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January 2007: Celebrations for the Publication of Daniel Pekarsky's Vision at Work: The Theory and Practice of Beit Rabban
Daniel Pekarsky, Professor of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and a staff member of the VJEP, has published Vision at Work: The Theory and Practice of Beit Rabban as part of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America's Jewish Education Series.
Events to celebrate the publication were held at the Mandel Leadership Institute in Jerusalem and the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis.
To read more about Vision at Work and to download an excerpt of the book, see the Winter 2007 issue of In Focus: News from the Visions of Jewish Education Project. Video excerpts from these events are now online.
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Daniel Pekarsky and Israel Scheffler at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, Brandeis |
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May 6-9, 2007: MTEI-MLI Alumni Visions Project
The third meeting of the Alumni group focused on the distinction between strategic and existential vision and two issues of content in Jewish education - Hebrew language and prayer. As part of their work on individual vision initiatives, participants also discussed the nature of "visions projects." This work included study of Martin Buber's writing on what it means to work with ideas; a presentation by Daniel Marom on his work at HaMidrasha; a session led by Jennifer Lewis and Barry Holtz on their work at the Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit; and updates from participants Arnie Zar-Kessler, Marion Gribetz, and Judy Elkin on their projects.
February 19, 2007: Rabbi Jeffrey Saks at the Mandel Jerusalem Fellows Graduates Colloquium
Jeffrey Saks, a graduate of the Mandel Jerusalem Fellows and staff member of the VJEP, presented his case study Spiritualizing Halakhic Education as a model of teacher development to other MJF graduates at their winter colloquium at the Dead Sea. Saks spoke about the experiment in working with R. Twersky's ideas to reconsider the spiritual aims of a traditional education and how they can be achieved in practice.
January 7-10, 2007: MTEI-MLI Alumni Visions Project
At the second seminar of alumni of the Mandel Teacher Educator Institute and the Mandel Leadership Institute, held at Brandeis, participants convened to continue developing their individual projects in collaboration with the full group. They focused in particular on two areas of concern to several projects: Hebrew and synagogues. Jonathan Sarna, Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, addressed the group on “Visionary Change in American Judaism” and Shaye Cohen, Nathan Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy at Harvard, spoke on the topic of “From the Temple to the Synagogue—An Exploration of Change and Vision.”
The Alumni group also celebrated the publication of Daniel Pekarsky’s Vision at Work: The Theory and Practice of Beit Rabban. Click here to read more.
January 4, 2007: Toronto Board of Jewish Education
Having studied Visions of Jewish Education together in their staff seminars over the course of a year, the Toronto Board of Jewish Education invited project director Daniel Marom to speak about the book’s potential implementations in practice.
January 2007: Modern Orthodox Project Site Visits
The VJEP continues its work with Modern Orthodox day schools in North America. Following up on the July 2006 seminar (see Recent Events for details), Daniel Marom, Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, and Dr. Jennifer Lewis will visit and consult with the MTA Yeshiva University High School for Boys (New York) and its principal Rabbi Mark Gottlieb; and the Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School (Baltimore) and its principal (and graduate of the Mandel Jerusalem Fellows) Rabbi Aaron Frank. These two schools are moving into the second stage of their work with the Visions Seminar by beginning to plan how they will implement their conceptions in practice.
December 22, 2006: Rabbi Jeffrey Saks at the Institute for the Study of Rabbinic Thought, Beit Morasha, Jerusalem
VJEP staff member Rabbi Jeffrey Saks presented a talk based on his recently published monograph, Spiritualizing Halakhic Education: A Case Study in Modern Orthodox Teacher Development (Mandel Foundation 2005) at the Ninth Annual Conference of the Institute. Click here to read more about the conference.
Publication of Medabrim Hazon
The Visions of Jewish Education Project has published Medabrim Hazon, the Hebrew translation of Visions of Jewish Education, with Keter Press (Jerusalem 2006). For information about ordering Medabrim Hazon, contact us at visions@mli.org.il. Click here to go to the Hebrew homepage of Medabrim Hazon.