July 5, 2023
Dear JEA Members, Friends, and Colleagues,
I am so excited and grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Executive Director of JEA! JEA has a proud tradition of serving Conservative Movement Educators. For 71 years, we have been the address for all issues regarding synagogue education, curriculum, and programming. We have held annual conferences all over the country and Israel. We have honored Educators of Excellence, and offered Honorary Doctorate Degrees with our partners at JTS. Most importantly, we have worked tirelessly on behalf of all of YOU – the professional Jewish Educator – providing support, professional development, job placement and consulting, relationship building, and a network of colleagues and friends ready to help and listen just a phone call away.
Our organization is entering a new era! We have a renewed commitment and partnership with USCJ to once again be the address for all Conservative Movement synagogues, to help raise up their education programs and their educators. We look forward to working with Rabbis, Cantors, Executive Directors, and Lay Leaders, to help all of you make education a priority for the youth in your communities.The recent Census Report published by the Jewish Education Project demonstrates that synagogue education is still the way most children receive their Jewish education. Now is the time for us to invest in education and educators to grow our programs, to create new programs, and to make sure our programs are accessible to all who wish to join us. And now is the time to invest in YOU.
Recommit and renew your membership to JEA and be part of the next generation of educators striving for excellence. Together, and with our partners throughout the movement, we will rediscover the joy of learning, the essence of Jewish prayer, the complexity and thought provoking teachings of Torah, and the power of sacred community.I look forward to getting to know all of you!
Let’s schedule a zoom coffee meeting, or zoom lunch, and talk about education! I want to hear about your experiences, your families, and your shul. Let’s brainstorm together and learn together. I will be reaching out to all of you throughout the summer and here is how you can reach me:
robin@jewisheducators.org
949-933-1111
You can also reach me through our website, jewisheducators.org
Chazak Chazak V’nitchazek. May we go from strength to strength with our new partners and our renewed commitment to providing the best Jewish Education in our communities.
Shalom u’Vrachah,
Robin
Rabbi Robin Foonberg
Executive Director
B”H
July 5, 2023
16 Tammuz, 5783
Hello my fellow JEAers,
I hope that you are enjoying a wonderful beginning to the summer. We are entering a new era in JEA. We wish our former executive director, Eddie Edelstein, much thanks for all that he did for the JEA both as the executive director and in his years prior to taking on that role. I know that Eddie will remain a strong member of the JEA, as well as remaining a source of information and help as we move forward.
Mazal Tov to our new executive director, Rabbi Robin Foonberg. I am happy to announce that we have finalized her contract and she has already begun her new role with strong energy and commitment to our organization. We have also finalized our long-term partnership with USCJ, and I look forward to the amazing work that we will do together to help benefit the educators and the institutions in our movement.
Our Executive Board and members of our Board of Directors are already busy planning many important programs, including online webinars and more, and of course the annual conference. Nothing happens without long term planning and dedication. I am glad to see so many of us taking on important tasks to guide our beloved JEA.
Finally, I want to welcome your input, concerns, and questions. Please feel free to reach out to me via email, cantorlarry@ebjc.org. I am here to help or find someone else who has expertise in a certain area.
If you have not sent in your membership dues, please do so, as this is our main source of revenue to keep JEA going. If you know of someone who is not a member, please encourage them to join.
Have a great rest of the summer, but again, please reach out so we can help you, especially in your planning for the new year.
Kol Tuv,
Larry I. Brandspiegel
Rabbi/Cantor Larry I. Brandspiegel
JEA President
November, 2022
Cheshvan 5783
Dear JEA Members,
I am truly honored, grateful, and excited to be selected as the next Executive Director of the Jewish Educators Assembly! Over the past 10 years, this organization has become my passion, helping me to grow and guiding me as I directed my religious school. Now, I look forward to supporting all of you as we all look to bring the best in Jewish Education to our students.
I am especially grateful to our Board of Directors for their support and to Eddie Edelstein, for his continued mentorship. I stand on big shoulders and look forward to honoring Eddie at our conference in March for his 22 years of dedicated service to the JEA.
Our conference theme, “Tradition, Transition, & Change,” applies not only to our schools as we evaluate and explore our programming, but to the JEA as well. For 71 years, our organization has served educators throughout the conservative movement and has stayed up to date on best practices and new models. Today, we are an organization that continues that tradition, and looks to transition and change for the next generation of Jewish education professionals. We look forward to new partnerships, growing our membership, and creating strong professional development opportunities.
Now is the time to renew your membership! Visit our website: www.jewisheducators.org. Conference registration will be coming soon and we are excited about our growing line up of speakers. We will welcome back Dr. Dean Bell from Spertus Institute for Jewish Studies. We are excited to have Rabbi Brad Artson join us. You will be hearing more about our program in the coming weeks.
And don’t forget to save the date, Sunday March 12, 2023, when we will be honoring our own Dr. Eddie Edelstein! Invitations to our special event will be coming soon along with the opportunity to pay tribute to Eddie.
So many of our members work tirelessly to provide the best experiences for JEA! I wish to thank our Executive Board: Cantor Larry Brandspiegel, Cathy Berkowitz, Melissa Ser, Rebecca Gordon, and Jason Cathcart, for your energy and efforts on behalf of the JEA! Thank you to our conference chairs, Aviva Tilles and Cathy Berkowitz, for all that you are doing to create a week of learning and fellowship. And thank you to Hedda Morton, for chairing our honoree event for Eddie!
Blessings,
Robin
Rabbi Robin Foonberg
JEA President