Spertus Institute

We are delighted to welcome our newest cohort of the Certificate in Jewish Leadership (CJL 20), in partnership with Northwestern University! These Jewish communal professionals and lay leaders from across North America kicked off their program last night online and soon they will come to Chicago to keep the learning going in person! Join us in wishing them Mazel Tov on their Jewish leadership learning journey!

https://mailchi.mp/spertus/stackmay2026

Spertus Institute's Monthly Roundup Spertus Institute's latest achievements and upcoming opportunities to learn with us!

Spertus is very excited to welcome our new Manager of Advancement and Alumni Relations, Sarah Balis! Join us in wishing Sarah a warm Spertus welcome to Chicago and our team!

It's a triple Mazel Tov Monday celebrating three Spertus alumni on their recent new roles in the Jewish community! Ardyth Sokoler, alumna of the Leadership Certificate in Combating Antisemitism, steps into a new role as Outreach & Partnerships Manager, Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region. Certificate in Jewish Leadership alumna Lori Rubin starts a new position as Executive Director of Golden Slipper Club & Charities, and MA in Jewish Professional Studies alumna Julia Cottrell starts an exciting new role as Assistant Director, Northeastern University Hillel. We look forward to following your leadership journeys in your communities and organizations!

Don’t miss this opportunity to elevate your leadership and join this growing network of dedicated Jewish communal professionals and lay leaders.

Professionals and Lay Leaders will study in parallel tracks, with opportunities for shared learning. The LCCA program will deepen both cohorts’ understanding of antisemitism and prepare them to address this moment with greater clarity and confidence in their respective roles. The program is hybrid, with online sessions and an in-person seminar at Spertus’ award-winning facility.

Senior professionals and lay leaders from the same organization are encouraged to apply! Additional scholarship funds are available for professionals and lay leaders from the same organization who are both accepted into the fall cohorts.

For Professionals:
https://www.spertus.edu/leadership-certificate-in-combating-antisemitism-for-professionals/

For Lay Leaders:
https://www.spertus.edu/lay-leadership-certificate-in-combating-antisemitism/

Photo: Dr. Keren Fraiman teaching at the 2025 LCCA Seminar.

To finish off a whirlwind week at Spertus, the Certificate in Israel Leadership, comprised of Chicagoland area teams of synagogue professionals and lay leaders, has officially culminated their learning!

These synagogue and temple leaders learned strategies for building a mission-aligned culture around Israel education, developed a deeper understanding of Israel through a multi-narrative lens, and gained skills for navigating difficult conversations and topics.

Mazel Tov to these local leaders:

🔶 Vernon Hills' Congregation Or Shalom-Vernon Hills, including Executive Director Jen Daniels-Lake, Education Vice President Wendy Elman, Senior Rabbi Ari Margolis, and Board Member Bill McNulty

🔶 Highland Park’s North Suburban Synagogue Beth El, including Executive Director Rabbi Ben Azriel, Director of Congregational Learning Ali Drumm, Rabbi Alex Freedman, and Past President & Trustee Steve Abrams

🔶 Northbrook’s Temple Beth-El of Northbrook, including Cantor Stefanie Greene, Senior Rabbi Sidney Helbraun, Executive Director Laurie Orenstein, and Director of Congregational Learning Laura Perpinyal

🔶 Northfield’s Temple Jeremiah, including Executive Director Danny Glassman, Rabbi Rachel Heaps, Cantor Lianna Mendelson, Director of Congregational Learning Matthew Rissien, and Vice President & Lay Leader Jerry Tatar

🔶 Chicago’s Temple Sholom of Chicago, including Executive Director Stacy Charnay, Senior Rabbi Shoshanah Conover, Director of Education Lori Kramer, and Board President Elizabeth Samuels

Learn more about Spertus Institute’s Israel Leadership Initiatives here: https://www.spertus.edu/israel-leadership-initiatives/

On Sunday, Spertus Institute awarded degrees to fifteen extraordinary graduates from our MA in Jewish Professional Studies (MAJPS), MA in Jewish Studies (MAJS), and MS in Jewish Studies (MSJS) programs.

They join thousands of Spertus alumni who advance Jewish organizations and communities around the world with knowledge and skills gained at Spertus.

Mazel Tov to the 2026 graduates!

Learn more about the 2026 graduation ceremony here: https://www.spertus.edu/spertus-institute-2026-graduation/

Reminder: sign up for next week's 2026 Critical Conversations event!

We are ecstatic to announce our upcoming 2026 Critical Conversations topic:

“Israel Education at an Inflection Point: Complexity, Conviction, and Community”

📅 May 11, 2026
🕛 12:00-1:30 p.m. CDT ⁠
💻 Via Zoom ⁠

Israel is an integral part of Jewish identity, peoplehood, education, and Jewish communal leadership today. Israel also represents one of the most complex and emotionally charged issues facing Jewish communities. In the wake of October 7, North American Jews experience events involving Israel not as distant news, but as deeply personal and communal realities.

Yet, conversations within Jewish educational settings about Israel often feel fraught, surfacing profound disagreements, moral tensions, and anxieties about belonging and legitimacy, or are avoided altogether. Israel has become a “third rail”—too risky to touch, yet impossible to ignore.

This program asks: Why are these conversations so difficult? What fears and identity questions lie beneath them? How should we teach, learn, and lead around Israel? How can we engage across difference without sacrificing integrity, complexity, or connection?

Panelists include The Jewish Education Project Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Bryfman, Spertus Institute Vice President & Chief Academic Officer Dr. Keren Fraiman, Boundless Co-Founder & President Dr. Rachel Fish, and M² The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education and CEO Shuki Taylor. The event will be moderated by Spertus Institute President & CEO Dr. Dean Bell.

Register here: https://www.spertus.edu/critical-conversations-israel-education-at-an-inflection-point-complexity-conviction-and-community/

Conversations within Jewish educational settings around Israel often feel fraught and confusing. Our 2026 Critical Conversations panelists will share their expertise and guide us through a discussion to explore why these conversations are so difficult.

Spertus Institute Vice President & Chief Academic Officer Dr. Keren Fraiman acknowledges: “Engaging with the complexities of Israel demands educators who are both knowledgeable and skilled — able to navigate charged emotions and facilitate difficult conversations with confidence. But content and pedagogy alone are not enough. Educators must also know that their leadership stands behind them, and that they are working within an ecosystem defined by clear purpose, shared goals, and genuine support.”

Boundless Co-Founder and President Dr. Rachel Fish thinks: “Literacy on issues of Israel, Zionism, and Jewishness is crucial in the 21st century. What individuals and educators know informs how people think, feel, and behave.”

The Jewish Education Project Chief Executive Officer Dr. David Bryfman believes: “The Jewish community must recognize that the purpose of all education, including Jewish and Israel education, is not to clone youth and young adults to turn out ‘just like us.’ Instead, Israel education must allow learners to obtain the knowledge and experiences necessary to develop their own values, beliefs and relationships with Israel - the country and its people.”

M² The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education Founder and Chief Executive Officer Shuki Taylor says: “Israel sits at the center of a perfect storm—where tensions around particularism and universalism, the role of politics in education, questions of knowledge and truth, and issues of power and morality are all being worked out. Treating all of this as ‘Israel education’ collapses distinct domains into one and does a disservice to each of them. What’s needed is a radical reset of the educational agenda—one that addresses these questions directly, rather than conflating them with Israel, while still confronting Israel itself with seriousness.”

You won’t want to miss these experts as they unpack the complexity of Israel education at Critical Conversations 2026.

Register here: https://www.spertus.edu/critical-conversations-israel-education-at-an-inflection-point-complexity-conviction-and-community/

As graduation approaches on Sunday, we’re featuring some of the soon-to-be Spertus graduates who are culminating their Spertus learning.

These two 2026 graduates both studied in the MA in Jewish Studies: Final Chapter Doula Services, LLC End-of-Life Doula Allison Blakley and Whatcom Community College Library Director Howard Fuller!

# # #

Allison Blakley:

🔶 Q: What do you do when you’re not in Spertus classes?
🔶 A: I'm a certified end-of-life doula with my own business, Final Chapter Doula Services, LLC, as well as a community chaplain and a death and grief educator. I'm actively involved as a member of Congregation Shir Hadash and Congregation Hakafa. I take classes with rabbis from both synagogues.

🔶 Q: What are your plans after graduating?
🔶 A: I hope to continue my graduate studies and use this degree as a building block towards a book on death and dying in Judaism.

# # #

Howard Fuller:

🔶 Q: What was your favorite moment at Spertus?
🔶 A: I am a librarian at a state college on the West Coast. So, I was especially struck by the opportunity to work with the Spertus library’s special collection, including materials dating back to the medieval period. Working with these artifacts firsthand, as well as exploring the Jewish Cultural Reconstruction books, was both intellectually interesting and personally significant. I would encourage every student to explore the treasures housed in the Spertus library. I owe a special ‘thank you’ to Camille Brown, Spertus librarian, for her thoughtful guidance and intellectual generosity.

🔶 Q: Favorite Spertus course?
🔶 A: The first course I completed, Introduction to Jewish Studies, provided an essential intellectual foundation. The class introduced me to scholarly voices such as Elisheva Baumgarten and Robert Liberles, and introduced concepts that I have continued to draw upon throughout the program.

🔶 Q: What was the best aspect of Spertus?
🔶 A: The program’s design is, in my view, one of its greatest strengths. As a working adult based in a small town on the West Coast, opportunities to pursue advanced study in Jewish Studies are quite limited. Spertus provides a rare and accessible avenue for such scholarship, and in practical terms, it was the only viable option available to me. I am deeply appreciative of the institution’s existence and its commitment to accommodating adult students.