthright teams, my home town of Teaneck and its neighbor Englewood, Mayor Bloomberg’s Volunteer Team, and to folks like Seth Godin and TED for priceless, practical wisdom. A special thanks to Andy Neusner and his team at JFNA who shined 500,000 candles on the service done so many great people.
Every night, I get to step into a real-life dream as a comedian, and one of the biggest perks is the people who share that world. It’s a world of artists and writers and performers and professionals and fans. The comedians I work with are some of the nicest people you’ll meet and they encourage and inspire me every night. It’s the best part of my life, and I hope you’ll visit us at a comedy club soon.
I am humbled to even be considered among the true heroes that are Finalists Rabbi Levi Shemtov, Devorah Benjamin, Shmuly Yanklowitz, and Rabbi Yonah Bookstein. I am jealous of them because each is truly dedicated to the Jewish people and if you want to see passion and success ask them about their causes. In my head I have the voice of Wayne and Garth, “I’m unworthy. I’m unworthy.” And the fact that I just quoted Wayne and Garth proves it.
I’m sure I’m missing a lot of people that deserve credit and thanks. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. Now that I have this award, I don’t have to help anyone ever again.
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