Adapting: The Future of Jewish Education

What should Jewish educators be teaching students and families about Ukraine and its complex Jewish past during this time of war? Leonard Petlakh, Executive Director of the Kings Bay Y and JCC Brooklyn, speaks with David Bryfman about how educators can navigate the complex contours of this conflict. Hear about Leonard’s trip to Kyiv in October 2021 and his vision for a time when we can start proac...

What is the magic of 21st century Jewish day schools? Rabbi Joshua Lookstein, Head of School at Westchester Day School, speaks with David Bryfman about the unique opportunities Jewish day schools provide. Rabbi Lookstein, who hails from a rabbinic dynasty, offers reflections on his family’s legacy and what he learned at his parents’ Shabbat table. Hear how #opernationshabbatshalom has brought a ne...

Amidst rising anti-Semitism, Holocaust education recently made nationwide headlines after a school board in Tennessee voted to remove the Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel Maus from its curriculum. In this episode, Professor Ben Jacobs of George Washington University breaks down why this change sparked such controversy. Together, he and David Bryfman explore the state of Holocaust education in...

The impact of Jewish Day Camps in North America is significant. Rabbi Ami Hersh - the director of Ramah Nyack- knows this well as someone who has spent more than half his life working in the field. Rabbi Hersh and David Bryfman explore some of the magic of Jewish day camps, expose a few secrets behind these experiences, and challenge us all to think about how such a successful model of Jewish educ...

For decades Dr. Barry Chazan has sought to answer a humble question, what is it about informal Jewish education, like camp and travel, that is so powerful? David Bryfman reflects with Dr. Chazan, founding international director of education at Taglit-Birthright Israel, about his quest to understand informal Jewish education, and his new book, Principles and Pedagogies in Jewish Education . The boo...

When Rachel Weinstein White’s children were young, she and her “Jewish adjacent” husband committed to raising a Jewish family, but couldn’t find a Jewish community with other families of color. So Rachel left behind her successful business career to build Fig Tree, an independent Jewish education program that aims to provide a rich and accessible Jewish education to kids from interfaith, interraci...

The Jewish community experienced another traumatic event this weekend as we watched in horror the incident at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas.  Dr. Rachel Fish helps us process this event and gives us strategies for standing up to Antisemitism.   Dr. Fish helps us understand why a terrorist thought a rabbi in Texas had the power to free a political prisoner. Dr. Fish emphasizes the...

Success creates a model for others to follow, and in recent decades Chabad has arguably been one of the most successful organizations at connecting with Jewish communities around the world. So what lessons, if any, can Jewish educators take from Chabad’s success? Rabbi Efraim Mintz, Executive Director of Chabad’s Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, speaks with David Bryfman about the Hasidic philosoph...

What is Jewish spirituality? For that matter, what is spirituality, and why is it an important, even necessary part of life? Rabbi Josh Feigelson and Michal Smart Fox of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality join David Bryfman to discuss what it means to have a Jewish spiritual practice, and why understanding spirituality is critical for Jewish educators. They look at how COVID has changed our col...

What is the purpose of Jewish education? Is it to teach skills? To inspire? To build Jewish community? Rabbi Benay Lappe, President & Rosh Yeshiva at SVARA, a self-described traditionally radical yeshiva, joins David Bryfman to discuss what we can learn from the story of Chanukah, how that story has been reinvented, and the purpose of Jewish education. Together, they explore how SVARA is respo...

“This moment in history calls on us to think about what is our relationship with the natural world, which is G-d’s creation.”  Jakir Manela, CEO of Hazon and Pearlstone, joins David Bryfman to share his views on Jewish environmentalism, the growing JOFEE (Jewish Outdoor Food Farming & Environmental Education) movement, and the fundamentally deep ties between Jewish tradition and the natural wo...

Join David Bryfman and Rabbi Nicki Greninger of Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, California for an animated conversation on what Rabbi Greninger insists we shouldn’t call "Hebrew School." Rabbi Greninger shares what makes today’s programs different from yesterday’s, what she’s doing to change the way students learn Hebrew, and how JQuest—Temple Isaiah’s education program for children 2 years...

Technology has become an integral part of every Jewish educator’s toolbox. Online classrooms, video tours, and web conferencing to name a few, have changed the ways students and educators engage with each other and their sacred content. The Jewish Education Project recently launched a pair of online platforms—Truvie and The Jewish Educators Portal— that curate resources for educators and empower s...

The Jewish world often finds itself divided on issues related to Israel, Jewish practice, and intermarriage. At times, our divisions seem to threaten the very idea of global Jewish peoplehood. On this episode Zack Bodner speaks about the imperative to “do Jewish,” what motivated him to write his new book Why Do Jewish? A Manifesto for 21st Century Jewish Peoplehood , and the way Bodner, CEO of the...

This week Jewish people around the world from Jerusalem to New York are commemorating the festival of Sigd, a Biblical tradition commonly associated with the Ethiopian Jewish community that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Avezu Fanta, Jewish Agency Israel Fellow at Hillel at Temple University, and a member of the Ethiopian Jewish community, joins David Bryfman, CEO of The Jewish E...

Every Jewish educator finds themself, at some point, offering the type of support this week’s guest calls “mental first aid.” Educator, comedian and activist Pamela Schuller speaks with The Jewish Education Project’s CEO David Bryfman about the need to offer teens and teen educators broader resources to support mental health in teen Jewish communities. Pamela leads HereNow, a program through The J...

Does Jewish early childhood education have the potential to radically transform the Jewish community? What impact would federally funded early childhood education have on Jewish early childhood centers in the United States? What exactly is Jewish early childhood education? This week’s guest is Anna Hartman, recipient of the 2021 Covenant Award for her pioneering work in the field of Jewish early c...

What does the future hold for Jewish day schools? Is growth seen during the pandemic sustainable? Join us for this critical discussion featuring The Jewish Education Project’s CEO David Bryfman ,  Paul Bernstein,  CEO of Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools, and  Nicole Nash,  Head of School at Hannah Senesh Community Day School. Together, they discuss what day schools have learned from the pand...

Dr. Ruth Westheimer learned from her late father that "education is the one thing that can't be taken away from you." On this episode of Adapting, Dr. Ruth discusses her amazing life and the power of education to transform lives with The Jewish Education Project's CEO David Bryfman and Chief Advancement Officer Nessa Liben.  Access the shownotes for this episode and watch the L...

The Pew Research Center released its "Jewish Americans in 2020" report on May 11. What are implications for Jewish education and engagement? How will day schools, yeshivot, early childhood centers, synagogues, camps, youth groups, and teen travel programs, amongst other educational settings, respond?   The Jewish Education Project's CEO Dr. David Bryfman, Dr. Arielle Levites of CASJ...

What is the true purpose of Jewish education? The Jewish Education Project's CEO Dr. David Bryfman and Dr. Bruce Powell, Dr. Erica Rothblum, and Dr. Ron Wolfson    explore how to create A+ human beings. They discuss why Jewish education is best suited for this audacious responsibility, and what parents and grandparents need to know to support their children in becoming the best versions of th...

As we look toward the future, how are innovative Jewish educators shining a light beyond the pandemic? 2021 Robert M. Sherman Young Pioneers Awardees DiCo DiColandrea, Melissa Hume, Dammara Kovnats Hall, Pamela Schuller, and Avi Siegel, join The Jewish Education Project's CEO David Bryfman for a conversation on how they are helping their communities build for a brighter tomorrow. Watch the vi...

Dr. Erica Brown of The George Washington University discusses Esther and Vashti, dual heroines of the Purim story, and what we can learn about honoring the heroism of Jewish educators today with The Jewish Education Project's CEO David Bryfman and Chief Advancement Officer Nessa Liben. Access the shownotes for this episode and watch the LIVEcast recording here .   This episode was recorded on...

This is the final episode of our seven bonus episodes. These episodes were recorded in the spring of 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, The Jewish Education Project's CEO David Bryfman chats with Daniel Held, Executive Director of UJA Federation of Greater Toronto’s Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Education, in a wide ranging conversation on Jewish life in Canada, t...

This is the sixth of our seven bonus episodes. These episodes were recorded in the spring of 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode, The Jewish Education Project's CEO David Bryfman chats with Gabe Miner, a veteran Jewish educator. They discuss the influence camp has had on Gabe's career, his experience living and working as a Jewish educator in Poland, his Virtu...