Nathan’s February 2022 Newsletter
“He who is full of joy is full of love” The Baal Shem Tov.
We are now in the month of Adar on the Jewish calendar. The Talmud (collection of Jewish law and thought) says that when the month of Adar arrives, we increase in joy. While the Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle, we stay in sync with the solar cycle regarding our holidays since they are based on specific seasons. For example, Passover is always in spring. This means approximately once every three years; we get an additional month of Adar.
I know it is confusing, especially when it relates to which date you celebrate a birthday or anniversary, but it is my favorite month. So many family members, including my son and me, were born in Adar. It is also the month of my anniversary, the holiday of Purim (an experience you do not want to miss, kind of like Halloween but with a very positive twist of giving and celebration), and an auspicious time for success, well-being, and good fortune. My brother also came to visit us for the first time in about two and a half years, yet another reason to be happy, especially with him meeting our little daughter for the first time. Lots of joy seeing him with our kids.
Speaking of good fortune, the GCI by JNF is really making some huge strides when it comes to delivering impactful content. Our podcast What’s Burning started exceptionally well (thanks to all of you who have helped make it a success). Our social presence is growing. We are moving pre-applicants to the full application process for our Flagship Program. It is super exciting to see our vision starting to come to fruition through our potential students. I am not one to exaggerate, but this first cohort of ours is going to be something special. We could not have asked for more enthusiastic students with highly diverse backgrounds.
One thing unique to the GCI is that we will be extremely limited on spots with our Flagship Program. We want to keep our class size to about fifteen students, and we are hand-selecting the right candidates based on our criteria of future culinary leaders. This is not to say we won’t have many other programs for a wide variety of students, but that our Flagship Program will be highly competitive, and we are blown away with the results so far.
And Some Other Updates…
We completed demolition and are moving forward with our building plans. We are meeting with some potential partners and spending time with the JNF USA team since travel restrictions to Israel have been loosened. We are looking to start building our team, approving budgets, and making great progress on our advisory structure.
Last, if you haven’t heard my episode on JNF USA’s IsraelCast, you should check it out. I had a great time being interviewed by Steven Shalowitz, and we got into a lot of great topics (and you can learn a little bit more about me if interested). We recently launched a new What’s Burning episode, interviewing Lilly Jan, who gets into restaurant culture and the nostalgia behind food experiences.
And we have one little ask from you:
Please review and rate our podcast if you haven’t already done so; it helps tremendously in getting the word out.
I’m excited to see more visitors in Israel in the upcoming months. Have a great week, and I look forward to many celebrations of joy soon.
L’chaim (To life)
Nathan