Adapting: The Future of Jewish Education

What will the history classroom of the future look like? Through what lens should educators teach about Judaism and other world religions? On this episode of Our Jewish Futures, historian and educator Rebecca Brenner Graham shares her ideas about the role of the “3 B’s”- Behavior, Belief, and Belonging- in history education and why she believes it is important to have her students question existing historical narratives. This episode was hosted and produced by Dr. Samantha Vinokor Meinrath, The Jewish Education Project's Senior Director, Knowledge, Ideas and Learning.  This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York. 

What are the core elements needed for a quality Jewish EdTech product? Russel Neiss’s answer will surprise you. Russel, a Jewish educator fluent in both Yiddish and Javascript, is a Senior Product Software Engineer at Sefaria. A longtime developer of Jewish EdTech products, Russel explains why quality educational design – and not fancy technology- is at the heart of successful technology initiatives.  This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.

For Rabbi Adina Allen, the word “creativity” is a code word for God.  Rabbi Allen believes that everyone, despite what your art teacher may have told you, has inherent creative abilities. As the co-founder and creative director of the Jewish Studio Project, Rabbi Allen helps Jewish communal professionals and lay leaders harness their creative powers and enhance their connection with the divine.  This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.

Why does Daniel Olson get frustrated when he hears the phrase “special needs” used to describe a child?  Why does he believe that learners with disabilities receive only a “partial invitation to citizenship” in some Jewish educational settings? Daniel, the Director of Strategic Initiatives & Research at the National Ramah Commission, is a scholar who researches the experience of people with developmental disabilities in Jewish Education. In this episode he challenges listeners to reconsider what people with disabilities are capable of. He also reflects on his childhood in the tight knit Jewish community of St. Paul, Minnesota, and how his love of the performing arts shaped his career as a Jewish educator.  This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.

In a single moment, an educator can dramatically change a person’s life, even if they didn’t know it. It’s a lesson K.M. DiColandrea, aka DiCo, a 2021 Robert M. Sherman Young Pioneers Award recipient and director and founder of the Brooklyn Debate League, learned in the most unexpected way. DiCo shares his journey, and struggles, to follow his life’s calling – empowering under-privileged students through skillful debate, to amplify their voices and replace self-doubt with self-confidence. DiCo’s life, and mission, was catapulted into the stratosphere after a grateful student got him featured on the Humans of New York Facebook account, raising over $1.3 million to help close the wide gap in Speech and Debate programs across New York City. Hear about his incredible journey, and which biblical story best reflects his own. This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.

What can be done to improve Hebrew language teaching and learning? T'helah Ben-Dan, a long time teacher and student of Hebrew, has a few ideas. On the third episode of Our Jewish Futures with Dr. Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath, T’helah speaks about Hebrew and Jewish identity, second language acquisition, empowering educators, and how Hebrew can serve as a connector for the global Jewish community.This episode was hosted and produced by Dr. Samantha Vinokor Meinrath, The Jewish Education Project's Senior Director, Knowledge, Ideas and Learning.  This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York. 

Community. Love of Torah. Stronger social bonds. These are just a few of the benefits Rabbi Dr. Dan Smokler and Erica Frankel of the Office Of Innovation see in adults who participate in regular Torah study with peers. Dan and Erica discuss their unique backgrounds in labor organizing and dance, respectively, their small-town upbringings, OOI's new cohort based Jewish learning series, IYUN, and how they are harnessing this cultural moment when adults have a thirst for learning.This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.

What goes into a successful relationship between a board president and a CEO? Martine Fleishman, The Jewish Education Project’s Board President, shares insights and stories from her board presidency and her communal volunteer work. She reflects on what has made her extraordinary partnership with David Brfyman, The Jewish Education Project’s CEO, so powerful and transformative, and what other board members and executives can learn from it. Martine also reflects on her passion for Jewish education, starting with her childhood in South Africa, her trips to Israel as a child, and her involvement with the Jewish education of her three children in the United States. This is a must-listen-to episode for anyone in a leadership role.This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.

How do Amram Altzman, Jessica Cohen, and Megan Sass approach the most pressing issues facing Jewish educators today? Amram, the Associate Director of Youth Programs at Keshet, discusses how he reimagined his approach to LGBTQ Jewish teen engagement because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jessica, Associate Director of Religious Education at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, shares her approach to building a curriculum that supports the social and emotional needs of students. Megan, the Tefilah Specialist/Young Families Songleader at SAJ-Judaism That Stands for All, analyzes how the arts help children and families forge strong connections with Jewish culture and each other. This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.

What motivates and inspires Francie Goldberg and Emily Hausman, two of the recipients of The Jewish Education Project's 2022 Robert M. Sherman Young Pioneers Award? Francie, the Director of Admissions and Marketing and School Librarian at HANC Plainview, discusses her unique approach to family education and the importance of making libraries places where children feel creatively empowered. Emily, Director of Early Childhood Education at the Riverdale Y, shares her passion for working with young children and what it's like working at a school that is part of New York City's universal early childhood education program.This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Gabriel Weinstein.  The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media.  If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released.To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.