Adapting: The Future of Jewish Education

Gender, feminism, and power are all salient features of adolescent development today. Jewish youth is certainly no exception, and Jewish education must tackle some of these challenging issues today if it is to be relevant and meaningful for today’s learners.This week's Adapting guest, Shuli Karkowsky, is incorporating these themes into Jewish education through her own work as CEO of Moving Traditions, an organization that merges Jewish learning with social and emotional learning to serve the needs of teens today.Don't miss Shuli's profound discussion with David Bryfman about insights from her non-traditional career path, the Jewish value ofhakarat hatov, or expressing gratitude, and why teens engaged in their Jewish community are happier teens.This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail

May is Jewish American Heritage Month, and what is more Jewish American than teens spending the summer at camp exploring their culture?Since the postwar era, summer camps have been driven by intentional and ideological education (think Zionism, Yiddish and Ashkenazi culture, etc.). No one understands this history better than this week's Adapting guest, Sandra Fox, author of the book, The Jews of Summer: Summer Camp and Jewish Culture in Postwar America. Her book serves as a wakeup call for anyone who might have thought that summer camp was all about fun and socialization. This discussion teaches us how the historical understanding of postwar America can inform our thinking about many issues in Jewish education today.This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail

According to this week's Adapting guest, Liron Lipinsky, w​​hen it comes to youth programming, teens come for the social component and stay for the educational experiences. Is this tactic a bait and switch? No. In fact, it's the secret sauce to teen engagement. In this episode, BBYO's VP of Enrichment discusses with David Bryfman how to leverage informal social experiences to empower youth, instill Jewish pride, and build engagement and education around Israel. If you are a teen educator or someone who cares about Jewish life at such a critical age, you will not want to miss this episode!​Send us Fan Mail

There is much at stake for the future of Jewish education in these rapidly changing times. Last week, The Jewish Education Project released a comprehensive report, From Census to Possibilities: Designing Pathways for Jewish Learners, on the current state of Jewish supplementary schools in North America, the first of its kind since 2008.On this week's episode of Adapting, David Bryfman delves into the report's findings, but more importantly potential pathways forward, with Jewish educator Marisa Kaiser, who not only is immersed in the religious school environment daily, but has a broader perspective on the field as well. Marisa shares possibilities of how to enhance supplementary Jewish education so that children can grow into lifelong learners of Judaism. This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail

Data can be used as an effective and important tool for measuring success of Jewish engagement. But what are the data points we are looking for? And once we have that data, how can we use it to the best of our ability to better understand our audiences and the factors that motivate them to live a more Jewish life?On this week's episode of Adapting, Jennifer Zwilling draws from her experiences at Hillel International and the Edlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, DC, and how she successfully collected data to measure the impact of Jewish engagement and further connect audiences to Jewish experiences. This work shows how when you ask the right questions, you can gain insight that gets you closer to achieving your organizational goals.​​This week's Adapting includes a frank conversation with David Bryfman and Dr. Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath, Senior Director of Knowledge, Ideas, and Learning at The Jewish Education Project, as they review key takeaways from discussions about AI at the Jewish Futures Conference on March 23, 2023.Tune in to this episode of Adapting to explore: as educators, should we be wary this new technology, or can we embrace these platforms as our teaching partners? Listen to find out!This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail

Today we can interact with machine learning in new, unprecedented ways. Educators can ask a chatbot to write lesson plans at the click of a button. Students can incorporate their selfies into the Exodus story. Artificial Intelligence has the potential to revolutionize Jewish education, and this emerging technology is also raising ethical concerns amongst educators.This week's Adapting includes a frank conversation with David Bryfman and Dr. Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath, Senior Director of Knowledge, Ideas, and Learning at The Jewish Education Project, as they review key takeaways from discussions about AI at the Jewish Futures Conference on March 23, 2023.Tune in to this episode of Adapting to explore: as educators, should we be wary this new technology, or can we embrace these platforms as our teaching partners? Listen to find out!This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail

The way educators talk about identity has direct impact on how learners see themselves reflected in Jewish tradition. That is why LGBTQ+ advocacy and embracing gender identity work is imperative for Jewish education.Talking to David Bryfman this week on Adapting is Dubbs Weinblatt (they/them), Founder and CEO of Thank You for Coming Out, who advocates for creating a more just and inclusive world. Bravely sharing their story as a genderqueer trans Jew, Dubbs teaches us this work is inherently Jewish, intertwined with the values of B'tzelem Elohim ("In God's Image") and Shmirat Halashon ("Guarding one's use of language"), and that we shouldn't have to sacrifice one identity for another in Jewish spaces.This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail

There are almost one million Israelis living in the United States today. This includes immigrants who came to America as Israelis and discovered their Jewishness in different and exciting ways, and their children who have grown up pretty much like other Jewish Americans... just with Israeli parents. Now these families as Israeli American Jews and their children face a unique set of challenges as they balance maintaining their Israeli with their American Jewish experience. Joining David Bryfman on this week's episode of Adapting is Dr. Yakir Englander of the Israeli American Council to discuss what it means to build a vibrant Israeli-American Jewish community, one where, the relationship is mutual: Israelis learn from their American peers and Americans learn about Israeli culture, demonstrating an education of Klal Yisrael (all of the Jewish people).This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail

Schlep, klutz, shvigger... Yiddish is more than a few kitschy words. The language embodies and celebrates Jewish culture and daily life that is often lost to a younger generation, and can be used as a tool to get learners excited about connecting to Jewish life.This week on Adapting, David Bryfman speaks with Susan Bronson, Executive Director of the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA, who advocates for studying Yiddish as a way to create a generation of Jewishly literate youths. With themes of activism, persecution, and modernity, reading seemingly "dying" Jewish languages like Yiddish and Ladino is, in fact, critical for engaging others while bridging communities across the Jewish spectrum.This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail

A rabbi walks into a bar... and opens a Jewish house of learning.Imagine a tavern playing Israeli music, the walls lined with old books written in Hebrew or even Aramaic, and patrons coming together to discuss those texts and other Jewish ideas while sharing food and drink inspired by cuisine of the diaspora. You don't have to imagine a communal Jewish house of learning because it exists, and it is called Lehrhaus.This week on Adapting with David Bryfman, Rabbi Charlie Schwartz discusses his innovative concept of Lehrhaus, a Boston-based nonprofit designed to increase the prevalence of Jewish learning by making it accessible and fun regardless of Jewish backgaround. With a single mission in making Jewish education meaningful and relevant over delicious food and engaging conversation, Lehrhaus is a great example of what can be achieved when we mix innovation and Jewish education.Click here to watch Charlie's video, "A Vision in 4 Parts," winner of the first Jewish Futures Competition in 2010.This episode was produced by Dina Nusnbaum and Miranda Lapides.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 and review, 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.Send us Fan Mail