By Jessica Kohn
Early Childhood Director and Founding Educator of Ben Porat Yosef in Paramus, NJ

Our world is changing at an unprecedented pace. How do we prepare our youngest learners for a world that we know nothing about, for technologies that haven’t been invented, and for jobs that don’t yet exist? The education of the past will only get these children so far. We have to learn how to look at the world differently in order to be ready to learn in a world that looks different.

I’d like to propose that the secret to setting these children up for success is encouraging them to approach their day to day lives with a sense of wonder. Have them ask questions about anything and everything, have them observe the world around them, have them notice what is going on in their environment, and have them WONDER. Use rich language. Teachers must model, lead by example, and practice with the children. “What do you wonder about?” “What are you noticing?” “What questions do you have?” “What problems have you identified?” “What solutions can we work on together?” Apply this process to everything, and anything, and then sit back, facilitate the conversations and see what happens. What you will experience will be nothing short of amazing. Children see things that we don’t see and wonder about things that we would never even notice.

Instilling and inspiring a sense of wonder is not unique to our Jewish world either. Just a few weeks ago, as we studied Parashat Berashit, I retold the story of creation on an interactive, completely low-tech, flannel board to a group of mesmerized kindergarteners. When we were finished, I asked the children what they wondered about. Their answers were fascinating, breathtaking, beautiful, and most importantly, so wise beyond their chronological years.

So, I gave them “homework”. In our play-based, experiential kindergarten, homework is all but unheard of. As we often do in our program, we re-envisioned the concept as I assigned the children to wonder. Yup. I asked the children to look around outside and say to someone, anyone, “Wow! Look at the gorgeous sky that Hashem created just for us!” “Wow! Look at the leaves changing colors that Hashem created just for us!” “Wow! Hashem created every animal with exactly what it needs to live in its habitat!” Believe it or not, we actually practiced saying the word, “Wow!” in the most enthusiastic, excited way possible so that any bystanders could actually feel the energy, amazement, and wonder in that one short word. “Wow!” Try it. You will also begin to see the world through a different lens. Mah rabu ma’asecha Hashem - How wondrous are Hashem’s creations!

By encouraging children to wonder, think, and speak in this type of way, we are fostering an intrinsic desire to learn, an unparalleled inquisitiveness, and a deep sense of motivation to explore and discover the world around them. When teachers are ready and willing to engage in the knowledge seeking process collaboratively with the children, and actively model this philosophy of learning, the sky's the limit. It is truly magical to experience the outcome, their authentic learning, and their genuine curiosity. What better way to prepare our children for the WONDERS of the future?!

For discussion based on this:
Article about preparing kids for jobs that don’t yet exist.

Photo by Ben Porat Yosef

By Rabbi Dov Emerson
Director of Teaching and Learning at Yeshiva University High School for Boys

We know that effective leaders possess many important qualities and characteristics. Perhaps more important among them is the ability to communicate clearly. In order for an organization to function at peak effectiveness, in order for a mission to be carried out properly, there has to be a clear communication that can be transmitted from speaker to listener. The dispatch has to be direct, with no ‘beating around the bush.’  If that does not exist, the message is muddled, and the entire enterprise does not reach its potential for impact.

In Parshat Chayai Sarah, the Torah begins the chapter of Avraham’s search for a wife for his son Yitzchak with a strange phrase: “Now Avraham was old, well on in years, and Hashem had blessed Avraham with everything” (Bereshit 24:1). Rashi notices that this phrase is seemingly incongruous with the following psukim that describe Avraham’s appointment of Eliezer to search for a mate for Yitzchak, and he therefore explains that the gematria, the numerical value of the word Bakol, with everything, is 52, which is the same as the word Ben, son. The message therefore is that once Avraham had been blessed with Bakol, i.e., a son, it was time to go find him a wife.

Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt’l, notes that this explanation of Rashi really does not address the more fundamental question regarding the way in which the Torah writes this phrase. It is a nice idea that Bakol is code for ‘son,’ but why does the Torah have to speak in code here? Why could it not simply and directly state that now that Avraham had a son, it was time to find him a spouse?

Rav Moshe gives an answer that is both simple and incredibly profound, especially for those of us privileged to work in raising the next generation: Hashem was conveying to Avraham that unless he would be able to pass along the values of the Torah to future generations, the blessing of “everything” would be worthless. To truly have “everything,” Avraham had to find Yitzchak a wife so that he could begin his own family and transmit the values of the Torah to future generations.

We live in a time of incredible, historic abundance. While this is certainly true in material matters, it is equally accurate in the spiritual realm as well. There has never been a time period where we have had access to so much “everything” in Torah. From transformative online platforms and shiurim, to unprecedented access to sefarim, there is so much we can tap into. But, in the wise words of Stephen Covey, “the main thing is to keep the main thing, the main thing.” Truly having ‘bakol,’ ‘everything’ means that we are successful in transmitting our values to the next generation.

The upcoming holiday of Chanukah provides us with perhaps one way in which we can ensure that we are successfully accomplishing the vision of bakol. The Talmud in Masechet Shabbat states that the lighting of the Menorah, in order to publicize the miracle of Chanukah, should be done during “Prime Time” – meaning, when there are people walking around to see it. This is expressed as the halachic concept of  "ad shetichle regel min hashuk,” – we can light “until people no longer walk along the marketplace (streets)."

Rav Shimson Dovid Pincus makes a play on the words here, explaining that the word “regel,” which literally means a “leg” and refers to people walking, can be understood as the word “ragil,” regular, normal, or happenstance. The term “shuk,” which means marketplace, can be explained as how a person does their work. Using this understanding, the Gemara is then teaching us that we are to have the menorah lit “ad shetichle RAGIL min hashuk.” Meaning, we are to light the menorah, “until all the REGULAR way of doing things is removed from our work.”

The message is clear – Chanukah is not supposed to be about us going through the motions, with business as usual. Chanukah is about removing the regular – the everyday things we do by habit, without thinking, and replacing those activities with a quest for greatness.

Perhaps this is why we follow the opinion of Beit Hillel when he teaches that we start with one candle and add another to the Menorah each night: because the essence of Chanukah is to grow, to keep on adding additional components of greatness, to keep on removing the REGULAR from our lives, even if it's really hard to do.

In thinking about how to transmit our Jewish values to the next generation, we might benefit from using the lens of ragil in looking at our classrooms, institutions, and communities. Reflecting on where our communities operate on autopilot, and where there are opportunities to think creatively and add new excitement are wonderful places to start in ensuring that we live up to the example of Avraham.

Thankfully, within the Prizmah Network, we have one another - together, we are an incredible resource to spur us to continue thinking differently. I am so thankful for the relationships that I have with so many colleagues and friends within the Prizmah Network. Knowing that we each have an army of passionate michanchim behind us, encouraging us to collaborate, to take chances, and to let our passion emerge in our holy work, is extremely empowering. May we all succeed in truly giving over ‘everything’ to our children and students.

Photo by Robert Zunikoff; Unsplash

M’at Or Docheh Harbeh Choshech –– מעט אור דוחה הרבה חושך
A bit of light can displace a lot of darkness 
Tanya, Chapter 12.published 1797, by R’ Shnuer Zalman of Liadi

Over the course of the past few months, since I started working at Prizmah, I have had the blessing to visit over 30 schools. In each school, I am inspired by the passion and dedication of our leaders, and I find myself amazed at the creativity and drive to learn, grow, explore and connect that I have witnessed in each school. There are certain questions I try to ask at each school visit and one that I am always excited to hear about: “What are the areas where your school shines? Tell me about the light, inspiration, and sources of pride?”  What amazes me is how varied the answers are even within each school. 

I often hear from the administration about their pride in their teachers. And the teachers will often share that they are most proud of their students. Sometimes I hear about a specific project or approach, but it always boils down to the same root. We delight in the growth of others– from the growth of our students and their families, to the growth of our teaching communities and teams– we are so inspired by that lightbulb going on, the AHA! The wow, the wonder. It only takes a little bit of light to dispel the darkness and keep us going. In this season when open houses are wrapping up, we get a chance to reflect on what keeps us inspired, and we are gifted with the holiday of Chanukah as a visual and tactile reminder of what we are meant to look for in our lives– look for the light, look for the good, highlight it, raise it and build upon it. I have seen lessons where each student was so engaged, they did not move when the bell rang. I have witnessed teachers meeting after hours to help design an innovative program which went way beyond their basic curriculum. I saw teachers attend after school games to support their students and principals arrange for extra training for promising assistant teachers who sought to expand their skills and take on more… I have seen what the “shemen”, the “extra”, looks like and it is so pure!

Some great ideas I saw:

Gann Academy, MA


The Rashi School, MA 

Ben Porat Yosef, NJ

Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy, CT

Striar Hebrew Academy, MA

Yavneh Academy, NJ

Hebrew Academy of the 5 Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR), NY

The Frisch School, NJ

I am honored to have witnessed so much light in my first few months working at Prizmah and I invite you to please share your moments of light and pride with us so we can spread great ideas and build upon the creative powerful energy of inspiration. Please send us your pictures and write short descriptions of your projects. Tell us about your goals, the process used to achieve them, and what you learned along the way.  Let’s share the light, celebrate when we witness the “shemen”- the “going beyond”- and look for it from each other.

Our data suggests that well over one-third of Jewish day schools across North America offer some type of alternative or creative tuition program. An alternative or creative tuition program is defined as any tuition program other than traditional scholarship or financial aid. The most common of these programs include: “capped” or discounted tuition for middle-income families, indexed or flexible tuition, and tuition discounts for Jewish communal professionals.

Though the earliest creative tuition programs date back to the early 2000s, these programs began to proliferate after the recession of 2008. Early programs were generally budgeted to be revenue-neutral to a school. There were several reasons for this. First, the tuition reductions offered under these programs were generally comparable to those a family would have received under traditional financial aid, had they simply chosen to apply for it (many middle income families weren’t applying because they believed they wouldn’t qualify or didn’t want to consider themselves recipients of charity). Second, it was generally assumed that these programs would boost student enrollment and improve student retention. Schools therefore believed that the increased enrollment and retention would more than offset any loss of tuition revenue.

What has emerged more recently are even more transformational tuition programs. Many seek to address day school affordability head-on by lowering tuition for ALL families. In the last year alone, at least three Jewish day schools have announced significantly lower tuition levels. Supported by significant philanthropic dollars, these programs seek to relieve the tuition burden for ALL families.

We want to share with you a brief description of each of the three as well as some other programs that were recently announced. Ensuring that Jewish day schools are both excellent and affordable is the key to a sustainable Jewish day school field. As we work together to catalyze resources for day schools and yeshivas, we welcome your input and engagement around these critical issues.

To read about some of these alternative tuition programs around the Network, click here.

Photo by Friedel Jewish Academy

Here’s the scenario: Talented teacher. Loved by the parents. Best bulletin boards ever. Can’t get along with the other staff. This talented person is divisive, causes issues with other staff weekly especially when you aren’t on campus and is a constant problem for the morale of your staff.

What do you do? You hate to lose someone so loved by your families, and yet it’s destroying your team. Here’s my hard-earned lesson: let them go.

Two years ago, I had this same situation with not one but two staff. We are first and foremost a team-based environment. Our faculty makes most decisions together about programming, curriculum and general direction of the school—even whether or not to expand. We promote collaboration between classes as well as staff. It is at the core of the “community” in our school. 

Both teachers were great at their work—wonderful behavior management, fantastic lessons engaging all kids, and so on—but every time they interacted with other staff, they were rude and exclusionary. When I came back from a conference, day offsite, or any other situation that caused me to be away, I had staff lining up at my door begging me not to leave again. If one of these teachers walked down a hall, they would not acknowledge the other staff, just look past them. They didn’t want to work collaboratively with other classes, which is required at least once a month.

The other teachers constantly questioned their own decisions, as these two teachers told others unsolicited that they were wrong, inadequate or not up to par. They acted as if they were authorities on any topic, and spent more time breaking down relationships instead of creating them. Our school spends a great deal of time and money on professional development and team building. We encourage our staff to explore areas of interest to them, they have easy access to me if they have concerns, and we all work hard to create a fun, exciting environment to learn.

Working as a team is not for everyone, and in this scenario, I think that was partly the case. As our school has grown, our philosophy for collaboration and teamwork has increased. These teachers just didn’t care if they got along with others—in fact they were very upfront about that. For some schools, that might be fine, but not ours. Only after I finally helped these educators on their way to new jobs did I realize how detrimental they had become to our school’s culture.

This is the procedure I followed to help move them along. I brought them in individually and, as professionally as I could, discussed that I was concerned other staff had issues with some of the interactions they had had with these educators. I gave specific examples, and we discussed how much I was invested in a team philosophy at my school. One of the two told me that was the complaining teacher’s issue, not theirs, and the complaining teacher needed to learn to deal with it. Don’t be surprised if you get a cold shoulder instead of an apology.

When the situation did not improve, I called each one in again and told them there were still staff who were having issues with their unsolicited comments about how they ran their classes or their projects. I told these two teachers this needed immediate improvement, and I went over strategies to get along with others. I also made sure our professional evaluation form included “Ability to get along with others” and “General comradery with other staff.” That’s important, as you may need to show that that character trait is part of your school culture.

Then, I went about the business of documenting each time someone went to complain about them. I made sure the stories happened the way the complaining staff said it did, and then I documented it. Finally, when it came time to conduct end of the year evaluations, I gave them both low marks on ability to get along with others and comradery. At the conclusion of the school year, both teachers opted not to come back of their own choice, although I was prepared to let them go.

Since this transition, everyone at our school is much happier. Our staff is very competitive, but in friendly way. We challenge each other to do better. We see each other’s success as our success. When I am offsite, I am more relaxed and focused, and we are making great things happen. These women were strong teachers, but we truly live a team-focused philosophy at our school, and for us helping these teachers move on their way to another school was one of the best things we ever did.

Had I known how much happier my staff and school would be once these teachers were gone, I would have done it much sooner. If you are faced with a similar circumstance, best of luck and stay strong: it’s not a fun situation to maneuver, but you’ll be happy you did.

“I barely see my family – my days are spent in school and my nights in meetings.”

“I was recently admonished for being late to shul on Shabbos.”

“I don’t know how to stop the gossip that is spreading throughout the community about my family – especially my children.”

“They told me I’m not charismatic enough.”

“They told me I need to smile more.”

“I shouldn’t be making any changes.”

“I haven’t made changes quickly enough.”

At this time of year, we find ourselves in synagogues across the world reflecting on the past year and beseeching for favorable judgments in the new one. As we do this, there is one question each one of us must be sure to include in our self-reflection, “ Are we helping or hurting our Jewish day school leaders?”

It’s not an understatement to say that our leaders hold the keys to success for future Jewish generations. They are at the helm of institutions that strive to nurture, protect, educate, and empower our children toward greatness. Are we doing all that we can to nurture, protect, educate, and empower our leaders? 

I wish I could say I made up the above statements. Unfortunately, I hear them over and over again – shared with cracked voices, in despondent and defeated tones from the hundreds of school leaders that I have coached. I wrote about this challenge years ago, but the urgency has only gotten greater as more and more leaders tell it might be time to leave the field.

I, too, was once a head of school– eight years ago– and the day school education landscape has changed dramatically since then. The demands were less than they are today, and I was blessed with the support and community of the board.  My Head of School Support and Evaluation Committee had my back and gave me the feedback that I needed for growth in a way that felt like they were on my team. Like all the leaders that I coach, I wanted to grow - I wanted feedback.  And I was working day and night and needed the team to understand that this business of day school leadership is hard, really really hard.

It was true then and it is true now – lay leaders have always amazed me. Their drive for passion and altruism, selflessly taking on what is oftentimes an additional (but unpaid) full-time job to serve the greater good of their community is astounding. And when the partnership between lay and professional leadership is rooted in the best interest of the children and the school – this only reflects positively in the reputation of the school. 

When the partnership between lay and professional leadership is rooted in trust and ongoing support through the inevitable challenges that arise, the longevity and efficacy of the school’s leadership is bolstered. 

When the partnership between lay and professional leadership is rooted in open and honest communication, feedback that is constructive and clear, habitual dan l’chaf zechut, and a safe space for each person to be who they are to the fullest – no job description would be able to capture all the things the leader could achieve. 

However, in the absence of all of this – our leaders will fail and they will blame themselves for failing despite giving 150%. This is not hyperbole. It’s happening. 

We need to come together to reverse the lack of patience for leadership that has become laden with urgency and fear. Yes, there is competition. Yes, enrollment might be dwindling. Yes, the community may have polarizing needs. Yes, costs are rising. And definitely yes, we need to watch out for our children’s physical, emotional, and social safety. Yes, people are complaining at Shabbos tables. But what I am trying to convey is that yes, we can deal with these very real and pressing issues without paralyzing or polarizing our school leaders. 

How? 

First, let’s all agree that no one person, Head of School or otherwise, can solve all the school’s problems alone. This detrimental thinking takes a toll on our leaders and their families in ways we can’t imagine.

Next, let’s commit to giving our leaders unprecedented levels of appreciation, support, and partnership. Always give more, even if you think they can be doing better – especially if you think they can be doing better. 

Finally, and this is a big one, let’s once and for all let go of the false narrative that there exists somewhere a perfect professional or lay leader in a day school. There is no one type of person who succeeds while others fail. There is no formula that a school can follow that is research based. However, our emotional intelligence prevails here.  We need to think deeply about the human beings in our leadership positions and what they need to succeed. We need to give direct and honest feedback that is fully intended for growth and comes from a place of caring deeply. We need to affirm the good, push each other to take care of themselves and their families, and check to see if our expectations are realistic.  

If we want day schools to find leaders, if we actually even want young people to choose day school leadership, we have work to do. The existential threats that day schools are facing are real. The stress on the leadership, lay and professional, is profound. With all my work in the field, the only way to shift the trends is through partnership, support, and appreciation. We are living in a day school world that is extraordinarily hard to work in and we have to stop the cycle.

I’d like to close by making this appeal even more concrete. If you sit on the board of a Jewish day school, I implore you to reflect on the following:

Do we have a committee that is truly designed to support our leader?

Do we communicate directly, candidly, and kindly with our leader?

Is feedback designed for growth?

Do we encourage the leader to take time for him/herself and family?

Do we support the leader when there are volatile board members who are attacking?

Do we make sure that we have regular meetings on the calendar?

Do we empower the leader by ensuring that we redirect people to him/her instead of trying to solve problems that are not the role of the lay people?

Do we affirm our leader publicly? In private?

Do we speak up and stop when the expectations are too high, the judgment too harsh, or the feedback not fair?

All the time, effort, and dialogue spent eliminating the unnecessary and counterproductive pressure, judgment, and demands that plague our leaders will ultimately serve as an investment in the well-being of our communities and children. Let’s see what happens when we radically shift the tide to move in a more positive direction.