Yosef Abramowitz
Encyclopedia
Yosef Abramowitz is a Jewish social and business entrepreneur. He has been classified as a “[Jewish] leader and innovator”.
in 2011 as the 26th most influential Jewish person on the planet, joining the ranks of Mark Zuckerburg (#1), Shimon Peres
(#22), Jon Stewart
(#27), and Bar Refaeli
(#50) among others. He was also named by Calcalist
, a leading economic daily, as one of Israel’s top environmentalists in 2010 and, in 1991, as the most influential Jewish student leader of the previous decade, according to Moment Magazine
. Abramowitz was named by Haaretz
as one of 2011's top ten most influential Anglo immigrants. As co-founder of the Arava Power Company
, Israel’s leading solar developer, he is considered the founding father of the solar industry in Israel, along with partners David Rosenblatt of New Jersey
and Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura.
Abramowitz was born in 1964. He lived in Israel
as a child from 1969–1972 and when living in Boston, he attended the Solomon Schechter School of Greater Boston
. He is a Young Judaea
n; having participated in the 1982-1983 Young Judaea Year Course in Israel program on a prestigious Hadassah
scholarship. He received a Bachelor of Arts
in Jewish Public Policy from Boston University
in 1986 and a Master of Arts
in Magazine Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
in 1991 which he attended on a Wexner Graduate Fellowship
. He is married to Rabbi Susan Silverman and they have five children, two of whom were adopted from Ethiopia. In 2006, he moved from Newton, Massachusetts
to Kibbutz Ketura. Abramowitz was elected to the 19th spot on the Israel Green Movement
Knesset
list.
Abramowitz founded and co-founded many magazines, editorial projects, and pioneer programs including Jewish Family & Life!, BabagaNewz
(with Mem Bernstein and the AVI CHAI Foundation
), JVibe
, JBooks, SocialAction.com, Sh’ma (where he also served as Executive Editor), MyJewishLearning.com (with Edgar M. Bronfman
and Hebrew College
, and WorldManna.org, Jskyway.com (with Jon Woocher and JESNA
). Abramowitz served on the Executive Board of the World Jewish Congress
from 1987-1990. Abramowitz says his inspiration comes from: “Jewish Peoplehood, which has been my big passion for the last decade.”
, he led the Jewish community’s successfully campaign to reinstate $7 billion to the US federal budget as corrections to the Welfare Reform Act. Abramowitz served as the president of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
from 1997–2007, and has been co-nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize
. He was the keynote speaker at Russia
’s national human rights convention in 2004. He helped to establish the Ethiopian Atid Ehad political party in Israel. Abramowitz is an active advocate of Solar power in Israel
in Israel
, both for Jewish Israelis and for Israeli Arab Bedouin
s.
Abramowitz was held up at gunpoint in Buchara, Ethiopia
, while investigating the burning of Jewish homes.
He has organized various political demonstrations in 23 countries.
He has been arrested two times. The first arrest, outside of the Soviet
Embassy
in Washington, D.C.
in October of 1985, was on behalf of Boris Lifshitz. “The U.S. Supreme Court overturned [Abramowitz’s] conviction, setting precedent on First Amendment rights outside embassies.” The second arrest was on behalf of Ethiopian Jewry. Border police beat Abramowitz up outside of the Jerusalem Convention Center at the World Zionist Congress in 1987. The then-newly elected Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Mendel Kaplan, freed him from the police van before police could bring record the arrest in record.
Abramowitz has led two two hunger strike
s. The first was a fourteen-day strike that protested Boston University
’s investments in South Africa
, during apartheid. Abramowitz was banned from pre-democratic South Africa for his anti-apartheid leadership. The second was during Abramowitz’s time serving as the WUJS chairperson. This two-week strike was held on behalf of the Soviet prisoner Zion Alexei Magarik, “who was subsequently released from prison and flown to Israel
. [Abramowitz] organized 23 demonstrations and events worldwide in February, 1987 for the most successful ever International Jewish Student Solidarity day for Soviet Jewry.” Alexei, subsequent to his release from solitary confinement and his release to Israel, was the last prisoner of Zion in the USSR.
Abramowitz won a U.S. Supreme Court
case for free speech
. Abramowitz v. Boston University helped set a precedent for free speech rights at private institutions in Massachusetts
.
in 2006 with David Rosenblatt of New Jersey
and Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura. Today he serves as the company’s President. Arava Power Company’s mission is to supply 10% of Israel's electricity needs through renewable solar energy. Specifically, APC works with Kibbutzim, Moshavim, and Bedouins in the south of the country. Abramowitz said in a 2010 interview with The Jerusalem Post
: “We are implementing Prime Minister Netanyahu
’s vision to cease use of fossil fuels within a decade and [help Israel] develop alternative energies for itself and the world”. Abramowitz calls solar energy the “energy of peace”; in an 2008 interview he said “To realize that the same sun shines equally on all of us, is owned by none of us, and can supply our energy needs in abundance, inherently promotes peace. The sun doesn’t recognize borders.” Abramowitz has met with Energy Ministers and officials from two dozen countries to assist them plan for a solar energy future for their countries.
on September 15, 1998.
, 1984
Jews, Zionism, and South Africa, 1984, second edition, 1985, B'nai Brith / Hillel
during a Weekend Update sketch
in which comedian Sarah Silverman
joked that her sister, Susan Silverman, and Yosef Abramowitz had recently gotten married; “…They took each other’s last names and hyphenated it. So now my sister is Susan Silverman-Abramowtiz. But they are thinking about shortening it to just – Jews.”
Silverman once again made a sarcastic quip about Abramowitz on Israeli national TV while being interviewed at the 2011 Israeli Presidential Conference
. Silverman joked that Abramowitz was “flirting” in the front row with Shakira
. The two were supposedly discussing solar power for the schools that Shakira supports.
Abramowitz served on the student committee of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
National Holiday Commission, which founded the national holiday in the United States
for the civil rights leader, and met secretly with Coretta Scott King
in 1985 to help the King family’s campaign to have the King Papers donated to the King Center, from Boston University
.
In 2011, Abramowitz co-authored “Solar Energy” with rapper Shyne
under the pseudonym of Kaptain Sunshine. Shyne premiered the rap at the June 5, 2011 inauguration of Israel’s first solar field
, Ketura Sun
.
He was also the last non-Lubavitcher
with the Rebbe
prior to the stroke
that eventually led to the Rebbe’s death.
Along with Aryeh Green, via Kol Dor and socialaction.com, Abramowitz co-founded the Hebrew month of Cheshvan
as Global Jewish Social Action Month.
Abramowitz’s first photographic exhibit, "The Ketura Years: Part One" is on display as of July 2011, at Presentense on Emek Refaim
Street in Jerusalem. The exhibit features nature shots, as well as photos of Aviv Geffen
playing at the opening of MTV Israel
and of Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas
performing at Sultan’s Pool in Jerusalem.
Abramowitz has his own personal website/blog, http://www.peoplehood.org/. He also keeps his own Twitter account, @KaptainSunshine
Biography
Yosef Abramowitz, a human rights activist, environmentalist, educator, investor and entrepreneur, was named by The Jerusalem PostThe Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
in 2011 as the 26th most influential Jewish person on the planet, joining the ranks of Mark Zuckerburg (#1), Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres
GCMG is the ninth President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as the eighth Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
(#22), Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
(#27), and Bar Refaeli
Bar Refaeli
Bar Refaeli is an Israeli model and occasional actress, most known for her modeling work and for her relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio. She was the cover model of the 2009 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.-Early life:...
(#50) among others. He was also named by Calcalist
Calcalist
Calcalist is a daily business newspaper published in Israel by the Yedioth Ahronoth Group. The group also publishes Yedioth Ahronoth, the country's most widely circulated newspaper. Calcalist was first published February 18 2008, and currently runs five days a week, with a weekend supplement...
, a leading economic daily, as one of Israel’s top environmentalists in 2010 and, in 1991, as the most influential Jewish student leader of the previous decade, according to Moment Magazine
Moment (magazine)
Moment is an American Jewish magazine. It publishes articles related to Jewish culture, lifestyle, politics, and religion. Moment is not affiliated with any Jewish organization or religious movement, and its articles and columnists represent a diverse range of political views.-History:Nobel Peace...
. Abramowitz was named by Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
as one of 2011's top ten most influential Anglo immigrants. As co-founder of the Arava Power Company
Arava Power Company
David Rosenblatt of New Jersey, Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura, and Yosef Abramowitz founded the Arava Power Company on Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava Valley in 2006. APC has declared that its mission is to supply Israel with 10% of its energy needs through clean, renewable solar energy. On June 5,...
, Israel’s leading solar developer, he is considered the founding father of the solar industry in Israel, along with partners David Rosenblatt of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura.
Abramowitz was born in 1964. He lived in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
as a child from 1969–1972 and when living in Boston, he attended the Solomon Schechter School of Greater Boston
Solomon Schechter Day School Association
The Solomon Schechter Day School Association is the organization of Jewish day school that identify with Conservative Judaism. The association provides guidance and resources for its member schools in the United States and Canada...
. He is a Young Judaea
Young Judaea
Young Judaea is a peer-led Zionist youth movement that runs programs throughout the United States for Jewish youth in grades 2-12. In Hebrew, Young Judaea is called Yehudah Hatzair or is sometimes referred to as Hashachar, which means the dawn....
n; having participated in the 1982-1983 Young Judaea Year Course in Israel program on a prestigious Hadassah
Hadassah
Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America is an American Jewish volunteer women's organization. Founded in 1912 by Henrietta Szold, it is one of the largest international Jewish organizations, with around...
scholarship. He received a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in Jewish Public Policy from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
in 1986 and a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in Magazine Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is one of Columbia's graduate and professional schools. It offers three degree programs: Master of Science in journalism , Master of Arts in journalism and a Ph.D. in communications...
in 1991 which he attended on a Wexner Graduate Fellowship
Wexner graduate fellowship
The Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program supports graduate students planning a career related to Judaism. The program selects 20 students preparing for careers in the rabbinate, the cantorate, academic Jewish studies, and Jewish communal service...
. He is married to Rabbi Susan Silverman and they have five children, two of whom were adopted from Ethiopia. In 2006, he moved from Newton, Massachusetts
Newton, Massachusetts
Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States bordered to the east by Boston. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.-Villages:...
to Kibbutz Ketura. Abramowitz was elected to the 19th spot on the Israel Green Movement
The Green Movement (Israel)
The Green Movement is a social-environmental political party in Israel. Formed in 2008, it contested the 2009 elections in an alliance with Meimad.-History:...
Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
list.
Abramowitz founded and co-founded many magazines, editorial projects, and pioneer programs including Jewish Family & Life!, BabagaNewz
Babaganewz
BabagaNewz was a full-color Jewish [values] classroom magazine that was published from 2001-08. In 2009 a scaled down version was published online. The publication was for kids in 4th through 7th grade that presents current events, science, Torah, Israel, holidays and traditions through a Jewish lens...
(with Mem Bernstein and the AVI CHAI Foundation
AVI CHAI Foundation
AVI CHAI is a private foundation endowed in 1984 by Sanford Bernstein, a well-known successful investor who become a Modern Orthodox Baal teshuva and who had wanted to further the cause of outreach to alienated and assimilated Jews worldwide. Avi-Chai functions in the United States and in Israel...
), JVibe
JVibe
JVibe was a bimonthly magazine for Jewish teens aged 12-18, published by a company called JFL Media between 2004 and 2009. Lack of funds forced the publisher to close down all activities in October 2009, including the publcation of JVibe...
, JBooks, SocialAction.com, Sh’ma (where he also served as Executive Editor), MyJewishLearning.com (with Edgar M. Bronfman
Edgar Bronfman, Sr.
Edgar Miles Bronfman is a Canadian businessman. He is a member of the Bronfman family.-Biography:Bronfman is the son of Samuel Bronfman, the founder of Distillers Corporation Limited, who purchased Seagram's in 1928...
and Hebrew College
Hebrew College
Hebrew College is an accredited college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, near Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, Hebrew College is committed to Jewish scholarship in a transdenominational academic environment. The president of the college is Rabbi Daniel Lehmann...
, and WorldManna.org, Jskyway.com (with Jon Woocher and JESNA
JESNA
JESNA is the Jewish federation system’s educational coordinating, planning, and development agency...
). Abramowitz served on the Executive Board of the World Jewish Congress
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations...
from 1987-1990. Abramowitz says his inspiration comes from: “Jewish Peoplehood, which has been my big passion for the last decade.”
Activism
Abramowitz was active in the anti-apartheid and divestiture movement at Boston UniversityBoston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
, he led the Jewish community’s successfully campaign to reinstate $7 billion to the US federal budget as corrections to the Welfare Reform Act. Abramowitz served as the president of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
Union of Councils for Soviet Jews
Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union is an umbrella organization of Jewish human rights groups working in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. The UCSJ is based in Washington, D.C...
from 1997–2007, and has been co-nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize
Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
. He was the keynote speaker at Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
’s national human rights convention in 2004. He helped to establish the Ethiopian Atid Ehad political party in Israel. Abramowitz is an active advocate of Solar power in Israel
Solar power in Israel
Solar power in Israel and the Israeli solar energy industry has a history that dates to the founding of the country. In the 1950s, Levi Yissar developed a solar water heater to help assuage an energy shortage in the new country. By 1967 around one in twenty households heated its water with the...
in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, both for Jewish Israelis and for Israeli Arab Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
s.
Abramowitz was held up at gunpoint in Buchara, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, while investigating the burning of Jewish homes.
He has organized various political demonstrations in 23 countries.
He has been arrested two times. The first arrest, outside of the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Embassy
Diplomatic mission
A diplomatic mission is a group of people from one state or an international inter-governmental organisation present in another state to represent the sending state/organisation in the receiving state...
in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in October of 1985, was on behalf of Boris Lifshitz. “The U.S. Supreme Court overturned [Abramowitz’s] conviction, setting precedent on First Amendment rights outside embassies.” The second arrest was on behalf of Ethiopian Jewry. Border police beat Abramowitz up outside of the Jerusalem Convention Center at the World Zionist Congress in 1987. The then-newly elected Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Mendel Kaplan, freed him from the police van before police could bring record the arrest in record.
Abramowitz has led two two hunger strike
Hunger strike
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will take liquids but not...
s. The first was a fourteen-day strike that protested Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
’s investments in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, during apartheid. Abramowitz was banned from pre-democratic South Africa for his anti-apartheid leadership. The second was during Abramowitz’s time serving as the WUJS chairperson. This two-week strike was held on behalf of the Soviet prisoner Zion Alexei Magarik, “who was subsequently released from prison and flown to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. [Abramowitz] organized 23 demonstrations and events worldwide in February, 1987 for the most successful ever International Jewish Student Solidarity day for Soviet Jewry.” Alexei, subsequent to his release from solitary confinement and his release to Israel, was the last prisoner of Zion in the USSR.
Abramowitz won a U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
case for free speech
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
. Abramowitz v. Boston University helped set a precedent for free speech rights at private institutions in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.
Arava Power Company and Commitment to Solar Energy
Abramowitz co-founded the Arava Power CompanyArava Power Company
David Rosenblatt of New Jersey, Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura, and Yosef Abramowitz founded the Arava Power Company on Kibbutz Ketura in the Arava Valley in 2006. APC has declared that its mission is to supply Israel with 10% of its energy needs through clean, renewable solar energy. On June 5,...
in 2006 with David Rosenblatt of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and Ed Hofland of Kibbutz Ketura. Today he serves as the company’s President. Arava Power Company’s mission is to supply 10% of Israel's electricity needs through renewable solar energy. Specifically, APC works with Kibbutzim, Moshavim, and Bedouins in the south of the country. Abramowitz said in a 2010 interview with The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
: “We are implementing Prime Minister Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel. He serves also as the Chairman of the Likud Party, as a Knesset member, as the Health Minister of Israel, as the Pensioner Affairs Minister of Israel and as the Economic Strategy Minister of Israel.Netanyahu is the first and, to...
’s vision to cease use of fossil fuels within a decade and [help Israel] develop alternative energies for itself and the world”. Abramowitz calls solar energy the “energy of peace”; in an 2008 interview he said “To realize that the same sun shines equally on all of us, is owned by none of us, and can supply our energy needs in abundance, inherently promotes peace. The sun doesn’t recognize borders.” Abramowitz has met with Energy Ministers and officials from two dozen countries to assist them plan for a solar energy future for their countries.
Honors and Awards
- 2004 Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education
- 14 journalism awards
- Wexner Graduate FellowshipWexner graduate fellowshipThe Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program supports graduate students planning a career related to Judaism. The program selects 20 students preparing for careers in the rabbinate, the cantorate, academic Jewish studies, and Jewish communal service...
- Co-nominated three times for the Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
for work in the Former Soviet UnionPost-Soviet statesThe post-Soviet states, also commonly known as the Former Soviet Union or former Soviet republics, are the 15 independent states that split off from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in its dissolution in December 1991...
Books
Abramowitz and his wife, Rabbi Susan Silverman, wrote Jewish Family and Life: Traditions, Holidays, and Values for Today's Parents and Children which was published by Golden Books from St. Martin's PressSt. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
on September 15, 1998.
Other writing credits
How Americans Feel About Israel, With Steven Rosen, AIPACAmerican Israel Public Affairs Committee
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee is a lobbying group that advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and Executive Branch of the United States...
, 1984
Jews, Zionism, and South Africa, 1984, second edition, 1985, B'nai Brith / Hillel
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, working with thousands of college students globally...
Other information
Abramowitz made a brief appearance in a 1994 episode of Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
during a Weekend Update sketch
Weekend Update
Weekend Update is a Saturday Night Live sketch that comments on and parodies current events. It is the show's longest running recurring sketch, having been on since the show's first broadcast, and is typically presented in the middle of the show immediately after the first musical performance...
in which comedian Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....
joked that her sister, Susan Silverman, and Yosef Abramowitz had recently gotten married; “…They took each other’s last names and hyphenated it. So now my sister is Susan Silverman-Abramowtiz. But they are thinking about shortening it to just – Jews.”
Silverman once again made a sarcastic quip about Abramowitz on Israeli national TV while being interviewed at the 2011 Israeli Presidential Conference
Israeli Presidential Conference
The "Israeli Presidential Conference" is a high level conference being held in Jerusalem once every 18 months under the auspice of the Israeli President and Nobel Prize laureate, Shimon Peres...
. Silverman joked that Abramowitz was “flirting” in the front row with Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
. The two were supposedly discussing solar power for the schools that Shakira supports.
Abramowitz served on the student committee of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
National Holiday Commission, which founded the national holiday in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for the civil rights leader, and met secretly with Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader. The widow of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King helped lead the African-American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.Mrs...
in 1985 to help the King family’s campaign to have the King Papers donated to the King Center, from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
.
In 2011, Abramowitz co-authored “Solar Energy” with rapper Shyne
Shyne
Moshe Levi Ben-David , better known by his stage name Shyne, is a Belizean rapper.-Background:...
under the pseudonym of Kaptain Sunshine. Shyne premiered the rap at the June 5, 2011 inauguration of Israel’s first solar field
Solar power
Solar energy, radiant light and heat from the sun, has been harnessed by humans since ancient times using a range of ever-evolving technologies. Solar radiation, along with secondary solar-powered resources such as wind and wave power, hydroelectricity and biomass, account for most of the available...
, Ketura Sun
Ketura Sun
Ketura Sun is Israel’s first commercial solar field. Built in early 2011 by the Arava Power Company on Kibbutz Ketura, Ketura Sun covers twenty acres and is expected to produce green energy amounting to 4.95 megawatts. The field consists of 18,500 photovoltaic panels made by Suntech, which will...
.
He was also the last non-Lubavitcher
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
with the Rebbe
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
prior to the stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
that eventually led to the Rebbe’s death.
Along with Aryeh Green, via Kol Dor and socialaction.com, Abramowitz co-founded the Hebrew month of Cheshvan
Cheshvan
Marcheshvan , sometimes shortened to Cheshvan , is the second month of the civil year and the eighth month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew...
as Global Jewish Social Action Month.
Abramowitz’s first photographic exhibit, "The Ketura Years: Part One" is on display as of July 2011, at Presentense on Emek Refaim
Emek Refaim
Emek Refaim is the main street of the German Colony, a neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel. It takes its name from the biblical Valley of Rephaim which began its descent from Jerusalem here.-Etymology:...
Street in Jerusalem. The exhibit features nature shots, as well as photos of Aviv Geffen
Aviv Geffen
Aviv Geffen is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, keyboardist and guitarist. He is the son of writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover, brother of actress Shira Geffen, and an alumnus of Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.Geffen was and is extremely popular...
playing at the opening of MTV Israel
MTV Israel
MTV Israel, is the Hebrew-speaking branch of MTV. A 24 hour music and general entertainment channel launched on January 17, 2011.-History:* Prior to the launch of a 24 hour MTV Israel, the territory was previously served by a localized version of MTV Europe...
and of Fergie of The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas
The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...
performing at Sultan’s Pool in Jerusalem.
Abramowitz has his own personal website/blog, http://www.peoplehood.org/. He also keeps his own Twitter account, @KaptainSunshine