Chinuch Conference Recap

Over 100 school leaders from across the country gathered at Oorah’s “The Zone” campus for a weekend of professional learning and connecting, spending three days learning, collaborating, and sharpening their vision for and commitment to Jewish education. The Consortium and Oorah share a common vision and core values and are deeply committed to providing Jewish children with a strong, positive, nurturing environment that fosters personal growth and a strong sense of community, deeply connected to Torah values. The collaboration provides continuity between school and camp, including involvement in recruitment efforts that help ensure children experience inspiration year-round. 

Kicking off the conference, Rabbi Heshy Glass shared an idea from the שפתי חיים (that can be found in the Davening with Depth tefillah curriculum). When we daven, we ask for the great shofar and the נס, a sign, that will herald the coming of Moshiach. Why will there need to be both a shofar blast and a sign? The שפתי חיים explained that people are inspired in different ways, just like they learn in different ways. Some people need to hear the shofar, while others need to see a sign. This idea of chinuch that considers the talmid was the theme of the weekend.  

A highlight of the weekend was the opportunity to hear from Rabbi Yoel Kramer, who has been teaching, leading schools, and training teachers and principals for over six decades. He delivered a presentation on the Four H’s, which refer to the four categories of information teachers should be aware of to help them relate to their students: information about the horim (parents), the home where the child lives, the hashkafa or values of his family, and any happenings in his life that can affect his ability to learn in school. Rabbi Kramer’s core message is that we teach a child, not a subject.  

Rabbi Dovid Becker, LCSW, gave the keynote presentation on ADHD, dispelling myths, describing the disorder, and teaching the educators in attendance how to support students with ADHD. He highlighted that it’s a “performance disorder” and taught the Four C’s that unlock the ADHD brain: if the task is creative, challenging, competitive, or a crisis, these students can focus with greater ease.  

Rabbi Dovid Engel taught about extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, arguing that the prizes and incentives used to encourage learning in schools might be counterproductive. He defined the essence of Jewish education as teaching children להתענג על ה’, to feel the deep and enduring sense of pleasure and fulfillment that comes from a life of Torah and mitzvos.  

Rav Dovid Breslauer, rosh kollel of South Fallsburg, explained the unique mitzva of עונג שבת, to experience the pleasure of Shabbos, as an expression of the ideal state of the world before the חטא of אדם הראשון. He spoke again at שלש סעודות, describing how the goal of Jewish education is to help each child find their personal connection to Torah. The Gemara teaches that those who teach Torah to children are compared to stars, which may be larger and brighter than the sun, but seem small because they are so much higher in the sky. Rav Breslauer told a powerful story of an elderly Russian Jew who spent many decades living under Communism, and how, in his last days, he still recalled his cheder rebbi’s teaching about “אשר קרך בדרך” (which is said about עמלק) as he sipped a very hot cup of tea. 

After Shabbos, the menahelim gathered for a Live MTC, where challenging topics regarding Jewish education were raised and discussed. The highlight of the discussion was a personal story told by a 23-year-old man who struggled with ADHD as a child and offered an inside view of a child who struggles with attention, impulsivity, and defiance as he tries to navigate school. At the same time, women participated in a Morah Vaad interactive session, led by Mrs. Chana Leah Hertz and Ms. Sima Baron, where school leaders discussed ways to motivate their morahs to continue their growth in achievable ways. Other sessions for women at the conference included a presentation by Dr. Ahuva Heyman about school leaders’ role as Chief Empathy Officer, Mrs. Chaya Shapiro’s speech about seeing your children in 3D, and an inspiring message from Mrs. Miriam Kamravapour.  

Rabbi Yosef Elefant, from Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim, built upon the ideas of Rav Shlomo Wolbe, zt”l, who divided Jewish education into two categories: planting and building. Things that are planted continue to grow and blossom on their own, while those that are built remain fixed where you built them. He explained that schools used to focus primarily on “building”, teaching students skills and information, while the “planting” was done at home, as parents instilled important Jewish values that their children would carry and apply throughout their lives. Rabbi Elefant observed that schools need to place greater emphasis on the planting part of Jewish education, connecting children to Jewish values and to a sense of their place in Jewish history. 

In addition to many presentations, the conference featured several panel discussions. One panel consisted of school leaders from some of the largest Lakewood schools, including Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Kanarek, Rabbi Yanky Mandebaum, Rabbi Yosef Posen, and Rabbi Berel Leiner. Rabbi Kanarek shared a memorable idea that he tells his staff each year before school starts: מחנכים are supposed to praise students, not give them תוכחה. A panel that met on Friday night for עונג שבת discussed what to do when the “system” does not seem to work for a child, and included Rabbi Issac Entin, Rabbi Yehuda Moller, Rabbi Yehuda Bergida, and Rabbi Moshe Segelman. Another panel included Rabbi Daniel Price, Rabbi Yitzchak Lewenstein, Rabbi Ashi Newman, and Rabbi Avi Fertig, and addressed setting up systems to make schools run better.  

Looking ahead, the Consortium of Jewish Day Schools is hosting its annual summer Think Tank conference at the end of June. The keynote presenter will be Dr. Todd Whitaker, author of What Great Principals Do Differently, and other sessions will be led by Rabbi Daniel Alter from The Moriah School, Rabbi Josh Goldstein of HAFTR, Dr. Lea Goldstein from Derech HaTorah in Rochester, and Mrs. Lisa Stroll of the Hebrew Academy in Miami. See you in Cedarhurst!  

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