Jewish Community
Mark supports charitable causes through direct involvement with specific nonprofits or his own personal initiatives. He is a former Chairman of the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and was also a Board member of the Annenberg Foundation initiative in New York City for the arts and education. In the Jewish Community, he has developed and directed initiatives with a select few highlighted below.
Jewish Journey and Engagement:
Mark created JInsider and Sinai Live Books to inspire and empower a personal Jewish Journey by producing/offering engaging and thoughtful content with a Jewish sensibility from reputable sources. Inspired by his FOX TV tenure, Mark utilized the American Idol program concept to identify and showcase the top GOAT rabbis and community leaders. These multimedia initiatives include.
JInsider video content has generated over 200+ million views on a range of topics from life purpose, prayer, free will, prayer and destiny. In addition, the Jewish Week Column covered timely events and topics from a JInsider sensibility and style.
A Traveler’s Guide to Uncertain Times documentary showcases time-tested wisdom for navigating uncertain and challenging times.
Jewish Community Economics:
Applying his MIT economics education and real-world business experiences, Mark developed and collaborated on community initiatives focused on critical fiscal and funding topics.
Jewish Philanthropy Roadmap engagingly guides funders in their philanthropic journey developed in a collaboration led by the Jewish Funders Network (JFN), Jewish Communal Fund (JCF) and Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors (RPA). The booklet is concise, useful tools for those seeking to become better funders and more effective philanthropists.
JInsider
JInsider video content has generated over 200+ million views on a range of life journey topics including mindset & approach, relationships, daily life, spirituality and community. In addition, the Jewish Week Column covered timely current events and evergreen topics with a JInsider sensibility and style.
A Traveler’s Guide to Uncertain Times
A documentary that showcases time-tested wisdom for navigating the economic crisis.
Sinai Live Moments & Books
Sinai Live Books offer practical insight by exploring the intersection of Jewish wisdom with everyday life.
A book doesn’t have to be long for it to have a lifelong impact. A single spark of insight is all it takes. Experience a Sinai Live moment:
Gratitude
I was once speaking to my friend, Dennis Prager, about the subject of gratitude. I was making the rather commonsensical observation that being a grateful person is morally appropriate and being an ingrate is very selfish. Dennis made an observation then that has affected me ever sense: gratitude is not only an important indicator of character, it is also the prerequisite trait for being a happy person.When you think about it, it becomes obvious why.What is the mindset of a grateful person? “Look what so and so didfor me, he really cares about me. Look how she helped me, she reallylikes me.” At the very moment that a person is cultivating a senseof gratitude, he or she is also cultivating a feeling of being loved.Conversely, what is the mindset of an ungrateful person? “The only reason he helped me is so that now I am obligated to help him. The only reason she spoke to so and so on my behalf is so that now I have to do something for her.” What an ungrateful person reveals is not only an emotionally stingy disposition, but how profoundly unloved they feel.This is an instance where doing the right thing turns out to be the right thing to do. Because as you cultivate gratitude, you do not only become a finer human being, you also become a happier person. It is something we can do several times, every day of our life.There are people who are masters at remembering every not nice thing someone did to them. You know how much happier you will be when you go around remembering the nice things people did!How much more loved you will feel! And we all want to feel loved, and we all want to be happy. Start practicing gratitude and you willfeel a big increase in both.
– From Telushkinisms: Wisdom to the Point by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
Journey
Life is one big journey. Sometimes the ride is very bumpy. Andsometimes you get a flat. And sometimes you fall into a pothole.It doesn’t mean that you have to stay there forever. You don’t. Youget out of it. The main thing is that you should not live “Iftory”.What is “Iftory”? People say “If this wouldn’t have happened, ifthat wouldn’t have happened, if I wouldn’t have made that wrongdecision, if this, if that, if that.”Iftory doesn’t work. It is history. What happened — happened. InHebrew we say, “What was, was.” What was — was! It happened. Itis over. Move on. Move on. Get going! Don’t obsess over the past.It is three “w’s”: don’t wallow in the past, don’t worry about thefuture, but work today.
– From Footsteps: Perspectives for Daily Lifeby the Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis
Prayer
If you want to make your prayers more meaningful, you have tosurrender all ‘understandings’ about prayer. This means that whenyou pray, you should pray like a child. You can be very complexand interesting when you are trying to understand things, but thatshould all be prior to the actual act of prayer. Once you pray, thereshould simplicity in your prayer. Think to yourself that you are justconnecting, even if you don’t understand why or how.There is an image that I have one of my children. He walks intoa room and just says, “Tati.” I turn to him and say, “What do youwant?” And he does not say anything. He just turns around andwalks out of the room. I realize that this is prayer. My child did notwant anything from me. He just wanted to know that I was there.
– From Passport to Kabbalah: A Journey of Inner Transformationby Rabbi DovBer Pinson
Free Will
The rabbis of the Talmud expressed a very daring concept: humanbeings are greater than Angels.How can that possibly be? Angels are perfect while human beingsoften fall short of their spiritual obligations?The answer is simple: Angels are perfect because they have nochoice. They are basically robots, fulfilling their divine missions asautomatons. They deserve no credit for doing what they are pre-programmed to do.Human beings are different. We have been given free will. Thatmakes our sins possible but also turns our good deeds into nobleachievements, the results of our free-willed choice to overcomethe seductive call of our baser instincts. Free choice is why God inthe Bible says to every one of us, “Behold, I give before you life ordeath, good and evil. Choose life.”You have the ability to choose – and that’s what makes you greaterthan Angels.
– From Insights: Concise and Thoughtful Jewish Wisdomby Rabbi Benjamin Blech
Sinai Live Books
Jewish GDP
Jewish GDP provides resource for communal leaders to improve their understanding about how resources are being allocated in the Jewish community, inform their planning and priority setting, and to create a framework for facilitating a communal discussion on finances, priorities, best practices and organizational governance. In addition, we organized specialized studies and events around media and philanthropic metrics.
Click image(s) below to read full PDF booklets
Full Jewish GDP Booklet
The Future of Jewish Media
Jewish Philanthropy Roadmap
Jewish Philanthropy Roadmap helps guide funders in their philanthropic journey. The initiative was developed in a collaboration led by the Jewish Funders Network (JFN), Jewish Communal Fund (JCF) and Rockefeller Philanthropic Advisors (RPA). The booklet is concise, useful tools for those seeking to become better funders and more effective philanthropists.
