Leadership Lenses with Barry Kislowicz

Three years after October 7th, most Jewish day schools agree that Israel education matters. Far fewer have figured out where it actually belongs in the curriculum, or how to teach it with real depth. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Noam Weissmann, Executive Vice President of Open Door Media and host of Unpacking Israeli History, the most downloaded Jewish podcast in the world. W...

What if academic rigor and warmth were not opposites, but requirements for each other? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Dr. Rachel Harari, head of school at the Sam School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, about building a school where students run through the doors excited to learn. We explore what it looks like to weave Sephardic tradition into a warm, non-judgmental approac...

Being partners with parents sounds simple. Actually doing it, especially in the middle of a hard conversation about a struggling child, is one of the harder things school leaders and teachers face. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I welcome back returning guest Jane Taubenfeld Cohen to talk about her widely shared piece on parent partnership. We explore why so many school meetings unintention...

What does it take to build a brand new school program from scratch, and get it right in year one? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbi Rick Schindelheim about the lessons he learned launching a new educational program in Israel from the ground up. We explore why clarity of mission matters more than trying to please everyone, how to build genuine community among students who are...

Every school leader has had that one employee in the back of their mind, the one whose performance has been slipping, the one you are quietly wondering whether you can bring back next year. The problem is most of us avoid that conversation until March, April, or May, when it is far too late to actually help. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I talk through why the beginning of the school year,...

More American Jewish day school graduates are choosing Israel, not just for a gap year, but for university, army service, and life. What does that shift actually mean for how schools should be preparing their students? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Tamar Krieger Kalev, Executive Director of the Tzemach David Foundation, about The Future Is Calling initiative and what a decade...

What if experiential education is not a nice addition to Jewish day schools, but the very thing AI is about to make essential? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Shuki Taylor, founder and CEO of M Squared, about what it really means to build a Judaism of doing rather than a Judaism of ideas. We explore why the field needed to move past defining itself by what it is not, what makes...

Two of the most important relationships a head of school has are with their board and with their parent body. Both require intentional investment. And both are harder than they look. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbi Dr. Avery Joel, head of school at Fuchs Mizrachi School in Cleveland, about what it actually takes to build a pipeline of effective lay leaders and how to engag...

What happens when you get to build a school from scratch, with visionary founders, a clear problem to solve, and the freedom to rethink almost everything? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbi Dr. Gil Perl, founding head of school at the Jewish Leadership Academy in Miami, about what it looks like to design a school around the outcomes you actually want, rather than the conventi...

Every school leader has had that moment at the end of the year: looking back and wishing they had spent more time on something that mattered. The problem is rarely a lack of intention. It is that the calendar fills itself in before we ever get the chance to decide. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I walk through a practical approach I use with the leaders I coach called zero-based scheduling,...

Every school leader will face a transition. But very few get to pause in the middle of one and reflect on what it actually feels like from the inside. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbi Jordan Soffer, outgoing head of school at Striar Hebrew Academy of Sharon and incoming head at Bicultural Day School, at the precise moment he is living between two worlds. We explore what it...

Affordability is one of the most urgent challenges facing Jewish day schools today. But what is actually driving the cost of tuition, and what can school leaders and communities realistically do about it? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Melissa Rivkin, Director of Day School Strategy at the Samis Foundation in Seattle, about a new study examining the structural factors behind th...

Most schools are good at asking. They are far less consistent at thanking and reporting. And that gap is quietly costing them the relationships that matter most. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Raimy Rubin, fundraising consultant and communications expert, about what it really takes to make donors and parents feel genuinely connected to a school. We explore why the hero of every...

Moving from the academic study of Jewish education to leading an entire Jewish community is no small shift. But Dr. Miriam Heller Stern did not step into the CEO role at BJE Los Angeles to maintain what already exists. She stepped in to reimagine it. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Dr. Miriam Heller Stern about what it means to build a communal engine for Jewish education, and w...

Every school says it wants to create lifelong learners. But what does that actually take, and are we building the right foundations to get there? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbanit Dr. Yosefa Fogel Wruble, a Tanakh teacher, Yoetzet Halacha, and educator at Matan, Migdal Oz, and Herzog College, about what she sees when the students we educate in high school show up years la...

Most leaders know they should be giving more feedback. And most leaders are not doing it. So what gets in the way, and what does it actually take to build a culture where people can grow? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Gali Cooks, CEO of Leading Edge, about what ten years of data on Jewish nonprofit organizations reveals about how leaders can bring out the best in their people....

School leadership is full of best practices. But there is a big difference between knowing what schools should do and actually sitting in the chair. So what happens when someone who spent years advising schools across the country becomes a head of school himself? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbi Maccabee Avishur, Head of School at Kohelet Yeshiva, about what shifts when you...

School leadership is only as strong as the team behind it. But too often, leadership teams are brought together to talk strategy while the human relationships underneath go unaddressed. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Dasee Berkowitz, executive facilitator and coach, about what it actually takes to build teams that trust each other, communicate well, and move forward together. W...

School leaders today are overwhelmed with complexity — and AI is either adding to the noise or cutting through it, depending on how you approach it. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Dr. Sarah Rubinson Levy, a consultant with over 20 years of experience in Jewish education, about how schools can use AI not just as a classroom tool, but as a lever for organizational clarity and mor...

What does it take to lead Jewish day schools successfully across four decades — and what does that experience reveal about where Jewish education needs to go next? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbi Eli Rubin, who has served as Rosh Yeshiva and Head of School at Kushner in New Jersey for 18 years, following his 18 years as Dean and Headmaster at Ramaz. We explore the tension...

School leadership is demanding and too many heads don’t stay in the role for long. So what does it take to lead schools successfully for 25 years? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I am speaking with Rabbi Mitch Malkus, Head of Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, about the mindset, relationships, and habits that sustain long-term leadership. We explore the critical role of the head–board chair...

Accreditation often feels like a bureaucratic exercise for school leaders. But what if it could actually become a powerful tool for strategic growth? In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Dr. Amy Platt, Head of School at the Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School in Toronto, about how accreditation can strengthen governance, philanthropy, and long-term planning in Jewish day schools. A...

Jewish day schools today face enormous expectations. They are not only responsible for strong academics, but also for cultivating Jewish identity, building community, and preparing students to engage confidently with the world. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I’m joined by Dr. Casey Weiss, Head of School at Community Day School in Pittsburgh. A graduate of the school herself, Casey returned...

Jewish day schools are carrying real responsibility in a fast changing world. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I’m joined by Dr. David Bryfman, CEO of The Jewish Education Project, for a future focused conversation about where Jewish education is heading and what school leaders can do now to prepare for what comes next. We talk about thinking beyond today’s pressures, how demographic and cult...

Fundraising is (still) one of the most challenging parts of school leadership. In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I sit down with Amy Schiffman, Founder and CEO of Evolve Giving Group, to explore what makes fundraising work in Jewish day schools over time. We explore the head of school’s role in donor relationships, how boards and leadership teams can partner more effectively, and why clarity a...