Investing in the Jewish Future
This past schoolyear, Pedagogy of Partnership brought its chavruta-centered approach to new communities in Miami and Los Angeles, launched a groundbreaking parent learning program, and piloted a fellowship for the next generation of Jewish educators — all made possible through a growing network of national and local funding partners.
A month after IsraAid deployed water systems and child-friendly spaces to earthquake-ravaged Venezuela, with emergency support from the Mayberg Foundation, something remarkable happened: Israel and Venezuela restored consular relations for the first time in 17 years, with both governments crediting the earthquake response directly. As Naftali Ejdelman writes, Israeli aid workers went because Venezuelans needed help — and the trust they built along the way opened a door that had been shut for 17 years. Now, the Mayberg Foundation Advocacy Committee is asking where else that same lesson might apply.
Over the past three years, the Jewish Day School Standards and Benchmarks Project (JDSS&B), a Mayberg Foundation grantee based at JTS's William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, worked with 23 day schools across North America, spanning denominations, sizes, and locations. Through 39 days of in-person coaching and nearly 500 professional development engagements, JDSS&B trained teachers to root Jewish text study in Big Ideas and Essential Questions, core concepts from the Understanding by Design framework (Wiggins & McTighe). This approach helps students uncover a text's lasting takeaways and explore them through engaging, debatable questions, strengthening students' connection to Judaism and the lessons they carry into their lives.
Camp Koby & Josef, a program of the Koby Mandell Foundation, is Israel's flagship bereavement camp for children and teens who've lost a parent, sibling, or family member to terrorism, war, or sudden tragedy. This summer's session in Kfar Pines brought together campers of all ages and backgrounds for a program blending traditional camp activities with trauma-informed, peer-to-peer healing. Jonathan Nierman, the foundation's new Executive Director, reflects on the profound impact this work is having on children and families navigating trauma and loss.
Rising Trustee David Mayberg joined 300 Jewish leaders in Minneapolis for JFNA's National Young Leadership Cabinet Retreat, featuring sessions on philanthropy, Israel, and global Jewry — here's what he took away from it.
