The Senior Educator Learning Fellowship

Bring the Beit Midrash Back to Your Community

Create Connections

Join a cohort of senior educators committed to improving their communities

Repair Discourse

Master the art of constructive disagreement and build a community of diverse thought

Summer in Jerusalem

Kickstart your learning with a subsidized two-week intensive in the Pardes Beit Midrash in Jerusalem.

Join a cohort of congregational school directors and senior educational leaders for 10 months of professional development and enrichment. As a fellow you will engage in both online and in-person learning while developing a project for your home community.

SELF begins in Jerusalem with a two-week, fully-subsidized intensive beit midrash experience with a focus on a deep exploration of how text can lead us to improving our own civil discourse. It continues back in each fellow’s hometown with monthly webinars with esteemed faculty and mentors from the Pardes Center for Jewish Educators. Each fellow will also design a project for their community that focuses on constructive disagreement. Seed funding of up to $2,000 will be available for each project.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis with a preferred deadline of April 1.

Program Dates

  • Jerusalem Summer Intensive: July 26 – August 8, 2024
  • Interactive Group Webinars: Monthly, September 2024 – April 2025

Eligibility

  • Six years of work experience in congregational schools
  • Works in a supervisory role
  • A desire to create change beyond the classroom

Funding

  • Program Cost: $1,000 to be paid by the sponsoring synagogue
  • Subsidy: $2,200 subsidy toward flight and lodging for the Jerusalem Summer Intensive

The Mahloket Matters Methodology

We are living in a moment of unprecedented breakdown in civil discourse.

The inability to communicate and engage in constructive discussion has caused significant pain and dysfunction, and it is showing up at work, at schools, on the streets and in our families. 

Utilizing Jewish wisdom and social psychology, the Mahloket Matters methodology seeks to foster a renewed discourse that heals divisions and offers our communities – and the world – a path forward. 

Learn more about Mahloket Matters.

Past Cohorts

  • Abra P. Lee – Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills, NJ
  • Alex Weinberg – Temple Beth Sholom, Cherry Hill, NJ
  • Anne Berman-Waldorf – Congregation Beth Chaim, Princeton Junction, NJ
  • Barbara Glickman – Ohev Shalom of Bucks County, Richboro, PA
  • Beth Young – Temple Judea, Coral Gables, FL
  • Carla Kopf – Temple Isaiah, Los Angeles, CA
  • Gina Fass – Bet Torah Synagogue, Mount Kisco, NY
  • Hope Ann Chernak – Temple Kol Emeth, Marietta, GA
  • Jessica Braginsky – Forest Hills Jewish Center, Forest Hills, NY
  • Jessie Lavintman – Park Avenue Synagogue, New York, NY
  • Judith Sandman – Temple Emanu-El, Westfield, NJ & Temple Beth Ahm Yisrael, Springfield, NJ
  • Juliet Gardner – Congregation Beth El, Berkeley, CA
  • Mason Voit – Conservative Synagogue Adath Israel of Riverdale, Bronx, NY
  • Melissa Ser – Adat Shalom Synagogue, Farmington Hills, MI
  • Morissa R. Freiberg – Congregation Beth Tikvah, Worthington, OH
  • Rebecca Elkus-Ferst – Temple Israel of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, NY
  • Rebecca Goodman – Netivot Shalom, Berkeley, CA
  • Roberta Axeloons – Temple Israel of Boston, Boston, MA
  • Shari Sabath – Congregation Beth El of Bucks County, Yardley, PA
  • Rabbi Sharon Litwin – Temple Shaaray Tefila, New York, NY
  • Rabbi Yael Hammerman – Ansche Chesed, New York, NY
  • Cindy B Citron – Congregation Tifereth Israel of Bucks County, Bensalem, PA
  • Rachel Barnehama – B’nai Jeshurun, New York, NY
  • Debra Beland Ackerman – Congregation Olam Tikvah, Fairfax PA
  • Sara Berk – Temple Beth Shalom, Needham, PA
  • Ariel Boxman – Temple Shalom of Naples, Naples, FL
  • Mandy Cheskis – Gesher School, Chisuk Emuna Congegation, and Beth El Temple, Harrisburg, PA
  • Alisa Fineman – Congregation Beth Israel, Carmel, CA
  • Wilhelmina Gottschalk – Alvin Browdy Religious School of Ohr Kodesh, Chevy Chase, MD
  • Abra Greenspan – Congregation Etz Chayim, Palo Alto, CA
  • Cathy Kaplan – Kramer Religious at Beth Meyer Synagogue, Raleigh, NC
  • Beri Kaplan Schwitzer – Temple Emanu’el, Dallas TX
  • Janis Knight – Congregation Shirat Hayam, Swampscott, MA
  • Karen Lewin – Marlboro Jewish Center, Marlboro, NJ
  • Tali Moscowitz – Congregation Beth El of Montgomery County, Bethesda, MD
  • Michele Paskow – Congregation B’nai Emet, Simi Valley, PA
  • Adam Schaffer – Temple Aliyah, Woodland Hills CA
  • Michael Schatz – Har Zion Temple, Penn Valley, PA
  • Rachel Wachtel – Congregation Beth Shalom Religious School, Seattle, WA
  • Andrea Kamens – Temple Beth Shalom,  Needham, MA / Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, Newton, MA
  • Rabbi Ariann Weitzman – Bnai Keshet Reconstructionist Synagogue, Montclair, NJ
  • Edward J Magiste – Temple Tifereth Israel, Beachwood, OH
  • Elizabeth Singer – B’nai Aviv, Weston, FL
  • Gail Greenberg – Temple Emanu-El, Oak Park, MI
  • H. Lee Rosenberg – United Hebrew Congregation, St. Louis, MO
  • Jennifer James – Congregation Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia, PA
  • Dr. Jennifer Newfeld – Congregation Beth Sholom, Frederick, MD
  • Cantor Jeri Robins – Temple Chayai Shalom, South Easton, MA
  • Julie BenAvram – Westchester Jewish Center, Mamaroneck NY
  • Lynn Anne Cutler – Temple Har Shalom, Warren, NJ
  • Rachel Mersky Woda – Temple Beth El, Providence, RI
  • Serena Solomon – Agudath Israel and Temple Beth-El, New Jersey
  • Rabbi Shawn Simon Hazani – Har Zion Temple, Penn Valley, PA
  • Rabbi Suzanne Brody, PhD – Ithaca Beit Midrash, Ithaca, NY