Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education, Brandeis University

06/04/2026

"The gold standard isn't a credential or a title. It is a way of showing up — with excellence, with Jewish commitment, and with genuine care for the people in front of you. Joe Reimer has spent nearly four decades showing us what that looks like."
Jonathan Krasner, May 2026

Joseph Reimer, professor emeritus and former director of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University , was recently named the 2026 recipient of the Bernard Reisman Professional Excellence Award during the annual Hornstein commencement celebration. Professor Jonathan Krasner presented the award. Read his remarks and more about the honor and Joe's work here. https://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/about/faculty-staff/bios/reimer.html
Brandeis University Brandeis University Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department

06/01/2026

Applications are now being accepted for the Mandel Center's Doctoral Fellows Program. This initiative is designed to provide advanced doctoral students from North American and Israeli universities with substantial support in their research endeavors related to Jewish education.

Participants are expected to engage bi-weekly in virtual workshops to collaboratively refine their work. Additionally, fellows will spend 1-2 hours bi-weekly providing peer feedback. The program also includes a mandatory in-person workshop in June 2027 that coincides with the Network for Research in Jewish Education, with travel expenses supported by the Mandel Center.

Apply here by 5 PM ET, July 15, 2026: https://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/programs/doctoral-fellows.html

Brandeis University Brandeis University Near Eastern and Judaic Studies Department Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University

The Doctoral Fellows Program is designed to provide advanced doctoral students from North American and Israeli universities with substantial support in their dissertation research endeavors related to Jewish education.

06/01/2026

Every few years, Jewish education declares the Hebrew school model overdue for reinvention, yet the same structures persist. That tension sits at the center of this conversation.

Listen on Apple: https://apple.co/4nRGZPI
Spotify: https://bit.ly/4dNeSwz

05/28/2026

MCSJE is heading to the Network for Research in Jewish Education conference next week. In our recent newsletter, we highlighted the presentations our faculty and affiliates will be making. Check it out here.
We hope you'll be attending the conference — we look forward to seeing you! https://myemail.constantcontact.com/MCSJE-May--26-Newsletter.html?soid=1101229458911&aid=KJI30FpJa30
Brandeis University

05/26/2026

What does it actually mean to make Jewish text study central to Jewish education, and is that assumption as solid as we think?

Most conversations in Jewish education take for granted that Jewish text study ought to be central. Brandeis University Professor Jon Levisohn wanted to ask whether that assumption is actually as solid as it seems.

In a new issue of Sources, he and four colleagues: Deena Aranoff (Graduate Theological Union), Jane Kanarek (Hebrew College), Joshua Ladon (Shalom Hartman Institute מכון שלום הרטמן), and Ariel Mayse (Stanford University), take this foundational assumption apart and examine it from multiple angles.

Together they trace the history of how Jewish text study has actually changed over time, ask who text-centered education tends to serve and who it leaves behind, and imagine what a more expansive vision of Jewish learning might include. They don't arrive at a single answer. That was the point.

Read more in "Rethinking Jewish Text Study: A Conversation." They welcome your reactions and your own answers to the question. https://www.sourcesjournal.org/articles/rethinking-jewish-text-study-a-conversation

Convened by Jon A. Levisohn with Deena Aranoff, Jane Kanarek, Joshua Ladon, and Ariel Mayse Spring 2026

05/19/2026

Hebrew educators are often "automatically perceived as authorities not only on linguistic matters but also on Israel’s socio-political realities." In the latest issue of 'Jewish Educational Leadership' (The Lookstein Center), which is focused on Hebrew language and culture, Vardit Ringvald and Sharon Shoenfeld share findings from their recent study of Hebrew educators after October 7. Read more here in their article, "Redefining the Professional Mandate of Hebrew Language Educators in the Diaspora." https://www.lookstein.org/journal-article/s_26/professional-mandate-hebrew-educators-diaspora/?lang=en

Brandeis University

How October 7 reshaped the role of Hebrew educators in the Diaspora, expanding their mandate from language teaching to context, identity, and civic literacy.

05/14/2026

Congratulations and special thanks go out to Mandel Center Student Worker Julia Slavin. We're pleased to announce that Julia received the WOW Judith Cossin Berkman '59 Endowed Internship Award, and will be working at Ohel Home and Family Services this summer. Thanks for all your help this past semester!
https://www.brandeis.edu/hiatt/experience/wow/index.html
Brandeis University

05/12/2026

Congratulations to the 2025-26 cohort of Providence Undergraduate Teaching Fellows! Brown University students Miriam Weiler '28, Maize Cline '26, Jeremy Gold '26, and Maya Martinez '28, developed their teaching skills while working with their mentor teachers and UTF Site Leader Laura Hyman. They are seen here at the Siyum in the Brown RISD Hillel with Laura Hyman (Brandeis University) and their mentors Rachel Mersky Woda (Temple Beth-El) and Rachel Cohn on screen (Temple Emanu-El). Thank you to Laura, Rachel, Rachel, UTF Program Director Robin Kahn, and the supplemental schools that hosted them throughout the year: Rabbi Leslie Yale Gutterman Religious School and Temple Emanu-el Religious School. https://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/programs/undergraduate-fellows/index.html

05/07/2026

Congratulations to the 2025-26 cohort of Boston Undergraduate Teaching Fellows: Yoni Becker '26 (Northeastern University ), Andrew Zimmerman '27 (Northeastern University), Naomi Anbar '26 (Northeastern University), seen here at the Northeastern Hillel with UTF Program Director Robin Kahn (Brandeis University), Amy Deutsch (Temple Ohabei Shalom), and Brian Fried (Northeastern Hillel). The Fellows developed their teaching skills while working with their mentor teacher, Alison Weikel (Temple Shir Tikva). Thank you to Alison, Robin, Northeastern University Hillel, the Hillel Council of New England, and the supplemental schools that hosted them throughout the year: Congregation Kehillath Israel, Sinai Brookline, TBZ, and Temple Ohabei Shalom. https://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/programs/undergraduate-fellows/index.html

05/05/2026

Congratulations to the 2025-26 cohort of Brandeis Undergraduate Teaching Fellows, seen here at last week's Siyum. Justin Rubenstein '28, Ollie Small '28, Miriam Goldel '28, Laurel Kane '26, Miles Esterman '29, Lauren Balfour '28, Golan Altman-Shafer '29 and Julia Slavin '28 (not pictured) developed their teaching skills throughout the year while working with their mentor teacher, Robin Kahn. Thanks go out to Robin and to the supplemental schools that hosted them throughout the year. Brandeis University https://www.brandeis.edu/mandel/programs/undergraduate-fellows/index.html