Moishe House hosted its four annual community builder training conferences this fall! Over 300 community builders and dozens of staff members came together around the world to learn from one another. Each conference was unique to its’ participants and leaders, but all were filled with the same feeling of Moishe Magic.

Natty Con 2019 

by Marlee Ribnick, Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager

In just one weekend, in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, our North American Moishe House community did an immense amount of learning, laughing and connecting for Natty Con. We welcomed in Shabbat, and observed through a myriad of different lenses, including a tri-chitzah and a Harry Potter text study. We emphasized the importance of making sure all feel included at Moishe House by attending “Plus One” sessions. These focused on topics such as Jews of Color and Interfaith community inclusion, and were led by our staff and other Jewish educators. Some of us relaxed at the beach, and some found solace in the restoration room. We FaceTimed moms for WE ARE donations in front of 200 friends, and we sang the Natty Niggun loudly and proudly. We partied at a Moishe House Fair, and brought Shabbat to a close by celebrating Moishe House’s 13th year- B’nai Mitzvah style. Together, we experienced a thousand little moments of Moishe Magic. Let the countdown to Natty Con 2020 begin.

RSJ Con 2019 

by Anna Frolova, FSU Regional Manager 

There are a few ingredients that made the RSJ conference so special: 

Our Program

We couldn’t stop creating interesting sessions and it was hard to find time for everything we wanted to include, so we tried to find the solution. Almost each session had four options related to different themes (Marketing and PR – including community building, Jewish learning, Moishe House behind the scenes, and coaching ). This freedom of choice meant that each resident could build for themselves a customized, personal schedule.

Our Guest Educators

As a result of alumni involvement discussion, we invited our Moishe House Moscow alumna Ksesha Abramova as a professional guest educator to lead the coaching sessions and it was a very good experience because she knew from the inside what interests Moishe House residents. Alisa Zilbershtein, a Paideia Fellow, joined the conference to provide a full Paideia Paradigm training for our residents. We also had Ivan Mitin, an entrepreneur, community builder, and community member of Moishe House Moscow and Tel Aviv, share his experience in creating social projects, fundraising and building community in the non-Jewish international field.

Our Residents and Alumni

This year the number of North American and Australian participants was very high. This gave us the opportunity to share a broader spectrum of experiences and learn from each other. The alumni meetings were full of important conclusions about how to work with the RSJ Moishe House alumni community.

Internatty Con 2019

by Danielle Trainis, Global Communities Regional Manager

Internatty Con 2019, held in the picturesque archipelago about two hours outside of Stockholm, Sweden named ‘Glämsta’, was an incredible gathering of around 70 residents from all over the world. We spent a weekend learning from each other, bonding and developing new and existing relationships, and taking inspiration from one another that we can bring back to our daily lives and Moishe House communities. 

Some of the highlights of the weekend include:

  • A social media and marketing session with a MH Stockholm community member sharing top tips to make attending events more appealing, and how to develop social media pages into being more like mini online Moishe Houses.
  • Peer-led Jewish learning sessions, including a session on ‘How to Make Judaism Sexy & Relevant’ led by Jamie Elekman from MH Sydney, and a session on ‘How to Run 10 Programs a Month and Not Get Mad!’ led by the Tel Aviv RSJ house.
  • Having 15 residents from RSJ Moishe Houses around the world join us to help us create a true international experience.
  • A radical Woodstock-themed Saturday night party, where everyone could create their own tye-dye designs, floral headbands and enjoy the DJ stylings of our very own MH Senior Administrator, Jessie Higgs and David Cygielman, MH CEO & Founder. 

We can’t wait for Internatty Con 2020!

Lati Con 2019

by Alexis Einhorn, Global Communities Regional Manager

Lati Con 2019: It gets better every time! Only days have passed since the end of our second Spanish/Portuguese-speaking conference, and as nostalgia kicks in, it becomes rather challenging to sum up in few words such a tremendous, meaningful experience.

After our first successful Lati Con last year in Buenos Aires, this year, we moved to Porto Alegre, Brazil, with the sole goal of delivering an immersive experience as high-quality and powerful as the previous one.

And truth to be said, we believe this will turn into a major milestone in these residents’ collective Moishe House journey, empowering them to continue building thriving communities on this side of the world.

All the special memories from last weekend will certainly be treasured in the minds and hearts of the 24 participants (residents, alumni and MHWOW host from Lat-Am and Spain) who have made this Lati Con 2019 possible.

But the fact is that we did not have enough; we are craving more! We cannot wait to see you again next year at Lati Con 2020 in Rio de Janeiro!