Over my life I have found that it is our past that helps shape us into who we are today. Sharing that past is part of the joy of the holiday season, when we connect with those who “knew us when” and see what we’ve become today. Understanding and preserving cultural history is also a great tool of education. It keeps a foundation under us and educates youth on their important ancestry. My funder for today’s Grant Gazing has helped many people in preserving and honoring their cultural history.

This week’s pick: Steven Spielberg established the Righteous Person’s Foundation to build a diverse and vibrant Jewish Community in the United States. The Foundation funds many aspects that assist the Jewish community including:

• Using the arts, culture, and media to engage a broad audience in what it has meant and can mean to be a Jew today;
• Engaging with youth and young adults on issues of Jewish identity and community;
• Promoting understanding between Jews and those of other faiths and backgrounds;
• Encouraging Jews to participate in the work of tikkun olam (social justice)\;
• Educate people about the events of the Holocaust

Grants typically range between $15,000 and $250,000 and funds may be issues over multiple years. Letters of inquiry can be submitted two times a year and the next submission date is December 1, 2009. For more details, click here.