Everyday in so many ways The Birmingham Jewish Federation connects with young adults in our community, both those who are Jewish and those who are not. The story below -- about our connection with Rhodes Scholar Josh Carpenter -- is a great example.

As we say at The BJF, "We are not just a Jewish organization." There are a growing number of outstanding young people who aren't Jewish who can attest to this. Like Josh, they have become connected to The BJF through our programs, outreach and welcoming culture.

Reaching out to all those who we feel will make an impact in the future is one more thing we're doing these days at The BJF. As always, we thank those who contribute to our BJF Annual Campaign. Your dollars provide the staffing, funding and organizational structure that allow us to do this important work.

By Joyce Spielberger, BJF

I was reading The Birmingham News recently and noticed an article about Josh Carpenter, a University of Alabama at Birmingham graduate who had just been named a Rhodes Scholar, one of the most prestigious postgraduate scholarships in the world.

My first thought was, "Could this be the same Josh Carpenter I accompanied in 2010 to Washington, DC as part of The Birmingham Jewish Federation's college student delegation to the American Israel Political Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference?"

I felt it had to be the same student. I remembered Josh as a dynamic and engaging young man, but I had to be sure -- so I emailed him first thing the next morning.

In the subject line of the email I wrote, "Is this the same Josh Carpenter?" and sent him my congratulations. I immediately received an email back from Josh. "It is! Thanks so much Joyce! Great to hear from you," he wrote.

LASTING IMPRESSION

In the email exchange that followed, Josh (pictured here) talked about the lasting impression his AIPAC experience had on him. AIPAC is a national organization dedicated to educating US Senate and House members and other officials about the importance of a strong US-Israel relationship.

Each year, I am privileged in my BJF role to accompany college students from all over Alabama to the national conference. Said Josh of his experience, "I learned how important the strength of the US-Israel relationship is to securing the economic and security interests of both countries. The AIPAC Policy Conference gave me insight to the historical context of the relationship between the US and Israel, and its necessity going forward."

As Josh and I continued to catch up "virtually," he mentioned in one of his emails that one of his former professors, Jewish community member Eddie Friend, was a major influence on Josh.

It was Eddie who recruited Josh to UAB while Josh was a high school student in Florence. "Mr. Friend has been an exemplary mentor, and I have boundless gratitude for his influence on my life as a student and beyond," wrote Josh.

EXTREMELY PROUD

With Josh's permission I shared his email with Eddie. Eddie wrote back, "Josh is blessed with outstanding leadership qualities and a relentless commitment to social justice. He will be an important leader. It is wonderful that The BJF arranged for him to learn more at the AIPAC conference about the special relationship between Israel and the United States."

Josh is currently working for Teach for America. He is teaching in Marion, located in Alabama's Black Belt (named for the rich dark soil of the region), which is one of our country's poorest areas.

Josh has a personal commitment to education reform. While at UAB, he started a program to train students to prepare tax returns for low-income families in addition to teaching writing, economics and math to students in the Birmingham city schools. Josh is only the second student in UAB's history to be named a Rhodes Scholar.

The BJF congratulates Josh on this outstanding honor and will be on the watch as his star continues to rise!