Prizmah conference: Where Jewish education grows and thrives

By Joanna Powers

Very early Sunday morning, January 8, I began my travels to Denver, Colorado in order to attend the 2023 Prizmah Conference.

I was immediately surrounded by a breathtaking array of resources, peers, and cutting-edge information connected to Judaic, Hebrew, and Israel education. As the Director of Hebrew and Judaics at the Jewish Day School of the Lehigh Valley I could not wait to dive into the wealth of treasure that I would be bringing back to the JDS.

Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools is a network organization that strengthens the North American day school field. They work to enhance Jewish day schools’ ability to excel and thrive, by deepening talent, catalyzing resources, and accelerating educational innovation.

I was absolutely thrilled to join 1,100 Jewish day school professionals to learn, create, and benefit from leading practices, novel ideas, and fresh approaches.

The theme of the 2023 Prizmah Conference was Creative Spirit. The spirit of creativity that is used in education every day was celebrated and the creative competencies that can be applied to impact students, schools, and communities were explored.

Expert facilitators and thought leaders shared incredible ideas and resources. I had more than 100 sessions, workshops, and hands-on experiences to choose from.

This immersive experience allowed me to reconnect with other Jewish school professionals who I had gotten to know through Prizmah cohort programs, such as the current Judaics Administrators’ Cohort that meets monthly, my friends from YOU Lead, Prizmah’s signature leadership development program that I attended in 2016, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s 2018 Institute, The Art of Leadership, as an AVI CHAI representative. I also met and networked with new acquaintances whose positions in Jewish education will now allow me access to the latest techniques, tools, and curricula being used in schools across the country.

Of all of the wonderful symposiums I attended, there was a selection of sessions that were especially significant for me. Ethan Tucker, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Hadar Institute led “Midrash and the Rabbinic Imagination” during which he characterized the midrashim as “love letters” written by the rabbis to the Torah and was even able to connect the midrashic tradition to the show Hamilton!

Tamar Appel from Hidden Sparks dove deep into classroom differentiation and inclusion in “Strengthening School Culture to Serve All Students.”

“Sharing Best Practices in Creative Tefillah Education” presented by Koren Publisher’s Daniel Rose was excellent as Judaic department heads shared the best methods to make prayer engaging and meaningful to our students.

The session I thought had the best ti- tle was “What I Thought I Taught and What My Students Actually Learned,” where Esther Friedman presented her dissertation about the differences between what different students and teachers do, say, think, and feel.

I am incredibly grateful to have been given the opportunity to spend three days amongst the mountains and amongst the best and the brightest in Jewish education.

I can’t wait until the 2025 Prizmah Conference!

February is Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance and Inclusion Month (JDAIM), a unified effort among Jewish organizations to raise awareness and foster acceptance and inclusion of people with disabilities and mental health conditions. This year, Jewish Family Service will host two events celebrating inclusion.

PJ Library learns about inclusion

This Zoom program offered in partnership with PJ Library from 2 to 3 p.m. on February 12 is geared toward teaching young children the meaning of inclusion. Of course, there will be a PJ Library story.

Closed-captioning will be provided. Contact Amanda Thomas at amthomas@jfslv.org to request additional accommodations.

Admittance is free. Register by scanning the QR code to the right.

‘Bigger Than Us’ screening, Q&A with filmmaker

JFSLV is partnering for this February 16 event with ReelAbilities Film Festival New York, the largest festival in the country dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with disabilities.

Founded in New York City in 2007, the festival presents international and award-winning films by and about people with disabilities in multiple locations throughout each hosting city.

“Bigger Than Us” is a behind-the-scenes documentary about the making of “Best Summer Ever,” the world’s firstever Studio Actors Guild-registered feature film made by a majority disabled cast and crew.