By Ellen Lefkowitz, Jewish LearningWorks’ Senior Educator, and Board President of the Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ)
Even though we came together in freezing temperatures in Chicago last week, the Yom Chadash conference was a deeply enriching experience with so much warmth and joy as Jewish educators from ECE-RJ and ARJE gathered from all over the country. The theme of the conference was Imagine the Possibilities. As the world around us changes, how can we as Jewish educators come together to think innovatively about our work, engage our constituencies, and move the field forward? There were three intensive tracks focused on Engaging Jewish Families with Young children facilitated by Jonathan Schmidt Chapman, who will be coming to the Bay Area on March 11 for a day-long training. He offered fun and creative ways to bring Jewish stories to life for children and families. Lesley Litman’s intensive considered the role of Israel in one’s Jewish identity following October 7th. The fact that post-October 7th, Israel is now ascribed to Jewish identity, how can we harness this new reality, and what are the implications in our work?
Finally, I attended Mindy Gold’s intensive focused on Creating a Culture of Collaboration. As educational leaders we explored who are the key “careholders” in our community, and how do we engage with them in building a shared vision and implementing change. Mindy shared with us concrete tools and steps to identify shared values and engage in a process to bring about collaborative vision for the future.
In addition, the Early Childhood Educators of Reform Judaism (ECE-RJ) celebrated its 25th anniversary at the conference. We invited our founding members to join us for an evening to celebrate the growth of our professional organization, and how we have made such a deep impact on the field of Jewish early childhood education.
It was a gift to be able to come together with colleagues from across the country to learn, to dream, and to celebrate the field of Jewish education. I know that I came away inspired to Imagine the Possibilities of our work here in our Bay Area community, and beyond.
