Welcome from the Associate Dean

I welcome you to the spring 2024 issue of Gleanings, a publication of The William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education. This issue, focusing on Learning with Joy, follows our previous difficult issue about Israel Education in a time of war. As I write this, we are still very much in the midst of war, and the many challenges we face here and in Israel are serious and difficult to solve. At the same time, as we learn every day from educators in the field, we need to provide our learners with the education they deserve, and we need to practice with joy and creativity. Learning with Joy involves engaging a variety of emotions such as excitement, curiosity, and imagination; it entails integrating all aspects of happiness and a readiness to act consequently; it enhances learning and improves relationships and outcomes.

For this issue, we approached experienced educators whose thoughtful and innovative initiatives inspire, educate, and support early childhood learners, school-age learners, adults, and teens. We seek to highlight their knowledge and understanding of Learning with Joy, through play, music and having fun.

We invite you to read these profiles of four educators, three of them William Davidson alumni, and the fourth a Talmud professor at JTS whose classes are among the favorite of William Davidson students. These educators think about teaching for joy and happiness as they design their lesson plans and educational activities. As we see, even when they teach difficult texts to their learners, they concern themselves with making “school” accessible and engaging.

Especially in this difficult time, the trauma of war and personal losses make it even more challenging for educators, and we all need all the support and compassion we can get. Connecting with our own sense of joy can help to relieve some of the stress we all feel. We hope you will find this issue interesting and helpful in your own practice.

We send our thoughts to the people who lost their dear ones and to the families of all who have suffered. As we write this in early February, we pray for the return of safety for the land of Israel and all who dwell there.

On a personal note, I wish you, your families, and your friends strength as we all hope for calmer and more peaceful days.

Ofra Backenroth

Associate Dean, William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education