Seminar on Guiding Principles in Jewish Education
Beginning in 1959, Seymour Fox z”l expressed his concern that Jewish educators were, as he wrote, “aimless.” In subsequent decades, the Mandel Foundation continued to elevate the importance of vision for Jewish educational leaders, including most prominently in the publication of Visions of Jewish Education (edited by Seymour Fox, Israel Scheffler and Daniel Marom, 2003).
Fox and his colleagues were and are correct about the importance of principles to guide practice. But there is another approach to develop guiding principles for Jewish education, that begins bottom-up from the practice of thoughtful educators and educational institutions rather than top-down from the minds of scholars.
In 2025-26, a cohort of educational leaders from diverse institutions in the Boston area is gathering to explore both the theory and practice of vision-guided Jewish education, and are working toward developing their own guiding principles for practice.
Participants:
- Jethro Berkman (Mandel Foundation)
- Shira Deener (JCDS)
- Michelle Fisher (MIT Hillel)
- Elisha Gechter (Harvard Hillel)
- Rachel Happel (Temple Beth Shalom, Needham)
- Suzie Jacobson (Temple Israel, Boston)
- Elie Lehmann (Hadar Institute)
- Lily Rabinoff-Goldman (JCC of Greater Boston)
- Or Rose (Hebrew College)
- Charlie Schwartz (Lehrhaus)