Ideas in Jewish Education and Engagement

Creating A Soulful Organization

We all need personal attention. We need to be seen for who we are, not only for what we do. Here, Aryeh Ben David suggests that any moment in our organization’s life, from a board meeting to a major gifts dinner, can be an opportunity for human recognition, the celebration of relationship…

Make For Yourself A Teacher

What can adult Jewish learning look like in our community? How can we meet the needs of different learners within our community? And, in this age of easy access to knowledge online, why is it still important to offer robust adult learning opportunities to our community members? We asked Rabb…

A Call for Investment in Teaching and Teachers

When my son and I walked into his preschool classroom a few weeks ago, his teacher said immediately, “Good morning, Milo! Why are you walking funny?” My son had indeed been walking funny, or not normally, or not typically—with his toes pointed out, as he often does. He walks like that …

The Power of Belonging

How can we build community? One approach is to establish regular practices to ensure that belonging and connection are built into organizational life and group activities. Wendy Verba, senior program officer, Jewish Community Federation & Endowment Fund of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Ma…

Pedagogy of Partnership and the Power of Relationships

What do we mean by teaching and learning? What do (we want) people (to) learn? And how do they learn both subject matter and values, ways of being in the world? We asked Orit Kent and Allison Cook, co-founders of Pedagogy of Partnership, to look at how teaching and learning happens in relati…