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CJPE CIRCLE OF FELLOWS

Building Peoplehood by Actively Engaging with Jewish Pluralism

The CJPE Circle of Fellows brings together a dynamic group of educators, community leaders, and thinkers who actively advance Jewish Peoplehood. Sponsored by the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education (CJPE), the Fellows collaborate to address pressing challenges facing the Jewish people.

Through dialogue and shared learning, they explore how to foster a collective Jewish identification in a rapidly changing world, focusing on bridging differences and cultivating a shared sense of responsibility.

At the heart of the Fellows' discussions lies the intricate relationship between pluralism and Jewish Peoplehood. Pluralism, as an active engagement with diversity, becomes a dynamic tool to navigate differences while fostering mutual responsibility (areivut) and collective action (tikkun olam). Jewish Peoplehood, in turn, provides the overarching framework, a consciousness and commitment to the shared enterprise of the Jewish people that binds diverse communities into a coherent whole.

Previous meetings

The Circle of Fellows has convened five meetings to date, each addressing critical aspects of Jewish Peoplehood in light of the October 7th events.

1. May 2024 | "The Challenge of Pluralism in Jewish Peoplehood"
Osnat Fox, Dr. Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath and Dr. Shlomi Ravid on the immediate aftermath of October 7th, and the temporary unity that gave way to deeper ideological divisions. Meeting summary

2. October 2024 | "Navigating Diversity: The Boundaries of Pluralism"
Research presented by Ezra Kopelowitz on balancing ideological diversity with communal cohesion. Meeting summary

3. December 2024 | "Communities at a Crossroads: Reflecting on Changes in Jewish Communities after October 7th"
Iris Posklinsky and Aharon Ariel Lavi on the evolving landscape of Jewish communities and the tensions between micro-communities and larger institutional frameworks. Meeting summary

4. February 2025 | "The Israel Challenge: Jewish Institutions, Peoplehood, and Young Jewish Engagement"
Dr. Keren Fraiman and Barak Sella on generational tensions in Jewish communal spaces, and how younger Jews seek critical engagement with Israel within a values-based Jewish framework. Meeting summary

5. May 2025 | "What Binds Us Together? Mapping Jewish Peoplehood Knowledge"
Rabbi Josh Feigelson and Benji Davis on CJPE's emerging framework of Peoplehood Knowledge, a multidimensional model that emphasizes embodied, emotional and ethical learning as central to cultivating a sense of Jewish belonging. Meeting summary

The Fellows emphasize the need to cultivate a shared sense of Jewish collective consciousness that transcends differences.

Fellows

Aharon Ariel Lavi

Managing Director

Ohr Torah Interfaith Center

Aharon directs the Ohr Torah Interfaith Center, which works with religious leaders worldwide on global challenges. He co-founded MAKOM, the umbrella body for intentional communities in Israel, and founded Hakhel, which won the 2020 Jerusalem Unity Prize. His book Seven applies Shmita principles to economics and the environment.

Alon Friedman

Founding Executive Director

ENTER

Alon is the founding executive director of ENTER: The Jewish Peoplehood Alliance, a coalition initiated by Charles Bronfman and Jeff Solomon to strengthen ties between Israel and Jewish communities worldwide. He previously led Hillel Israel and directed Israel operations for Masa. He holds an MA in communications from Hebrew University.

Barak Sella

Middle East Initiative Fellow

Harvard Kennedy School

Barak studies US-Israel relations and world Jewry as a Middle East Initiative fellow at Harvard's Belfer Center. He previously served as Executive Director of the Reut Institute, working with Israeli government bodies and NGOs on antisemitism, delegitimization and Jewish Peoplehood. He holds an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Benji Davis

Founder and Director

IMPACT Israel

Benji founded and directs IMPACT Israel Education, which delivers Israel education to Jewish teens and young adults on Israel programs and online. He received the Network for Research in Jewish Education's Harold Wechsler Award for Emerging Scholars in 2024, and has published in the Journal of Jewish Education and Contemporary Jewry.

David Bryfman, PhD.

CEO

The Jewish Education Project

David leads The Jewish Education Project, after working in Jewish educational institutions in Australia, Israel and North America. He founded the annual Jewish Futures conference, led the 2016 study Generation Now: Understanding and Engaging Jewish Teenagers Today, and edited Experience and Jewish Education. His PhD is from NYU.

Faith Brigham Leener

Chief Innovation Officer

Pardes

Faith serves as the inaugural Chief Innovation Officer at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. She was the founding Executive Director of Base and a senior educator at Base Brooklyn, which she founded with Rabbi Jon Leener, and she sits on the board of Atra: The Center for Rabbinic Innovation.

Jonathan Boyd, PhD.

Executive Director

JPR

Jonathan is a social scientist who leads the Institute for Jewish Policy Research, which provides data and policy analysis on Jewish life in the UK and Europe. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London and holds a doctorate in education from the University of Nottingham.

Josh Feigelson

President & CEO

Institute for Jewish Spirituality

Josh has led the Institute for Jewish Spirituality since 2020, after six years as Hillel Rabbi at Northwestern University and a term directing Ask Big Questions, which won the inaugural Lippman-Kanfer Prize for Applied Jewish Wisdom. He wrote Eternal Questions (Ben Yehuda Press, 2022) and hosts the podcast Soulful Jewish Living.

Matt Reingold

Senior Project Lead

Rosov Consulting

Matt researches best practices in Jewish education and studies Jewish and Israeli comics and graphic novels. He is Senior Project Lead at Rosov Consulting and has consulted for FJC, Prizmah and the Azrieli Foundation. He teaches workshops using Israeli political cartoons and posts at @cartooningisrael.

Moshe Samuels

CEO

Shazur

Moshe leads Shazur. He directed Israel Engagement at Congregation B'nai Jeshurun in New York and ran the Sonabend Center for Israel at JCC Manhattan, after serving as educational director of NOAM, the Masorti youth movement in Israel. His television series The New Jew aired on Israeli public broadcasting in 2021.

Osnat Fox

Chief Strategy and Content Officer

Voice of the People

Osnat previousy lead Makom's Institute for Global Jewish Voices. She served as senior shlichah at JEWISHColorado, taught psychology and mathematics, managed a region for Mindlab, and co-founded Ya'ala, a community engagement program at Hillel Jerusalem. She holds an MA in Education Policy and Management.

Rabbi Dr. Daniel Smokler

CEO

Assembly

Dan directs Assembly, a laboratory working on rabbinic and spiritual leadership, Jewish learning and community building. He served as the inaugural Chief Innovation Officer for Hillel International. He was ordained in 2005 by Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg and holds a PhD in Education and Jewish Studies from NYU.

Rabbi Scott Aaron, PhD

Vice President, Community Outreach & Engagement

JUF, Metropolitan Chicago

Scott serves as Vice President for Community Outreach and Engagement at the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, where he leads direct programming for families, synagogues and schools. He teaches and mentors at the Spertus Institute, and holds a PhD in the philosophy of education from Loyola University Chicago.

Scott Lasensky, PhD.

Senior Researcher

United States Institute of Peace

Scott is a senior researcher and writer at the United States Institute of Peace, where he works on Middle East affairs. He focuses on U.S.-Israel relations and Arab-Israeli peacemaking, and has served as a diplomat, scholar and policy advisor.

Simon Klarfeld

Educational Consultant

Simon has led Jewish education organizations for more than three decades and now consults with Jewish communal organizations worldwide on experiential education, youth engagement, Peoplehood education and leadership training. He holds a Master's in Jewish Communal Service from Brandeis University and a BA from the University of Keele.

Tracy Frydberg

Director

Tisch Center for Jewish Dialogue

Tracy directs the Tisch Center for Jewish Dialogue. She advised two of Israel's Ministers of Diaspora Affairs and analyzed Israel-world Jewry relations at the Reut Group. She holds a Master's in Jewish Peoplehood from the University of Haifa and is pursuing a doctorate in sociology at Tel Aviv University.

Zohar Raviv, PhD.

International VP of Educational Strategy

Taglit-Birthright Israel

Zohar serves as International Vice President of Educational Strategy for Taglit-Birthright Israel, and has taught and lectured in Israel, North America, South America, Europe, South Africa and Australia. He holds a PhD in Jewish Thought and an MA in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan.

Alex Pomson, PhD.

Principal and Managing Director

Rosov Consulting

Alex serves as Principal and Managing Director at Rosov Consulting and lives in Israel. He was previously a senior researcher at the Hebrew University's Melton Centre and held the Koschitzky Family Chair of Jewish Teacher Education at York University. With Helena Miller he wrote Jewish Lives and Jewish Education in the UK.

Analucía Lopezrevoredo, PhD.

Founder & Executive Director

Jewtina y Co.

Analucia is a Peruvian and American sociologist who researches immigrant identity, Latin-Jewish peoplehood and human migration. In 2019 she founded Jewtina y Co., a global community where Latin Jews explore and celebrate Latin-Jewish life. She previously worked at JIMENA, OneTable and Bend the Arc, and is a Wexner Field Fellow.

Becky Voorwinde

CEO

The Bronfman Fellowship

Becky is CEO of The Bronfman Fellowship, where she oversees strategic planning in Israel and the United States, works with an alumni community of more than 1,400, and selects incoming Fellows. An alumna of the program, she joined the staff in 2008 and serves on the boards of M² and Tivnu.

Daphna Yizrael

Director

Amitei Bronfman

Daphna works in pluralistic Judaism, community development and young adult communities. She has held managerial and educational posts at the Mandel Leadership Institute, Beit Tefilah Israeli and the Zalman Shazar Center, and served as a community emissary in MetroWest, New Jersey. She edited Georgia: Journey to Jewish Heritage.

Elan Ezrachi, PhD.

Author and Independent Consultant

Elan is a Jerusalem-based author and independent consultant who advises organizations on building partnerships in the Jewish world. He was founding CEO of Masa Israel Journey and held executive roles at Melitz, the Charles Bronfman Mifgashim Center and Yad Ben-Zvi. He wrote Awakened Dream (2017) and Deep Pain and Sublime Joy (2022).

Hadar Franco Galor, PhD.

Researcher and Lecturer

Hadar is a sociologist who researches institutional change in gender, community, education and criminology, and lectures at Ono Academic College. She advised the Chief Scientist at Israel's Ministry of Internal Security and built academic courses for ultra-Orthodox, religious and secular Jewish and Arab Israeli students.

Jonathan Golden, PhD.

Founder

HeartStance Education Consulting

Jonathan founded HeartStance Education Consulting, which supports Israel education and civics education in schools, camps and nonprofits, and he teaches at Hebrew College and the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He taught history and coordinated the Israel curriculum at Gann Academy from 1999 to 2023, and holds a PhD from Brandeis.

Keren E. Fraiman, PhD.

Dean and Chief Academic Officer

Spertus Institute

Keren serves as Dean and Chief Academic Officer at Spertus Institute and as Professor of Israel Studies. She researches how Jewish settings teach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and teaches on the faculty of the iFellows concentration in Israel Education and the Wexner Heritage Program. Her PhD is from MIT.

Michal Muszkat-Barkan, Ph.D.

Director of the Department of Education

HUC-JIR/Jerusalem

Michal directs the Department of Education and Professional Development at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem and researches teacher training, teacher ideologies and pluralism in Jewish education. She heads the Rikma MA program in Community and Pluralistic Jewish Education and leads the Teachers' Lounge for Arab and Jewish teachers.

Naama Klar

Director

Koret International School for Jewish Peoplehood

Naama directs the Koret International School for Jewish Peoplehood at ANU Museum of the Jewish People. She was previously Deputy CEO of the Reut Group and interned at Israel's Mission to the UN. She holds an MA in International Political Economy from Hebrew University and chairs the board of Latet-Pe.

Rabbi Amitai Fraiman

Director

The Z3 Project

Amitai directs the Z3 Project at the Oshman Family JCC, which builds a Peoplehood-oriented Zionism connecting Jews outside Israel with Israelis. He also founded שזור/Interwoven, which tells the story of American Jewry to Israeli audiences. He was ordained at YCT and holds a dual MPA-MA from NYU.

Rabbi Lisa D. Grant, Ph.D.

Director of the Rabbinical Program

HUC

Lisa is the Eleanor Sinsheimer Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish Education at Hebrew Union College, where she has taught since 2000 and directed the New York Rabbinical Program from 2018 to 2024. She researches adult Jewish learning and edited The Year of Mourning: A Jewish Journey (CCAR Press, 2023).

Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath, PhD.

Senior Director of Knowledge, Ideas, & Learning

The Jewish Education Project

Samantha serves as Senior Director of Knowledge, Ideas and Learning at The Jewish Education Project, where she works on Jewish teens, identity development, antisemitism and Israel education. She wrote #antisemitism: Coming of Age During the Resurgence of Hate, on the experiences of Jewish Generation Z.

Shuki Taylor

Chief Executive Officer and Founder

M²

Shuki founded M² and serves as its CEO. He previously directed Service Learning and Experiential Education at Yeshiva University, where he founded the Certificate Program in Experiential Jewish Education and programs sending college students to serve communities worldwide. He is a Schusterman Fellow and studied Jewish philosophy, education and scriptwriting.

Smadar Bar Akiva

Executive Director

JCC Global

Smadar has served as Executive Director of JCC Global since 2001. She previously developed teen and Taglit trips to Israel for JCC Association of North America and served as a Jewish Agency community shlicha at the Columbus Jewish Federation. She holds an MA in Contemporary Jewry from Hebrew University.

Yoni Alon

Freelance Jewish Educator

Yoni has worked independently since 2017 with Masa, the Jewish Agency, Birthright Israel, the World Zionist Organization and the ANU Museum. He created David Cards, an educational card set that prompts conversations about Israel and Jewish identity, with over 5,000 copies in circulation. He completed the iFellows concentration in Israel Education.

Join CJPE's Circle of Fellows

The CJPE Circle of Fellows brings together a dynamic group of educators, community leaders, and thinkers who actively advance Jewish Peoplehood. Sponsored by CJPE, the Fellows collaborate to address pressing challenges facing the Jewish people. Through dialogue and shared learning, they explore how to foster a collective Jewish identity in a rapidly changing world, focusing on bridging differences and cultivating a shared sense of responsibility. This initiative exemplifies CJPE’s commitment to deepening the understanding and practice of Jewish Peoplehood through education and communal engagement.

Membership is open to those with demonstrated investment in Jewish Peoplehood, whether through curriculum development, research, publishing, or shaping educational and communal strategies. The Circle of Fellows is a space for thought leadership, collaboration, and innovation, where members actively contribute to discussions and initiatives.

If you are committed to deepening Jewish Peoplehood, engaging with pluralism, and shaping the future of Jewish education, we invite you to apply.

Please write a short paragraph about yourself and how you have demonstrated investment in Jewish Peoplehood as described above and send to info@jpeoplehood.org.

CJPE CIRCLE OF FELLOWS

Building Peoplehood by Actively Engaging with Jewish Pluralism

Previous meetings

Fellows

The Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education