EdD Students Travel to YU for Meetings, Classes and Networking On Thursday, June 27, 2019, 20 Jewish school leaders who are students in the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Doctoral Program at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration were privileged to hear from Dr. Jonathan Mirvis of the Melton Center for Jewish Education at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Dr. Mirvis shared his vision of social entrepreneurship embodied in his book, It’s Our Challenge: A social entrepreneurship approach to Jewish education. Recognized as a “disruptive innovator,” his discussion of economic, sociological and educational issues spurred impassioned dialogue regarding the status and future of Jewish education in the United States and Israel.

Dr. Rona Novick and Dr. Jonathan Mirvis

The presentation from Dr. Mirvis capped off a week of exciting learning opportunities for the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Doctoral students. The students spent Sunday at a conference held at Young Israel of Woodmere exploring the issues that communities and families face.  On Monday, they were hosted by the Orthodox Union, where they had the opportunity to learn from leaders in fundraising and informal education.  Tuesday, on campus, Rabbi Dr. Mordechai Schiffman engaged the cohort in the dialectic of tradition versus innovation, and financial and educational leaders Richard Hagler, Rabbi Yahel Tsaidi, Rivka Babad, Daniel Lowe and Josh Lookstein shared their experiences in leadership and administration. On Wednesday, the students experienced the benefits of museum learning and leveraging community resources in a day at the Yeshiva University Museum. These rich learning experiences have been possible since the re-structuring of the doctoral program in 2014 into an Executive Model Doctorate in Jewish educational leadership and innovation.  “Moving from traditional, local evening classes to a blended learning, minimal residency model opened the program to students from across North America and allowed for innovative learning activities,” explained Dr. Rona Novick, dean of the Azrieli Graduate School. The students complete their coursework through five “mifgashim” (meetings) each year. These convenings are scheduled for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday four times annually, and for five days at the end of June, allowing Jewish educational professionals to advance their studies and professional development without leaving their teaching or leadership positions.  “Every mifgash includes learning in and from the field, through a school or community visit, or presentations by seasoned professionals,” said Dr. Moshe Sokolow, director of the Fanya Gottesfeld Heller Doctoral Program. This highly competitive and respected EdD doctoral program accepts 20 students every two years and is able to provide significant support to students thanks to the generous support of the Gottesfeld-Heller family, for whom the program is named, and other donors and foundations.