39th Annual NRJE Conference

 June 8 – 10, 2025

Berkeley, California at the UC Berkeley Hillel

2736 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA

View Schedule (subject to change)

The 2025 Conference Chairperson is Meir Muller, who will be working with Meredith Katz and Benji Davis to create opportunities for us to share, talk, learn, reflect, and challenge ourselves and each other.

We are proud to announce that Hanan Alexander, one of the true leaders of our field and our community, will be giving the keynote address.

Registration is no longer available online. Email Rabbi Melissa Stollman at nrjecoordinator@gmail.com if you would like to attend.

HOTEL: Residence Inn Berkeley (2121 Center St, Berkeley)

Please note that NO transportation or shuttles are provided to and from airports, the hotel or Hillel. The hotel is about a 10-minute walk away, and amenities include free breakfast, Wi-Fi, a fitness center and kitchenettes in the rooms. Check-in is at 4:00 p.m., and checkout is at 11:00 a.m.

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.

If you need to cancel your registration, please contact Rabbi Melissa Stollman. A full refund will be issued until May 15, 2025. After May 15, until May 22, a partial refund of 75% will be issued. No refunds will be issued after May 23, 2025. Thank you.

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