Adapting: The Future of Jewish Education

 According to Rabbi Ben Spratt, if you look around the American Jewish landscape, some organizations and institutions seem stuck, petrified of making big and needed changes. On the horizon, he views an American Jewish future that is able to break this stagnation as he places Jewish educators and Jewish education at the center of this seismic and necessary shift. What led Rabbi Spratt to this revelation? Why are Jewish educators uniquely suited for this moment? Listen to find out. Check out Rabbi Spratt's new book, Awakenings: American Jewish Transformations in Identity, Leadership, and Belonging, co-authored with Rabbi Joshua Stanton. 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.

Imagine a job where you are expected to know every detail about a 5,000-year-old tradition and its sacred texts. Sounds difficult, right? Welcome to the world of Jewish educators. These unique challenges are one of the reasons that some Jewish educators struggle with impostor syndrome. It's something that concerns Rabba Yaffa Epstein, who has worked as a Jewish educator around the world for decades. On the first episode of season 3 of Adapting, Rabba Epstein and David Bryfman, The Jewish Education Project's CEO, ask: What do we need to do to help educators overcome this challenge?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.

Is the current state of Jewish education half full or half empty? You could say that the answer is somewhere in between, that both are true, at least to some extent. Or you could say that it really does depend on who you ask. 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.

This season of Adapting: The Future of Jewish Education will tackle some of the more challenging issues facing Jewish education today. You’ll be hearing from some of the most influential voices, discussing some of the more controversial issues – the ones that are more frequently spoken about behind closed doors than they are in public spaces. Adapting is hosted by David Bryfman, The Jewish Education Project's CEO. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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 happens when you reimagine an ancient ritual like immersing in the mikveh? What is it that makes the mikveh’s restorative waters a powerful spiritual and educational experience? On this episode of Our Jewish Futures, Rabbi Amalia Mark of Mayyim Hayyim discusses her deep connection with the ritual of mikveh and how Mayyim Hayyim helps people from around the country and world connect with this ancient practice. 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 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.