Jessica Wolf

William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education

When Jessica Wolf enrolled at the University of Wisconsin, she had no thought of becoming a Jewish educator. But then she spent a year in Israel in Young Judaea’s Year Course program and everything changed. A native of Teaneck, New Jersey, she knew that after she completed her undergraduate studies, she would apply to the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education.

An alumna of The Davidson School, she says she learned how to integrate the kinds of learning she experienced as a student in Israel into what she does today as a Jewish educator. “What I liked in Israel was we could study something from history, biblical history, and then go out and see where it was actually supposed to have happened.” This type of tangible learning is what she seeks to bring to the children she teaches at the 14th Street Y and at several Jewish camps.

One of the most useful things she learned at Davidson, she says, is how to design and produce curriculum programs. She says, “Now I can write a program about anything and know how to implement it.” She continues to enjoy the challenge of integrating Jewish cultural and theological content into secular Jewish community environments.