The Jim Joseph Foundation has commissioned Brandeis University's Fisher-Bernstein Institute to research and map the field of education of Jewish youth in the United States. This is the second of several studies we will share with the field. The first section of the report, “A Field in Motion,” describes new momentum in the field. The second section, “Funding Lessons,” presents specific lessons from the foundations as regards their mission, role, and relationships with other entities. The next section, “Issues,” lays out the programming, structural, and funding challenges that confront the field. The final section, “Innovation Trends,” describes aspects of the field that have recently gained currency and are sources of energy and activity in the Jewish education world. Read the report

Read the interim report from the study we commissioned from Brandeis University’s Fisher-Bernstein Institute for Jewish Philanthropy and Leadership, at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies.  Amy L. Sales, Ph.D. – Presentation to Jim Joseph Foundation Board (PDF)

Read the Brandeis Report on Mapping Professional Development for Jewish Educators, another piece of our ongoing efforts with Brandeis to map and understand the opportunity areas in the field of Jewish education today.

Read the final report, Lessons from Mapping Jewish Education.

Jewish Virtual Learning Networks

A mapping of online 'Communites of Practice' in the North American Jewish institutional world - Full report submitted by Prof. Erik H. Cohen and Dr. Einat Bar-On Cohen. October 2011

Articles

The New Jewish Educators?  Adene Sacks, November 2007

Jim Joseph Foundation invests big in BBYO, May 2, 2007

 

Recent Research From the Field

Jewish Service Learning Study - A summary of an analysis of the Jewish Service Learning Landscape commissioned by the Jim Joseph, Cummings and Schusterman Foundations.

Community and Identity: Studies of Birthright Israel Alumni - View the proposal for alumni studies in four major North American cities for the Birthright Israel programs, from Professors Len Saxe and Ted Sasson, the principal investigators.

The Continuity of Discontinuity details how widespread social and cultural change finds growing numbers of young Jews self organizing and selecting new entry points for their Jewish experiences. The research is based on a study of four very diverse Jewish venues.
- The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies (www.acbp.net) and 21/64 (www.2164.net)

Re-Designing Jewish Education for the 21st Century is a bold attempt to envision a "life-centered" Jewish education that attracts and engages Jewish learners in continuous learning in a multitude of settings.
- Jewish Education Service of North America (www.jesna.org)

Making Jewish Education Work: Community Hebrew High Schools, Lessons Learned from Research and Evaluation in the Field is an analysis of a number of community Hebrew high school programs and a profile of 17 of these schools. The report includes recommendations on learners, teachers, subject matter and educational milieu.
- Jewish Education Service of North America (www.jesna.org)

What Difference Does Day School Make is the first-ever research report that examines the impact of day school on Jewish college students’ perceptions of their college preparedness as compared to public and private school counterparts.
- Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (www.peje.org)

Recent Trends in Supplementary Jewish Education describes various approaches to congregational and “complementary” Jewish education. A major theme of the report is the dearth of both data on student learning and information on how supplementary education influences young persons’ Jewish identity.
- Avi Chai (www.avichai.org)

Jewish Youth Philanthropy is a brief interpretive history on a decade of growth of youth programs that teach Jewish values coupled with grant making responsibility. The paper offers suggestions about how the spread of programs might result in the creation of a field within Jewish philanthropy.
- Jewish Funders Network  (www.jfunders.org) and Jewish Teen Funders Network  (www.jtfn.org)

 

Recent Speeches

How Bequest Giving Can Transform a Community: The Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay, March 4, 2009

Keynote Address: Jewish Education Center, Cleveland, OH. January 2008

Presentation to the UJC Prioritization Committee in a Conference Call. September 2007

Panel Presentation for the American Jewish Press Association: "How Jewish Foundations Are Changing Our World." June 2007

Presentation by Chip Edelsberg to United Jewish Communities Funder Services Forum titled "Collaboration and Peer Learning." March 2007

Chip Edelsberg addressing the Los Angeles Bureau of Education Community Leaders/Funders January 2007

 

Thought Leaders

At our August 2006 Retreat, the Foundation welcomed significant leaders in the Jewish world to work alongside the Foundation's Board and professional staff. These madrichim (guides) helped us to become better informed about opportunities for strategic grant making in support of education of Jewish youth in the United States.  The conversation was candid and thought provoking. 

Below, we proudly share the papers each of the madrichim shared with us in advance of the Retreat.

Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D.
President
Hebrew Union College

Arthur Fried
Chairman of the Board
Avi Chai Foundation

Rabbi Irving (Yitz) Greenberg
President
Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation

Rachel Levin
Associate Director
Righteous Persons Foundation

Ruth Messinger
President
American Jewish World Service

Jehuda Reinharz
President
Brandeis University

Jeffrey Solomon
President
Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies

Richard M. Joel
President
Yeshiva University

Alan Hoffmann
Director General
Jewish Zionist Education Department
Jewish Agency for Israel

Arnold M. Eisen
Daniel E. Koshland Professor in
Jewish Culture and Religion
Stanford University
and Chancellor-Elect,
Jewish Theological Seminary

 

News Releases

Jim Joseph Foundation Names Chip Edelsberg Executive Director (PDF)

 

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