The Academy launches SA’s first National Symposium

Own correspondent

This is part of The Academy’s National Education Development Project. Its aim is to develop Jewish educators by making training and enrichment available to them, to the level of a Master’s degree in Jewish Education. It offers this for school teachers, rabbis, rebbetzins, informal educators, adult educators and lay and professional leadership in the educational space.

The two-day symposium, held last week, was organised according to the theme of “Community and Sustainability” and featured local and international speakers. It was dedicated to exploring trends regarding the South African community’s Jewish identity and what educators can do to ensure that this identity is sustainable.

Professor Howard Apsan of Columbia University in New York and Rabbi Professor Adam Ferziger of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat-Gan were the keynote speakers. Additionally, Esther Orenstein-Lapian, a Jewish Studies master educator from Yeshiva University, and Moshe Aziz, an expert in educational technology for schools and classroom use, joined the symposium via video conferencing.

The conference created a space for educators to share ideas and create partnerships.