Building Jewish Values and Identity in the Age of the iPad

What Parents and Educators can learn from Innovations in Jewish Education

A conversation between Dr. Maurice Elias and Dr. Jeffrey Kress, April 29, 2013

How do we help Jewish youth grow into adults who demonstrate menschlekheit, are confident and caring, and are connected to a Jewish community? We’ll look at common challenges, some of which are long-standing and some of which are related to the increasingly “plugged-in” world of today’s youth, and discuss the changing nature of Jewish identity. We’ll explore the ways in which Jewish educators are responding to emerging needs and focus on the implications for parents and for synagogues.

Maurice Elias is professor of Clinical Psychology and Interdisciplinary Health at Rutgers University. He is the Director of the Rutgers Social-Emotional Learning Lab, dedicated to building children’s skills for facing the tests of life. Dr. Elias is Contributing Faculty to the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life. In that capacity, he lectures widely to synagogues, religious schools, Jewish education and research groups. He also teaches a seminar, “Growing up Jewish in America.”

Jeffrey S. Kress is associate professor and area coordinator for Jewish Education at The Jewish Theological Seminary. He coordinates informal and communal education at the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education. He recently served as the chair of the Network for Research in Jewish Education. His latest book Development, Learning, and Community: Educating for Identity in Pluralistic Jewish High Schools won a Jewish Book Council National Book Award and he is working on a book on spiritual, social and emotional elements of Jewish education.