Adam Schwartz did. He noticed a missing link between people with barriers to purchasing Judaica, and those with excess Judaica. In the fall of 2018, Adam’s idea had a name—Heritage Judaica—and interest. He was brainstorming how to work more efficiently between the items dropped off at his apartment to the requests coming through on Facebook.
Amid this growth, Adam became a 248 Community Action Network (248CAN) participant. 248CAN, essentially a global accelerator for Jewish ideas, provided a forum for Adam to workshop his idea with other “Jewish do-ers” from across the United States, Europe, and in Israel.
Today, Heritage Judaica hosts monthly pop-ups and has rehomed more than 1,800 items. The Facebook page is full of people — newly converted, looking to replace items lost to time — with the Judaica they’ve scored through Adam.
If your big Jewish idea could use a boost—or if you’re interested in “doing Jewish” but you’re not sure where to start — 248CAN is now accepting applications for its 3rd cohort starting in September. The cohort meets 2-3 times a month, alternating between global webinar forums and local hub meetings, over the course of nine months (September 2019 to May 2020) and participates in a weeklong trip to Israel in December and a global summit in the U.S. in May.
248CAN is an initiative of Partnership2Gether, a program of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation Israel Center. Contact Twin Cities Young Adult Engagement Manager, Emma Dunn, at [email protected] with any questions, to connect with a 248CAN alumni, or for more information. Applications are due by Friday, August 16th.
Note: If you have items to donate to Heritage Judaica, requests for items or want more information, contact Adam Schwartz at [email protected] or join the Facebook group. Donations of wall art, candlesticks, seder plates, mezuzzot, kiddish cups, and challah covers always welcome.
