Dr. Lesley Litman and Jeremy Leigh: Israel Learned, Israel Experienced

Israel as we visit it in our hearts, minds, and in person. Dr. Lesley Litman is the Director of the Executive M.A. Program in Jewish Education and works with the Experiment in Congregational Education as the coordinator of its Boston-based initiative. She also consults to The iCenter in the area of curriculum design and professional development in Israel education. Lesley holds a doctorate in Jewish education from The Jewish Theological Seminary. Her research interests focus on the connection between curriculum and innovation in congregational education. Jeremy Leigh teaches Israel Studies and Modern Jewish History at HUC-JIR's Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem. He is the coordinator of the Richard J. Scheuer Israel Seminar for the Year-In-Israel Program, as well as director of the HUC-JIR-JDC Fellowship for Global Jewish Responsibility. He leads the Year-In-Israel Program's program in Lithuania and coordinates the annual professional development program in Former Soviet Union. Prior to coming to HUC-JIR, Leigh taught Ethnography of Israeli Society through Cinema, at Rothberg International School of the Hebrew University, as well as teaching at various academic institutions in Jerusalem. He is the director of 'Jewish Journeys,' a long standing initiative to develop and advance the field of global Jewish travel. He studied at University College London and the Hebrew University, Jerusalem. He has written extensively about the field of Jewish educational travel, including his last book, Jewish Journeys: Reflections on Jewish Travel (Haus, London 2006). Jeremy was born in London, England and moved to Israel in 1992.