Sarah Tauber (z”l)

Biography

BA, Yale University; Teaching Certificate, University of California, Berkeley; EdD, The Jewish Theological Seminary

Sarah Tauber was an assistant professor at the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education of JTS. She graduated from Yale University with a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in history, University of California at Berkeley, with a secondary school teaching certification in English, and JTS with an EdD in Jewish education. She also studied Jewish history in Paris at l’École des hautes études en sciences sociales.

She taught in a variety of secondary school settings in the Jewish and general educational world, both in the United States and in Europe, and was the education director of Congregation Beit GIL in Geneva, Switzerland. Before coming to JTS she taught Judaic studies, history, and tefillah at the High School of the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester. Dr. Tauber was also the book review editor of the Journal of Jewish Education. Dr. Tauber was passionate about teaching and mentoring JTS students on their journeys.

She also lectured and gave workshops for adult learners in the New York area on topics as diverse as Jewish history, Jewish theology, and Jewish education. Her dissertation explored the role of the congregational rabbi as a teacher of adults. The dissertation was published as part of the Religious Education Association’s Horizons in Religious Education series, published by Wipf and Stock. Titled Open Hearts, Devoted Minds: Portraits of Adult Religious Educators, it was the second in the REA’s Horizons series.

Publications

  • Open Minds, Devoted Hearts: Portraits of Adult Religious Educators. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2015.
  • “An Introductory Course in Jewish Education.” Religious Education 107, no. 5 (2012): 455–75.
  • “The Midwife: Portrait of a Congregational Rabbi as a Teacher of Adults.” Journal of Jewish Education 79, no. 1 (2013): 24–48.
  • “Teaching Through Personal Stories: Congregational Rabbis and Teaching Adults.” Journal of Jewish Education 79, no. 4 (2013): 432–52.
  • Review of The Crisis of Zionism, by Peter Beinart. Journal of Jewish Education 78, no. 3 (2012): 281–85.
  • “Key Resources on Jewish Religious Education.” Religious Education 108, no. 5 (October–December 2013): 542–47. 
  • “What Do Educational Leaders in the Complementary Setting Need in the 21st Century?” eJewishPhilanthropy (blog). May 7, 2013.
  • “Jews and Christians Learn from Memoirs: A Collegially Taught Course.” With Mary C. Boys. Spotlight on Teaching, supplement, Religious Studies News. October 2013. 
  • “Between Reason and Emotion: Intellectual and Existential Tensions in Contemporary Rabbinic Education: A Portrait of Neil Gillman.” Journal of Jewish Education 73, no. 3 (2007): 227–59.
  • Review of Writing and Art by Jewish Women of Color, special issue of Bridges: A Journal for Jewish Feminists and Our Friends (9, no. 1 [Summer 2001]), Katya Gibel Azoulay, Siona Benjamin, Carolivia Herron, Shahanna McKinney, Aurora Levins Morales, and Rosa Maria Pegueros, contributing editors. Transforming Anthropology 12, nos. 1–2 (January 2004): 95–97.
  • Review of Jewish Lives, Jewish Learning: Adult Jewish Learning in Theory and Practice, by Diane Tickton Schuster. Journal of Jewish Education 72, no. 1 (2006): 83–86.
  • “ReCreating Jewish Communities: Wholeness and Healing.” Sh’ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility 36, no. 625 (November 2005): 8–9.

Lectures

  • “The Midwife: Portrait of a Congregational Rabbi as a Teacher of Adults.” Network for Research in Jewish Education Conference, June 12–14, 2011, Toronto. 
  • “Two Heads Are Better than One: Team-Teaching as Reflective Practice.” With Sara Shapiro-Plevan. Network for Research in Jewish Education Conference, June 10–12, 2012, Boston.
  • “Sharing Stories: Narrative in the Rabbinic Teaching of Adults.” Network for Research in Jewish Education Conference, June 2–4, 2013, New York City. 
  • “Religious Persecution & Vicarious Trauma: Educational Initiatives Among Religious Diaspora Communities.” Presented with Jennifer Hadad Mosher from Union Theological Seminary at the Religious Education Association Annual Conference, November 6–8, 2014, Chicago.