I’ve been thinking about the implied economy in educational institutions, especially as it is understood in the financial aid/tuition assistance process. Ostensibly, when a person or family requests financial aid or a tuition reduction, they[…]
In Israel, the women’s learning movement preceded the Orthodox feminist movement. It was not viewed as threatening, but rather as a natural outgrowth of women’s changing position in the world. [In the United States], some[…]
For many people, the texts of Torah learning are themselves the biggest obstacles. They are dense, difficult, often unpunctuated and written in a foreign language. Where are the Torah graphic novels? Where are the books[…]
I asked the new president of a growing synagogue about their brand. “Young couples are our brand,” she said. “Young couples with children.” “That’s not your brand,” I said. “That’s your target. Create a brand[…]
The prevalence of “cafeteria Judaism” is part of what frustrates so many Jewish professionals in their search for how to promote a greater interest in Judaism among their constituencies. In my conversations with Jews from[…]
We must promote rigorous study with honest and critical analysis, making it accessible to all and moving away from unchecked centralized rabbinic authority. This move would necessarily subvert communal hierarchical structures that leave others, especially[…]
We are ingenious in fund-raising, which is good; we are shipwrecked in raising our children, which is tragic. We give of our wealth to many good causes; we lose our substance in abandoning our children[…]
“Rabbinic texts and biblical texts were initially written for an elite, adult community,” he said. “To create a pathway for children and young adults to immerse themselves in this world, and feel a sense of ownership[…]
When I poll Bais Yaakov graduates about their emotional associations with certain mitzvos, I often find that they feel very warm about the mitzvah of taking challah and very cold about the mitzvah of tzenius.[…]
Given what we now know about this pervasive sense among secular Jews, it is time to invest more seriously in educational endeavors that reinforce it and build upon it. Simply put, for a Jew to[…]