Yafit Shriki-Megidish (Educational Leadership Program Cohort II) is the Chief Jewish Learning Officer at JCC East Bay in Berkeley, California. As part of a recent meeting of the Limmud Bay Area Parents’ Assembly, Yafit led a session about building a Jewish home. Below is an interview staff member Andrew Barnwell conducted with Yafit about her teaching. It has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Andrew: Yafit, thank you for sharing about your recent teaching! When you designed the session, what were the main goals?
Yafit: I had three goals. First, to help parents understand their role in shaping their child’s Jewish identity—whether through actions at home and/or by participating in Jewish communities and programs. I also wanted to explore how their own stories and traditions shape their child’s Jewish identity and how to create space for intentionality in parenting.
AB: And who did you have in mind when crafting this session?
Y S-M: This session was designed for Jewish parents, parents of Jewish children, and interfaith families.
AB: What did the session look like?
Y S-M: We explored the family stories, rituals, and values that have shaped their own Jewish identity. From there, we reflected on what they hope to pass on to their children and the work required to make that possible.
We talked about how to be more intentional in creating a Jewish home that is grounded in Jewish values and traditions. We also explored the importance of Jewish rituals and community as powerful supports in raising Jewish children and shaping their developing sense of identity.
AB: And can I ask how your time in the Educational Leadership Program informed this session?
Y S-M: I’d say two major influences that came through in this session are connected to educational vision and Jewish identity.
Throughout our seminars at Mandel, we visited a variety of educational settings. Observing classrooms and engaging in conversations with educators and students gave me the opportunity to deeply reflect on the intentions behind the educational work happening in those spaces. I saw how clearly the educational vision was connected to the everyday learning and how the educators’ goals were truly coming to life.
Reflecting on this, I began to think of parents not only as partners in their children’s educational journeys, but also as leaders of their own “educational vision.” It made me realize how important it is to support parents in developing this vision as many of them don’t yet have the tools or space to do this. This session was about giving them room to reflect, learn, and ask: What matters most to me as a parent? What stories do I want my children to tell about their Jewish identity down the line?
AB: So that’s the educational vision piece. You mentioned the other was about Jewish identity?
Y S-M: Yes, a large part of our seminar in Israel focused on identity formation. We had the chance to visit schools serving minority communities in Israel—schools that are shaping students’ identities both through their cultural traditions and as citizens of Israel. Many of these schools anchor this understanding through family stories, cultural practices, and community life. I wanted to help parents see their own role in shaping Jewish identity—not just by engaging in community programs, but by sharing family stories, passing on traditions, and creating meaningful rituals at home.
Reflecting on those experiences pushed me and my team to revisit important questions about how intentional we are in shaping our students’ Jewish American identities: What does Jewish identity mean to us? How are we helping students understand themselves in relation to their families, their communities, and the wider Jewish world?
AB: Yafit, thank you so much for your time.