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July 2, 2025Columbus Torah Academy, Columbus, OH
October 29, 2025
School leaders, Jewish educators, and lay leaders from around 100 schools, coming from New York to Tucson and from Miami to Seattle, gathered last week for the 12th annual Summer Think Tank, which has emerged as the premier professional conference for Jewish day schools. New for this year was special programming for morahs, featuring presentations and Q&A sessions, as well as sessions tailored for new rebbeim who have joined a special mentoring program launching this year.
This year’s conference focused on Recruitment and Retention, presenting strategies and solutions to help Jewish day schools find and keep highly qualified faculty members and engaged and supportive families. A first-time attendee reflected, “This was the first COJDS conference I attended. The topic was spot on and so relevant, the presenters were knowledgeable and engaging, and the crowd was supportive and welcoming to each other.”
The conference keynote address was delivered by Dr. Noam Wasserman, incoming Head of School at Yeshivat Ramaz, and focused on how the mindset and toolset of successful startup entrepreneurs can be applied to school leadership. Dr. Wasserman also led a group conversation with school leaders about best practices, opportunities, and challenges.
Rabbi Dr. Maury Grebenau and Mrs. Suri Ganz from the Jewish New Teacher Project discussed designing a school that attracts and retains exceptional staff, as well as creating learning communities that optimize both teacher and student experiences. Rabbi Yaakov Sadigh, from Hillel Yeshiva High School, always a popular presenter, spoke about teacher retention and how the flame can be rekindled. CoJDS is proud to partner with the Zucker Jewish Academy. Ana Mandelbaum and Abigail Moyal, administrators at Zucker Schools, spoke about their efforts to recruit teachers and students for their rapidly expanding nationwide network of Jewish schools. One participant said, “This was an amazing session. It was worth it to come in just for this session.”
Rabbi Simcha Dessler, from the Hebrew Academy of Cleveland, joined the conference to speak about the power of chinuch, offering strategies to support recruitment and retention. Mrs. Miriam Gettinger led a session that focused on viewing school staff as MVPs. Joseph Cope addressed school leaders on how Responsibility-Centered Discipline can help improve teacher retention and prevent teacher burnout. He also spoke to teachers and rebbeim on creating empowered classrooms using Responsibility-Centered Discipline. Mrs. Ahuvah Heyman, school director of Bnos Yisroel School in Baltimore, led a session focused on parents as partners, as she addressed how to meet parents in the middle as the school strives to reach the top. Jay Zachter addressed the conference to discuss using his Apploi platform for finding the best candidates.
The second morning of the conference began with a thought-provoking address by Rabbi Ahron Lopiansky about how focusing on the space and time of tefillah can help contemporary students connect to Jewish prayer in a meaningful way. Rabbi Sholom Kamenetsky spoke about approaching tefillah from a standpoint of gratitude. Both roshei yeshiva led robust Q&A sessions with school leaders on the topic of tefillah and other issues they face.
The conference concluded with roundtable discussions led by Mrs. Miriam Gettinger, Mrs. Ahuvah Heyman, and Rabbi Dovid Engel, which brought together principals and teachers to address what they could learn from one another. One school leader said that over the two days, he “heard some great ideas, met some great people, and was part of a great community!”