Who are the leaders ensuring the Jewish education of our children in day schools across the country? This series features selected school leaders – including those from Community, Orthodox and Schechter schools from across the US and Canada. We asked them about their personal day school leadership and their goals for their schools. The interviews were conducted while these leaders were participating in leadership training programs supported by AVI CHAI throughout this summer, including the Principals’ Center at Harvard programs and the Davidson School of JTS’s Day School Leadership Training Institute (DSLTI).
In this clip, Rabbi David Sultan, Judaic Studies Assistant Principal of Magen David Yeshiva in Brooklyn, discusses a critical question that occupies the attention of all educators: How do we create life-long learners? And more specifically: How do we raise a generation that will be inspired to continue to engage with and grow in their Jewish learning throughout their lives? His answer has to do with the importance of Jewish literacy – by learning Jewish texts at a young age, students will develop a familiarity and comfort with them that will serve them throughout their educational journeys and beyond.
Watch the clip here:
But how can we bring Jewish literacy to life? For one answer to that, we recommend Etta Abramson’s ELI talk on how to use drama in the classroom to interpret texts and bring them to life in the classroom. While an underutilized and perhaps unexpected avenue, drama can be a powerful tool for imparting the next generation with a love for learning and for Jewish literacy.
Watch the ELI talk here:
AVI CHAI concluded its general grant making on December 31, 2019.