Jeni
Friedman
CEO
Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture
Senior Educators Cohort
Cohort 6
Our flagship program provides outstanding educators from across the globe with the theories and practices that enable them to master the craft of experiential Jewish education.
SEC has transformed the landscape of Jewish education by equipping the most promising talent with skills and tools to create holistic, nuanced and sophisticated educational experiences.
From Buenos Aires to Boston and from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv, SEC brings together leading educators from Jewish organizations, to create a diverse and creative community of practice.
Participating in SEC provides access to the most current and creative pedagogies, methodologies, and resources, within a culture that celebrates educational innovation and experimentation.
Over the course of three, five-day convenings, participants gain exposure to signature educational pedagogies and cutting-edge methodologies that challenge them to articulate and sharpen their educational vision, approach, and practice – all in an immersive cohort environment.
March 11, 2025, 12-1:30 ET
July 8, 2025, 12-1:30 ET
Gain exposure to frameworks and theories that ignite the field of experiential Jewish education, centered on values education and conflict pedagogy.
Discover the conceptual frameworks and choreographic principles that illuminate the design of immersive experiences, including sensory engagement, spatial design, and the typology of activities.
Investigate processes of experiential learning, narrative theory, the formation of identity, and the role of educators in facilitating individual and communal agency.
Mollie has over 10 years experience teaching in a variety of Jewish educational settings – from formal classroom teaching to nature education, theatre education to collaborative philanthropy education. She enjoys being in the field, as well as building programs and trainings to support others. Mollie holds a double Masters in Midrash and Jewish Experiential Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, a BA in Religion from Bard College, and is a graduate
of M²’s Senior Educators Cohort. She lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and children.
Jonny is a connoisseur of experiential education. He founded and led Makom: the Israel Education Lab’s pioneering efforts of “hugging and wrestling” with Israel and the Jewish People for 12 years. He has researched, designed and delivered educational experiences for 35 years in public school, university and in adult and travel settings and held senior positions at the Jewish Agency, the Mandel Leadership Institute, the United Jewish Israel Appeal and Melitz. He’s currently writing a book on educating people to become cosmopolitan patriots. He teaches experiential education at the Hebrew University’s Melton Centre for Jewish Education. Born in the UK, he lives in Israel with his family.
Rabbi Lisa Goldstein teaches a wide variety of online courses with an emphasis on spiritual resilience, cultivating the capacity for love and awe, meditation, and other Jewish spiritual practices. She also works one-on-one to support people in their spiritual journeys. She lives in New York City with her husband and foster son.
Steven Jacobson is Executive Director of the Dorot Foundation, a family foundation committed to pursuing justice in the United States and in Israel. A lifelong student, and sometimes teacher of the American Jewish experience, Steven was a Senior Fellow of the Melton Center for Diaspora Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he was a student of Nachama Leibowitz and a mentee of Professor Michael Rosenak. Steven has served as Director of the Curricular Project for International Jewish Communal Service and an Instructor of the Hornstein Program at Brandeis University and as Hillel Director at the University of Kansas. For two decades as Director of the Dorot Fellowship in Israel, he guided the development of an innovative leadership training curriculum and established and led an annual seminar in Budapest about the historical and contemporary Jewish experience of Hungary. He has completed the Coach Development Program with the Teleos Leadership Institute, has served on numerous boards and committees, and consults to a variety of early-stage Jewish initiatives. He and his wife, Andrea Katzman, live in Providence, RI where they were raised by two children.
Elyssa Moss Rabinowitz creates worlds of Jewish meaning and beauty by using all forms of media to create interactive, participatory events and programs of Jewish content. She is a co-founder and the Executive Director of Kol HaOt- Illuminating Jewish Life through Art, a Jerusalem-based organization dedicated to weaving the magic of the arts into Jewish educational experiences. Previously, Elyssa founded and ran A Day Away productions, created the Zer Mitzvot experience for Bat Mitzvah girls, has worked on creative content for television at Techelet Jewish Television and has acted in and produced live theater. An experienced facilitator and Jewish education entrepreneur, Elyssa loves bringing people together through meaningful Jewish experiences. Originally from California, Elyssa has lived in Jerusalem most of her life, with her life partner Dovi, and their five children, two children-in-law and dog! She is a proud graduate of M²’s Senior Educators Cohort and has been serving as M² adjunct faculty for the past few years.
Kiva Rabinsky is the Chief Program Officer at M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education, and lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Deb, and children, Nava and Yonah. Prior to working at M², he directed a range of Jewish Service-Learning initiatives and developed and taught in a series of Experiential Jewish Education training programs through his role at Yeshiva University. Kiva holds an MPA in Nonprofit Management and an undergraduate degree in Education and Archeology.
Applications for SEC 8 are now being accepted through November 4, 2024. Apply here >
Applications for SEC 8 will be open until November 4, 2024
To apply to SEC, you must complete an application by November 4, 2024. Those who advance in the application process will be invited to participate in an interview in November 2024. Final cohort decisions will be shared in December 2024.
We believe that experiential Jewish education is not limited to a single Jewish educational setting or personality. Program participants include professionals working in day schools, camps, community centers, youth and teen programs, synagogues, federations, college campuses, and other Jewish organizations.
Past participants include executive directors, program managers, teachers, rabbis and educators from organizations such as Hillel, Chabad, Repair the World, Avodah, synagogues, Jewish day schools, JCCs, federations and more.
To be eligible for SEC, you must be a full-time Jewish educator with a minimum of eight years of relevant field experience.
We place a strong emphasis on workplace integration throughout the program, providing you with regular coaching to help you apply what you learn. In addition, we require that your current work supervisor acknowledge your participation in SEC.
Educators outside of North America are welcome to apply for the Senior Educators Cohort. M² will provide up to a total of $1,200 USD for international travel; participants will be required to pay any travel costs that exceed this amount.
Participants are expected to be present at all seminars, at all times. In order to create the most optimal learning cohort experience, we also ask that participants stay onsite. This includes staying at the provided accommodations even if we are located in your home city.
Our program requires the completion of brief written reflections and assignments, readings before each seminar, as well as participation in educator support calls. You should expect to designate a maximum of 4-5 hours per month to complete these requirements.
M² trains diverse Jewish professionals who come from all over the world and have varying approaches to Jewish life and practice. Our curriculum reflects a plurality of Jewish voices and perspectives. If you have further questions about the program environment, please contact us.
Thanks to the generosity of the Maimonides Fund, tuition for this cohort has been significantly reduced from previous years from $4,550 to $3,500. We have lowered the cost of attendance in order to make the program accessible to more educators.
In addition to participation in the program itself, tuition covers travel within North America (up to $400 per seminar), meals at seminars, and any additional seminar-related expenses. All seminars will be single occupancy. Tuition does not cover transportation to/from airports, additional airline fees, or baggage fees.
M² is able to offer limited additional scholarships, which you can indicate on your application.
The $300 registration fee is non-refundable. Cancellation up to 6 weeks before Seminar 1: 75% refund of paid tuition minus the $300 registration fee. Cancellation up to 2 weeks before Seminar 1: 25% refund of paid tuition minus the $300 registration fee. Paid tuition is non-refundable within 2 weeks of Seminar 1.
We are constantly monitoring the situation and follow the most up-to-date Covid 19 protocol.
Applications for SEC 9 are slated to open in Fall 2026.
The Senior Educators Cohort is generously supported by the Maimonides Fund.