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Howie Beigelman

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May 7, 2018, 8:59 PM

Lessons from Mendy

Sometimes, all the news in the world, no matter how important, doesn't matter. Today is one of those days. Tragically, Jewish community lay leader Robert "Mendy" Klein passed away Thursday evening. In lieu of a traditional Monday Mirror, Executive...

Apr 12, 2018, 9:38 AM

Holocaust Memory in the 21st Century: A Way Forward

Six million murdered. The number is so staggering that it’s hard to comprehend. The Nazis and their collaborators across Europe wiped out six million men, women, and children. Millions more were hunted and harassed, and if caught, were either to be killed...

Sep 29, 2017, 10:54 PM

A Lobbyist’s Yom Kippur Prayer

The hardest thing to say sometimes is I was wrong. The liturgy has us doing it quite a bit over Yom Kippur. So I wanted to take a moment and reflect on that, from the perspective of the organization...

Aug 19, 2017, 2:23 AM

Charlottesville, a Jewish View

"History repeats itself. That's one of the things that's wrong with history." This famous, if possibly apocryphal, attribution to Clarence Darrow is for Jews, a real life groundhog day. The events this past week in Charlottesville, are jarring. They did not...

Jun 17, 2017, 8:28 AM

What Lessons of Alexandria?

Once again, unfortunately, events overtake us. What happened in Alexandria this week is unacceptable in any truly civil society. We have been taught a difficult lesson. Whether we have learned anything remains to be seen. Of course the Jewish tradition is one...

May 6, 2016, 6:49 PM

The Timeless — & Timely — Lessons of Holocaust Memorial Day

Growing up, I was unique among my peers, the child of a Holocaust survivor. For most of my friends and classmates, it was grandparents or distant cousins who provided any direct family connection to the Nazi Genocide. But my...

Apr 20, 2016, 5:04 PM

An empty chair at our seder

Last year, the seder – all of Pesach really – was a blur. We were hardly up from shloshim, the first thirty days of mourning, for my dad. He was on my mind then, but he’s on my mind...

Feb 23, 2016, 9:34 PM

Life’s Lessons, Learned

Recently, the weekend before we commemorated my father's first yartzheit, I had the opportunity to speak about some lessons from the week's Torah portion that I thought reflected my Dad and his life. I think they're equally relevant in...

Nov 4, 2015, 8:56 PM

A Blessing on All

I'm not a rabbi, but sometimes I get to play one. Last week, I had the chance to offer an opening blessing at the InHealth Faith, Community, Health & Wellness Conference. As we ask for Heavenly blessing for everyone gathered...

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About Me

Howie Beigelman is Executive Director of Ohio Jewish Communities, the statewide public affairs arm of Ohio's eight Jewish Federations. He works at the intersection of nonprofit advocacy, strategic storytelling, and Jewish communal affairs.