40th Annual NRJE Conference

 May 31 – June 2, 2026

7612 Mowatt Lane, College Park, Maryland

View 2025 Schedule

The 2026 Conference Chairperson is Benji Davis. 

Thank you to our generous supporters of the 2025 Conference:

The Jim Joseph Foundation

All of the members of the NRJE

Please email Rabbi Melissa Stollman concerning all questions related to the conference.  You may also contact NRJE Chairperson, Ari Y Kelman, with concerns and questions about the NRJE or the conference.

For information on past conferences, please click here.

2025 Presentations:

Preformed Paper Sessions

  • Alex Pomson, Annie Jollymore, and Miri Lieber– Summer 2024: A Stress Test for the Core Practices of the Israel Experience 
  • Arielle Levites, Gage Gorsky, and Julia Logan Labow – Extending the Table: Key Findings from a Research-Practice Partnership Exploring Jewish Engagement through the Lens of Social Connectedness
  • Jenny Small, Yael Silverstein, Lindsay Metzker-Epstein, and Nicole Samuel – Jewish Identity, Community Belonging, and Antisemitism on American College Campuses
  • Laurence Kotler-Berkowitz, Ilana Horwitz and Allison Magagnosc with Jon Levisohn as discussant– Exploring the Role of Social Class in Access to Jewish Education
  • Matt Reingold, Nila Rosen, Tal Vaizman– Israel Education after October 7th at North American Overnight Camps
  • Orna Siegel, Wendy Rosov and Zohar Rotem– Educators and Interventions in Early Childhood Jewish Education
  • Ziva Hassenfeld, Sharon Avni and Sarah Bunin Benor – Hebrew as Heritage Language: Identity and Language Learning
  • Zohar Rotem & Talia Hurwich – A Jewish Community Online? Challenges and Possibilities

Roundtable Discussions

  • Jon Levisohn, Deena Aranoff, Jane Kanarek, Josh Ladon, Ariel Mayse – NRJE Roundtable: Rethinking Jewish Text Study

  • Miriam Heller Stern, Dan Glass, Allison Lester – Chidushim, the Having of Novel Ideas, and the Future of Jewish Creative Thinking

  • Nicole Samuel (facilitator), Sharon Avni (facilitator), Sara E. Brown, Gregg Drinkwater, Meir Muller (Discussant), Adam Naftalin-Kelman – Moving Forward from Crisis: Antisemitism on US Campuses after the 2023-24 Academic Year

  • Elana Riback Rand, Yael Findler, Zachary Nichols, and Arielle Levites (facilitator) – Making the Researcher-Practitioner Collaboration Work.

Standalone Sessions

  • Learning How to Publish in the Journal of Jewish Education. Sivan Zakai, Jonathan Krasner, and Ziva Hassenfeld. 
  • In Memory of Lee Shulman – A Session Honoring His Legacy in Jewish Education
  • Holding a Space – A Dialogue on Jewish Teaching, Research, and Well-Being in Current Times. Meir Muller and anyone else who wants to facilitate.

Skills Session

Ilana Horwitz – The Entrepreneurial Scholar: A New Mindset for Success in Academia and Beyond

Consultation Session

Miriam Raider-Roth and Mindy Gold – Unpacking Group Level Assessment: Exploring Adaptations and Outcomes of a Participatory Research Process Across Jewish Educational Settings

Practitioner Research Sessions (Monday)

  • Jenni Mangel and Lisa Feldman– Jewish Learning Works and the ‘Special Sauce’ of Supporting Jewish Educators
  • Alex Pomson, Stacie Cherner, Sharona Israeli-Roth, Annie Jollymore, and Ellen Lefkowitz– Jewish Families Today: How Might New Research Make a Difference to Practitioners and Funders?
  • Andrew Ergas, Roberta Goodman, Nicki Greninger – Harimu Mikshol: Research-Based Strategies to Remove Obstacles on the Hebrew Journey for Students with Learning Differences
  • Bethany Berger – Unlocking New Opportunities: Using Zip Code Data to Identify and Engage Untapped Markets
  • Matt Reingold, Ezra Kopelowitz, Benji Davis– Collective Jewish Belonging in Israel Education
  • Orly Danino Zarur – Gratitude as a Protective Factor for Adolescent Resilience, Happiness, Well-Being, and Anxiety
  • Sivan Zakai & Lauren Applebaum – Learning and Teaching about What Matters: A Collaborative Study with Jewish Children and Their Educators
  • Elana Riback Rand, Sarah Bunin Benor, Sarah Levin – Sephardi/Mizrahi Day School Students in NY and LA: Ideological Tensions, Cultural Integration, and Practical Applications
  • Mindy Gold – Using Arts-Based Participatory Research to Make Sense of Desired Teacher Capacities

Thematic Grouped Sessions

1. Jewish Educational Systems & Historical Trends

  • Matty Lichtenstein – New Dataset on the Entire Jewish Education System in New York State (~550 Schools), Identifying Religious Affiliation, Demographics, and Curricular Data
  • Scott Aaron – Bread Before Schools: Understanding the Historical Relationship Between American Federations and Supplementary Jewish Education.
  • Nadia Beider – Antisemitism and Jewish Day School Enrollment: A Response to Rising Prejudice. 

2. Teaching Jewish Texts: Identity, Interpretation, and Instruction

  • Reuven Margrett – From the Depths: What Jewish Studies Teachers Really Think About the Texts They Teach
  • Joshua Krug – Who is Text that Thou art Mindful of Him? Teachers as Text(people) in Abraham Joshua Heschel
  • Esther Friedman – When Challenge Leads to Change: How Ideological Tensions Shape Orthodox Bible Teachers

3. Voices, Values, and Cultural Expression

  • Nila Rosen – Fortifying the Next Generation: How Adolescents Perceive Their Character Growth and Development at Jewish Overnight Camp
  • Tal Vaizman, Abigail Wood and Naomi Cohen-Zentner – Culture and Values via Music Mentoring: Religious Jewish Mothers Educating a New Generation of Listeners
  • Talia Hurwich – How is Information about the Israel-Hamas War Shared on Jewish Social Media? 

4. Post-10/7 Reflections and Israel Education

  • Laura Novak Winer – Yediat Yisrael: A New Paradigm for Israel Education
  • Ofra Arieli Backenroth – Response to October 7 Trauma – Facebook Community of Reflection
  • Benji Davis – Israel in American Jewish Education: Vision to Practice

5. Campus Life, Antisemitism, and Jewish Identity

  • Sandy Greene – Recommendations from a Comics-Based Research Study on the Experiences of Jewish College Students Navigating Antisemitism
  • Tal Vaizman – Youth Culture in Jewish Summer Camps: Technology, Sounds, and Socialization in Wartime
  • Jonathan Krasner – Jewish College Students Confront the Israel-Gaza Conflict, Antisemitism, and Campus Divides 

6. Holocaust Memory and Pedagogical Complexity

  • Doug Winkelstein – Perpetrator in the Mirror: Difficult Knowledge, Holocaust Research, and Implications for Pedagogy
  • Meredith Katz, Rebecca Shargel and Michael Fahy – Jewish Day School Students Confront Holocaust Denial in an Online Simulation

7. Jewish Community & Educational Belonging

  • Leah Hibel and Yael Teff-Seker– Teaching Jewish Identity: A Focus on Families
  • Daniel Smokler – Fellowship as a Mode of Jewish Education
  • Joseph Reimer – Reflections on the Biblical Unconscious: Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s Transforming Influence on Adult Jewish Education

8. Jewish Supplementary Education & Practitioner Inquiry

  • Mindy Gold – Sensemaking of Community Assets through Photovoice: A New Approach to Teacher Recruitment in Jewish Supplementary Schools
  • Esther Friedman – Let’s Ask the Kids: Amplifying Student Voice through Imagined Jewish Congregational Learning