MCSJE News & Events -I- May 2026

NEWS

Sharon Feiman-Nemser and Joseph Reimer Honored with Prestigious Awards

Mazel tov to Professor Sharon Feiman-Nemser on receiving the Benjamin Shevach Memorial Award for Excellence in Jewish Educational Leadership from Hebrew College, and to Professor Joseph Reimer on receiving the Bernard Reisman Award for Professional Excellence from the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University. The Shevach Memorial Award is the highest award that Hebrew College bestows for achievement in the field of Jewish education, and the Reisman Award is given to a professional who "has demonstrated innovative work and significant leadership … as well as a commitment to the standards of excellence, Jewish commitment and sensitivity to others as reflected by Bernard Reisman in his work."

MCSJE @ NRJE

Heading to the Network for Research on Jewish Education meeting in College Park, MD, May 31-June 2? Check out the following sessions featuring MCSJE faculty/staff, project leaders, and Doctoral Fellows:*

Esther Friedman, Tidhar Gutman, Anne Ebersman, and Talia Hurwich - “Teaching Jewish Texts Through a Gendered Lens: Research and Practice”

Esther Friedman, Ziva Hassenfeld, and Joshua Ladon - “Navigating AI Use in Jewish Education Research: A Community Dialogue”

Esther Friedman and Jon Levisohn - “Breaking the Frisch Cycle: How Gap Years Disrupt the Middle-Class Education-to-Employment Pipeline”

Julie Golding and Jon Levisohn - “Teaching What Is Hard to Teach in Jewish Education” 

Ziva Hassenfeld and Michal Junger - “Inquiry from Within: The Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education Teacher Research Group”

Michal Junger - “Teachers as Bridges: Educational Shlichut as a Looking Glass into Israel-Diaspora Relations, 1930s to Present”

Jon Levisohn and Moshe Krakowski - “Beyond Belief: Lived Experience of Jewish Plausibility”

Jenny Small and Steven Feldman - “Jewish On Campus: Student, Alumni, and Faculty Perspectives”

Sivan Zakai and Lauren Applebaum - “Shared Concerns, Different Angles: Kids and Teachers Differing Approaches to Engaging with ‘What Matters’ in the World”

Sivan Zakai and Lauren Applebaum - “When Scholars Collaborate with Teachers, Students, and One Another”

*Some sessions include additional presenters. Check out the NRJE program guide for a full listing.

MCSJE RESEARCH

Jewish Spirituality for Adult Learners

A special issue of the Journal of Jewish Education on the Jewish spiritual education of adult learners is now available. This issue features research that evolved out of the Mandel Center's Convening on Jewish Spiritual Education in 2025 and includes articles on Hasidic storytelling as pedagogy, reading Hasidic texts in universities, teaching meditation at a Jewish spirituality retreat, and teaching Hasidic homilies.

New Articles on "The Ever-Learning People"

The following MCSJE faculty and scholars contributed chapters to a special issue of Sources: A Journal of Jewish Ideas:

- "Rethinking Jewish Text Study: A Conversation" by Jon A. Levisohn with Deena Aranoff, Jane Kanarek, Joshua Ladon, and Ariel Mayse

- "When Jewish Educational Innovation Reinforces the Status Quo" by Jonathan Krasner

- "Jewish Education is Out of Sync with the Lives Many Jews are Living" by Ilana M. Horwitz

- "Ambient Antisemitism and its Quiet Cost to Jewish Identity" by Yael Silverstein

PAST EVENT

Learning About Learning: Conversations with Scholars of Jewish Education

The Impact of Everyday Antisemitism

Yael Silverstein

Reports from research centers and in the media make it clear that overt antisemitic incidents have surged on college campuses since October 7. But what about those subtle forms of antisemitism, which are much less likely to be reported and documented? Yael Silverstein and her colleagues asked university students, faculty, and staff about overt and subtle antisemitic experiences, and they found that both types had negative outcomes for individuals and institutions. In this session, she shared a framework for identifying, teaching about, and addressing antisemitic experiences in academic settings.

Stay Connected with the Mandel Center

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education is on Facebook and LinkedIn. Stay connected with us and hear about our upcoming events and innovative research by connecting with our pages.

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The Mandel Center offers a robust schedule of events to convene scholars, practitioners, and policy makers to advance thinking, generate new questions and, in some cases, generate new work for future publication. Watch our videos on our YouTube channel or listen to our podcasts on Spotify, Amazon, or Apple.