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Molly Kazan Named Roslyn Z. Wolf-JDC International Fellow

Molly Kazan has always treasured her Jewishness. Born in Cincinnati, Molly moved to Cleveland during middle school and attended Agnon (now Mandel JDS), a Federation beneficiary agency. That time in her life is something she’ll never forget. “My time in Cleveland was very formative,” Molly said. “Agnon instilled in me such a passion and such a drive to understand my Jewish identity and serve within the Jewish community and really helped me be excited about who I am.”

She moved to Wisconsin during high school and immediately immersed herself in the Jewish community there through Jewish overnight camp and BBYO, where she became president of the Milwaukee chapter. In college, Molly had the opportunity to study in Israel as a Nachshon Project Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It was the first time in Molly’s life she began to dive deep into her Judaism. That’s when she found out about the Roslyn Z. Wolf Cleveland-JDC International Fellowship* through the Jewish Federation of Cleveland. “The Jewish experience I had in Israel during college made me want to serve in a more long-term capacity in the Jewish community, exposing myself to the bigger global Jewish community.”

Molly will be the 2018-2019 JDC Fellow in Riga, Latvia creating curriculum for a Jewish kindergarten, as well as working in the BBYO office, with a focus on informal Jewish education. “I'm so excited to begin my journey in Riga, Latvia. The Baltic hub seems very connected, and I'm very excited to be experiencing the Eastern-European region.”

One of the core mottos of JDC is “Kol Yisrael arevim zeh la-zeh” (all of Israel is responsible for one another). That’s also something Molly credits her Jewish experiences here in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee – for giving her the confidence to make an impact in Riga. “Thank you doesn't even begin to describe how grateful and excited and in complete shock I am that I received this fellowship, and that the Wolf’s are sponsoring me,” said Molly. “Every single day, I will be thinking about the Wolf family and the Jewish Federation of Cleveland for making my reality possible.”

For information on the Roslyn Z. Wolf Cleveland-JDC International Fellowship, contact Janet Schwartz Shapiro at jshapiro@jcfcleve.org or 216-593-2875.

*Established in 2003 by the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), and the JDC Entwine Global Jewish Service Corps, the Roslyn Z. Wolf Cleveland-JDC International Fellowship is part of the cohort of 26 young JDC Entwine Global Jewish Service Corps Fellows deployed around the world. The Wolf Fellowship was created in memory of Roslyn Z. Wolf, a Trustee for Life of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, whose many decades of active and loving service helped improve the lives of thousands of Jews and continues to motivate volunteers. The fellowship is made possible through the generosity of her late husband Ambassador Milton A. Wolf and his children in honor of their late wife and mother.

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