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We want to create a vibrant educational system for the greatest number of people,” says Robert Sherman, chief executive officer of Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York (BJENY). “Jewish education is a gateway of commitment both Jewishly and in the larger world, in commitments to tikkun olam, social justice, connection to community, and ideas about how we care about each other.”
To further that goal, the newly combined BJENY and SAJES is undergoing a reinvention. The combined venture is the result of a strategic planning process supported by UJA-Federation. BJENY-SAJES is a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation.
New York’s central agency for Jewish education has renewed its commitment to innovation in congregational education, teen engagement, early childhood education, and day schools.
“We’re moving from a service-based organization to that of a leadership-based one,” notes Sherman. The central agency is broadening its scope beyond facilitating basic services to providing the vision reflecting communities’ needs and resources to schools, synagogues, and early childhood programs to meet those needs.
A new initiative of BJENY-SAJES, Coalition of Innovating Congregations, develops programs for children and families that follow new models of learning and has launched with 30 congregations regionwide. Another new program from the agency, Project InCiTE, trains youth professionals to engage more Jewish teens and strengthen their commitment to Israel and the Jewish people. ♦
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