Cohort II of our Educational Leadership Program wrapped up their time in the fellowship last month. Their final seminar in Boston was wide-ranging and included text study sessions, discussions on Israel education, reflections on educational visions, a site visit to Boston’s Conservatory Lab Charter School, artistic exploration with the Jewish Studio Project, and more.
Faculty member Michal Fox Smart led several generative sessions devoted to the idea of the “Dreamer,” one of four archetypes defined in Erica Ariel Fox’s book, Winning from Within. Fox argues that when leaders falter at pivotal moments, it’s often because they lack sufficient internal strength and not because of external circumstances. By nurturing the inner dreamer, lover, thinker, and warrior, Fox empowers leaders to act with integrity as they drive mission-aligned decision making animated by personal values.
David
With a focus on the Dreamer, Michal asked fellows to reflect on the future of their careers. She pushed them to think in the boldest possible terms, giving them permission to follow their imaginations. Fellow David Saiger reflected on the impact of hearing his colleagues share so openly:
“Dreams are both beautiful and painful. Beautiful because the future that’s envisioned is amazing. And painful because the ‘promised land’ of the dream is so far from where we are.”
As someone who thinks “very practically” and tends to focus on specifics, David found the process challenging and inspiring: “Michal helped me think more broadly and deeply about how to bring to fruition a Jewish community where students feel a sense of home—in learning, prayer, celebration, debate and discussion, and in relationship.”
Michal invited fellows to claim their gifts, explore their sense of vocation, and rekindle passions pushed to the side by life’s many pressures. She envisions a world where we all engage in “deliberate nurturing to bring [imagination] to the fore” to counter the forces of fear, insecurity, and scarcity that dim our dreams.
Rachel
Rachel Weinstein White, founder of an after-school Jewish education program in New York City called Fig Tree, took that call to heart, sharing her vision for the future of Jewish education and community:
“I thought I was a Jewish planter of trees, that would someday become a forest. But I realized I am a maple sugarer who gently drills into the bark of the long-standing tree and taps the sweet sap already within.
I live in a time of blindness. The forest is often visible to those standing both inside and out, but the interconnected web between the trees—where roots communicate and sap is shared—is invisible to so many in our Jewish community.
I dream of a Jewish community where every single person can tap into the sweetness and joy of Judaism from their own tree, on their own terms, however they define it. I imagine the richness of the soil and the lushness of the canopy when we all together, the ‘unaffiliated’ and the ‘established,’ see what we have not been able to see, what we have been missing.”
And you?
In volatile times, the ability for a leader to turn inward—towards their own moral compass and vision—becomes critical. Michal asks all of us: what’s the highest calling for me in this time, and how can I bring that calling into being? For David, it’s engaging students with a Judaism that feels like Home. For Rachel, it’s about tapping into intrinsic curiosity and allowing for pride in learning and in connections to the broader community. What’s yours?