On August 20th, Nefesh B’Nefesh will be sponsoring the First International Jewish Bloggers Convention in Jerusalem — “The Power of the JBlogosphere: Taking Jblogging to the next level”. Jbloggers from all over the world will gather to celebrate their achievements, discuss their challenges and share secrets of the trade. I will be speaking on a panel about how to expand your readership and increase your influence, and I look forward to being able to meet other Jbloggers in person.

The convention will be webcast and you can register to attend in person or on the web.

Contemporary Challenges to the Jewish people: Threats and Opportunities

Prizes:
• Winner $10,000
• Runner-up $3,000
• An additional amount $1,000 will be awarded to another runner-up or shared between a small number of meritorious submissions.

Rabbi Arthur A. Jacobovitz Institute

The trustees of the Rabbi Jacobovitz Institute have decided to sponsor, via prizes/grants through Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, programs of creative writing and research that forward the aims of the Institute.
The formal statement of the Institute's mission and aims is as follows:

"...the primary mission of the Institute will be to

(1) educate the public, and particularly the members of the Jewish community, with regard to the image of Jewish persons in history, literature and the media,

(2) enhance and promote the positive self-image of the Jewish \people, including by identifying and countering negative portrayals of the Jewish people in the popular media, and

(3) foster discussion regarding contemporary Halacha and the Orthodox Jewish person in contemporary society."

This Call seeks papers, articles, essays, of other forms of creative work. The overall theme for the 2008 round is:

Contemporary challenges to the Jewish people: Threats and opportunities

While in no way restricting the scope of submissions, the Institute indicates an interest in the following two topics for the 2008 round:

• The State of Israel at 60: Looking back and looking forward

• The theological and/or political lessons of the Holocaust

Details of the submission and awards process:
Due date: 31 October, 2008
Length: preference will be for submissions up to 15,000 words; those above that limit will be also be considered
Languages: English and Hebrew
Prizes:
• Winner $10,000
• Runner-up $3,000
• An additional amount $1,000 will be awarded to another runner-up or shared between a small number of meritorious submissions.
Mode of submission: A hard copy mailed to Rabbi Jacobovitz and e-mailed
versions to the other steering committee members (details below).
Awards: We expect to announce the winners within two months of the deadline for submission.

In addition, potential authors should be aware that the Institute plans a second stage of the process by which all finalists in the above stage (winner and runners up) will be invited to submit to the Institute a proposal to fund production and/or further dissemination of their papers.

Steering committee:
Rabbi Arthur A. Jacobovitz 5249 40th Ave. NE #301
Seattle, WA 98105

Professor Daniel J. Lasker
Professor Robert Liberles
Dr David Brock
dmb.ios@gmail.com