FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE PARDES INSTITUTE OF JEWISH STUDIES PILOTING NEW PARDES-KEVAH TEACHING FELLOWSHIP
(JERUSALEM, Israel– January 29, 2019) The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies (www.pardes.org.il) is pleased to announce the launch of the Pardes-Kevah Teaching Fellowship, with a new cohort slated to join the program in June 2019 in Berkeley, California.
Pardes is excited to reestablish the Fellowship now that Kevah has closed. Former Kevah educators and Pardes staff are thrilled to join forces to bring a combined educational expertise to the Jewish community, led by Aviva Lauer Golbert of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators and former Kevah educators and leaders, Dr. Julie Lieber and Rabbi David Kasher.
The fellowship will guide participants through the process of learning how to teach adults, building skills in text selection; creating a narrative arc; preparing opening and closing moments; asking good questions; and dealing with group dynamics. The second week of the program focuses on applying skills to practice, including teaching, reflection and refinement, culminating with an opportunity to teach at the 2019 Limmud Bay Area Festival.
“My partners and I believe that a significant increase in the number of highly trained Torah teachers has the capacity to radically change the Jewish community’s relationship to their spiritual and intellectual heritage,” said Aviva Lauer Golbert, Director of the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators. “Through this teacher training fellowship, we aim to significantly improve the quality of adult Jewish education in the North American Jewish community.”
The Pardes Center for Jewish Educators (PCJE) has years of experience training both classroom teachers and experiential educators. PCJE’s singular teacher training brand fuses the acquisition of Jewish text content with the cultivation of excellent and progressive teaching techniques. Approximately 200 PCJE graduates work in Jewish education in a variety of settings and roles such as day school teachers, facilitators, and professional leaders in synagogues, community organizations, start-ups, federations, camps, and Hillels.
“When we dreamt about partners who could grow and expand the Kevah Teaching Fellowship, Pardes was an ideal match,” said Dr. Julie Lieber, former Interim Executive Director of Kevah. “We share a deep belief in the transformative potential of Jewish text study. Similarly, we all recognize that making the Jewish textual tradition accessible to all requires cultivating a pipeline of skillfully trained educators and facilitators.”
“Pardes has been at the forefront of training the next generation of day school educators,” shared Rabbi David Kasher, Associate Rabbi at IKAR. “Those of us who have had the privilege of studying Torah at places like Pardes know just how transformative the immersive learning experience can be, and we are thrilled to be bringing our expertise in training adult Jewish educators under the umbrella of Pardes, further bolstering Pardes’s position as a leader in field of Jewish educator training,” he added.
The Pardes-Kevah Teaching Fellowship is the newest addition to the many existing partnerships that Pardes has with educational institutions. Pardes continues to cultivate partnerships with educational and Rabbinic institutions of all denominations.
To learn more and register, contact us at kevah@pardes.org.il.
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The Pardes Center for Jewish Educators – a branch of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies (www.pardes.org.il) in Jerusalem – trains and empowers Jewish studies teachers and experiential Jewish educators and leaders to serve as knowledgeable, skilled, reflective and passionate professionals in diverse Jewish settings.
