STAFF & CULTURE

Living Our Values

It’s a great privilege to work alongside my colleagues at Jewish LearningWorks. They are not only my co-workers, but my teachers. I came to treasure this all the more during this strange time we’re living through.

For more than a year during the pandemic, our entire staff met for a half hour every Tuesday morning via Zoom. Half of the time was devoted to work, with the other half allotted to a rotation of team members sharing a kavanah or teaching.

The work portions of our meetings were enormously valuable, particularly given our need to think creatively in response to the pandemic. But what I valued most were the teachings, which ranged from songs to reflections on personal heirlooms to examinations of biblical portrayals in art. It was a reminder that wisdom can be shared in many ways and even in a 15-minute time slot. Jewish learning has always been about both learning from text and learning from people, and I’m grateful that my job has regularly afforded me the opportunity to do both.

Howard Freedman
Jewish Community Library Director

Welcoming Liora Brosbe

The Jewish LearningWorks team was delighted to welcome our newest Senior Educator, Liora Brosbe, last summer. Liora’s portfolio includes family engagement, special needs inclusion, and social, emotional, and spiritual learning (SESL.) JLW’s commitment to special needs inclusion stretches back decades. Our belief that every child should be enthusiastically welcomed in any Jewish educational setting underpins Liora’s work. Her role is focused on providing sensory toolkits, creating training on best practices to respond to learning challenges, and offering customized observations and consultations. Last year she also expanded our SESL work — introducing the educator community to the principles of trauma informed teaching, and identifying the importance of creating truly equitable learning environments.

Liora brings a rich background as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Registered Drama Therapist, a storyteller, and as the East Bay’s PJ Library liaison and family engagement concierge. Liora is not the first Brosbe to work at Jewish LearningWorks. Her mother, Ellen Brosbe retired in 2015 after nearly 20 years working with the organization, serving the community as a dedicated force in nurturing and supporting Jewish educators. M’dor l’dor from Ellen to Liora and welcome!

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