Jewish Education Talks

Akiva Carr is a passionate Jewish educator with 10 years of experience across varied age groups. He is in search of a meaningful way to transfer the skills and experience he has built over the years to others in the field. Akiva has recently moved into the field of crowdfunding for the non-profit sector with Charidy.

Contact Akiva via email: [email protected]

Akiva Carr on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akiva-carr/

Akiva Carr is a passionate Jewish educator with 10 years of experience across varied age groups. He is in search of a meaningful way to transfer the skills and experience he has built over the years to others in the field. Akiva has recently moved into the field of crowdfunding for the non-profit sector with Charidy.

Contact Akiva via email: [email protected]

Akiva Carr on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akiva-carr/

Joshua Sevitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-sevitz-mba-4a13a9109/

Do you want to learn about management in Jewish education? Listen to this episode to hear about the day-to-day ins and outs of a real-life on-the-ground leader of Jewish education teams. Josh brings wisdom and insight as he talks eloquently about the issues that Jewish education faces and how challenges may be met. 

Newly published book: What Would You Do? You Write the Book on Being a Mensch

https://www.amazon.com/What-Would-You-DO-Mensch/dp/B0B28HWFLQ

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-would-you-do-rabbi-dr-david-s-bauman/1141491349

Rabbi Dr. David Bauman Bio

Rabbi Dr.  Bauman has taught  Tanakh and Talmud at Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago and at Robbins Hebrew Academy in Toronto, and he is the rabbi of Lake Shore Drive Synagogue. He also teaches for the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning. He was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy Chaplain Corps from 2011-2018, stationed in Great Lakes, IL and Okinawa, Japan, among other places.
He received his rabbinic ordination from the world renowned Talmudic Scholar Rabbi Dr. David Weiss-Halivni and from Rabbi Zalman Nehemiah Goldberg z”l. He holds a Master’s degree in Jewish Studies from The Jewish Theological Seminary, a Master’s degree in Education Administration from New York University, and a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from The University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky. His undergraduate work was completed at The American University in Washington, DC with a B.A. in Sociology, Education, and Jewish Studies. Rabbi Dr. Bauman earned a Doctor of Hebrew Letters degree in Jewish Ethics at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. He is the author of the recently published book on Mussar for teenangers: “What Would You Do?: You Write the Book on Being a Mensch.
Prior to his work in the U.S. Navy, Rabbi Dr. Bauman served congregations in the United States and Canada. Rabbi Dr. Bauman and his wife, Elly, are blessed with two adult children who live in Israel, Matan and Ori. Rabbi Dr. Bauman is an avid motorcycle rider and can be seen traveling to and from Akiba-Schechter on his Harley-Davidson. In addition, Rabbi Dr. Bauman has training in martial arts, having studied in the U.S., Okinawa, Japan, and South Korea. He was born in Reading, PA, two blocks west of the Monopoly Board railroad station and raised between Reading, PA and New Rochelle, NY.

We welcome Rav Ramon Widmonte, Dean of The Academy of Jewish Thought and Learning to the podcast. In this brilliant episode, he describes the work that The Academy does, both in the Adult Education space and in Teacher Upskilling. One small statistic: Almost 40 participants have done or are doing an MA in Jewish Education over the last couple years. This impact and much more can be discovered by clicking on that play button :-). Enjoy. 

What if you could speak to a student who graduated from Jewish day high school two years ago to ask them about their experiences? Well, in this episode, I tracked down a Jewish day school graduate who was willing to speak to me. "Bob" generously agreed to spend some time chatting informally. As an aside, you will note that I did not have an interview protocol to follow and that I also tried to sometimes provide 'leading questions'. If you are interested in the research side of things, you may want to listen with an ear to how the interview proceeds and how, in a research context, things that the interviewer does or says would have to change. If you are interested in the student perspective, you may want to compare this anecdotal chat to your own knowledge of students or to the more robust research literature that is out there. 

This is a fascinating overview of the Midrasha Institute for Adult Jewish Learning in Cape Town, from Viv Anstey, the director. Not only is Viv a "Serial Social Entrepreneur" in the Jewish community - her influence is felt in a diverse array of communal programmes - she is also a fountain of information about Adult Jewish Learning. Today, we focus on one of Viv's many projects, the Melton programmes which are run for a diverse audience. Listeners are in for a treat as Viv explains what it is that Melton does, what makes it unique, and the impact Melton has had through a range of partnerships. 

What is the purpose of Jewish education? 

What is the trick of Jewish education? What is the core challenge that, if navigated successfully, can lead to success in the form of student learning? What is one way to sum up this core issue?

Is traditional or progressive pedagogy more appropriate? Does it even matter? Is this a false dichotomy? Maybe it is. But maybe it isn't. 

Opportunity cost is what educational decision-making is all about - if you believe Dylan Wiliam (and I mean, why wouldn't you?). But what if you tried to hold both this option and that option. Is this pure indecision and insanity or is there something to it? Are there ways to turn zero-sum games (EITHER OR) into BOTH AND situations?

Who knows? I certainly don't. 

Basically, what the title implies.