20 Years of Stories: Meet Brandi Applebaum
“Your Jewish community isn’t restricted to where you live, but it’s truly everywhere with Mem Global.”
That’s the advice Brandi Applebaum, former MHWOW Host, Moishe House Resident, Retreatologist, Camp Nai camper, Michael HK Cohen Award winner, and more, has for young adults beginning their Mem Global journeys — and after ten years, Brandi can be considered something of an expert.
From a community member, eager to make friends in a new city, to a MHWOW Host confidently hosting her own gatherings, to a newlywed leading a Moishe Pod with her husband Yoni, Mem Global programs have been with Brandi through every stage of young adult life. “There is not a single aspect of my life that hasn’t been positively impacted by my time in Mem Global,” she says. “To list everyone and everything would take up more space than this anniversary piece would allow!”
It all began, as it has for so many, with one Shabbat dinner. Newly arrived in Boca Raton, Florida for a job, Brandi was excited to meet new people. At that Shabbat, a new friend invited her to a peer-led retreat; at the retreat, she learned about Moishe House Without Walls (MHWOW) — and, she says simply, “it clicked.”
“I immediately applied when I got home,” Brandi says. “I loved that it gave me the chance to build a Jewish community, host fun events, and that I’d have programming support when needed. It meant everything to me. I was new to town, and my social calendar was Jewish event after Jewish event.”
It wasn’t long, Brandi says cheerfully, before “I had drank allllll the Kool-Aid.” She threw herself into every Mem Global program she could, which she describes as “a no-brainer:” “Retreats – who doesn’t love a Jewish getaway?! Retreatology – you mean I can design my own Jewish getaway? Camp Nai – I loved camp as a child and now I can do it, adult-style?!” She’s built up a collection of merch, including a blanket made of t-shirts from the programs she’s attended, and a Moishe House bathrobe that she swears she still wears every day.
Brandi used to joke to Alyssa Gorenberg, now Senior Director of North American Houses and Pods, that Moishe House “was my adult Greek life. … I met amazing people, had valued Jewish experiences, and I felt like I grew personally, spiritually with each experience.”
In 2018, Brandi received the inaugural Michael HK Cohen Award for Outstanding Community Leadership. Named in honor of Michael Cohen, an brilliant young Jewish leader who passed away tragically at the age of 28, the award honors a Mem Global Community Builder who, like Brandi, carries on Michael’s legacy of kindness, curiosity, passion for travel, and a deep connection to Jewish community-building.
“I was floored,” Brandi reflects, upon learning she was receiving the award. “I felt, and feel, so honored to help carry on Michael’s memory.” Although she regrets that she didn’t have the opportunity to meet Michael herself, she has met his parents, who she says are “incredible people.” Part of the award was a travel stipend, which Brandi used to go to Israel, saying, “I thought of [Michael] throughout the trip…I have the award displayed in our entryway and often become emotional looking at it.”
Throughout her time at Mem Global, Brandi has been a leader in the WE ARE campaign, Mem Global’s fundraising drive led entirely by Community Builders. Since it began in 2011, the WE ARE campaign has raised $1,315,801 thanks to young adults like Brandi, who host fundraising programs for their community members, family, and friends. “I’m so happy to be able to give back … it brings me joy to fundraise for an organization that means so much to me,” Brandi explains enthusiastically.
Over the years, she’s loved coming up with creative ways to inspire her community to donate. She’s particularly proud of an auction she hosted as a Moishe Pod Boca Raton Resident in 2023. Alongside classic Judaica items, she auctioned off fun community prizes, such as hanging someone’s picture on the Pod’s fridge, an entire tray of community-favorite spinach and artichoke mac and cheese, and personalized name placards to save chairs at programs.
She is still finalizing her plans for WE ARE 2026, but teases, “it’ll be great!”
Brandi and her husband, Yoni, concluded their time as Moishe Pod Residents when they moved to Hollywood, Florida, and she will reach her final year of MHWOW hosting this spring. But they are continuing to build their Jewish life together, including joining a local synagogue and hosting regular Shabbats for themselves and their new community.
“Being Residents as newlyweds allowed us to design our own Jewish life and have the tools to build it,” she says proudly.
“I’ve done a lot and had wonderful experiences in my 10 years [as part of Mem Global],” Brandi reminisces. Now, she hopes that her journey will inspire future Community Builders to embrace the full range of programs and experiences that Mem Global has to offer, encouraging them: “Approach each opportunity with an open mind, kindness, curiosity — and fun!”
If you want to support more journeys like Brandi’s, consider giving to one of our 20 Ways to Give! Created in honor of Mem Global’s 20th anniversary, these are 20 meaningful opportunities to support the programs that make a difference for Jewish young adults around the world.