NewCAJE16: Full Schedule

The NewCAJE conference is a vibrant gathering that unites Jewish educators and professionals to strengthen the Jewish community through education. Rooted in the legacy of CAJE, NewCAJE fosters innovation, collaboration, and inspiration. The conference offers space for sharing best practices, exploring new ideas, and deepening Jewish and educational learning. Committed to inclusivity and pluralism, it welcomes educators from all backgrounds, creating a supportive network that empowers them to make a lasting impact.

3:45pm EDT

Every Kippah has a Story

Monday June 23, 2025 3:45pm - 5:15pm EDT

Van Meter Hall: VM - 101

For egalitarian synagogues where students may wear head coverings. An intergenerational workshop on the reasons for wearing kippot, meeting and decorating kippot from previous life-cycle events. Every kippah owner tells a story to the "child" who chooses his or her event kippah. All followed by a "blinging" session.

Speakers

Karen Sacks

Interim Religious School Director, Congregation Habonim

Karen Sacks is the interim Religious School director at Congregation Habonim in NYC. She has worked as a music specialist in Jewish preschools, camps and religious schools and enjoys sharing her love of Judaism and education through music, creative programming, humor, and tradition... Read More →

Monday June 23, 2025 3:45pm - 5:15pm EDT
Van Meter Hall: VM - 101

Creating Community Spirituality

10:30am EDT

What Does Being an Emissary of the Shechinah Mean?

Tuesday June 24, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT

Julia Rogers: JR - 121

Using texts, stories and songs, we will explore bringing the energy of the Shechinah into our lives and our classrooms every day. Come prepared to learn and to share.

Speakers

Marge Eiseman

Marge Eiseman has been learning and teaching most of her life. Whether it’s in a classroom, on Zoom, or in a chance encounter, she believes there’s power in the stories we tell and the language we choose.Singer/songwriter, Storahtelling Maven, purveyor of zesty spiritual programs... Read More →

Tuesday June 24, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT
Julia Rogers: JR - 121

Spirituality

Subject God/Spirituality Certificate

4:15pm EDT

Torah in Our Lives, Our Lives in Torah

Tuesday June 24, 2025 4:15pm - 5:45pm EDT

Julia Rogers: JR - 121

This session will introduce Rabbi Leila Gal Berner's Kriat ha-Kodesh, "Reading the Holy," method of Torah study, a reflective approach that builds connections between the Torah and individuals' experiences and values. It will include a model study unit on one parashah, discussion of the experience, and exploration of the methodology.

Speakers

Paul Solyn

Adult Educator

Paul Solyn is an adult educator in Elmira, New York. He received an M.J.Ed. degree and family-educator certificate from Hebrew College and is an ordained maggid-educator. In May he received a graduate certificate in eco-spirituality at Hartford International University.

Tuesday June 24, 2025 4:15pm - 5:45pm EDT
Julia Rogers: JR - 121

Adult Education Spirituality Bible/Text

4:15pm EDT

If My Talit Could Talk...?

Tuesday June 24, 2025 4:15pm - 5:45pm EDT

Van Meter Hall: VM - G02

Many young people first wear a tallit at their b'rit mitzvah services . How can we encourage them to find meaning in a cherished tradition? This session will demonstrate how seeking personal answers, based on traditional prooftexts, can bring a young person closer to the past and more connected with Jewish ritual.

Speakers

Dina Shtull

Head of School Emeritus, Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor

Dina Shtull is Head of School Emeritus at the Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor. She currently teaches Torah trope privately and at the school to all the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. She is the author of three children's books, all available on Amazon.

Tuesday June 24, 2025 4:15pm - 5:45pm EDT
Van Meter Hall: VM - G02

Bar/Bat Mitzvah Spirituality

4:15pm EDT

Musical Prayer Writing Workshop

Tuesday June 24, 2025 4:15pm - 5:45pm EDT

Julia Rogers: JR - 277

Experience writing a musical prayer together as a group! Together, we will choose a text, translate it, and decide how to set it to music. We’ll take a quick stab at co-writing, then discuss how you can use this approach to deepen meaning and engagement with prayer for your learners.

Speakers

Rory Michelle Sullivan

Artist-in-Residence

Rory Michelle Sullivan’s work as singer/songwriter, songleader, musician, composer, educator, curriculum writer, and consultant with a range of Jewish communities and ages inspires spiritual connection, growth, and joy through healthy, authentic, creative, and constructive relationships... Read More →

Tuesday June 24, 2025 4:15pm - 5:45pm EDT
Julia Rogers: JR - 277

Music Spirituality

4:15pm EDT

The Art of Amazement

Tuesday June 24, 2025 4:15pm - 5:45pm EDT

Julia Rogers: JR - G50

This session will teach you how to "reverse engineer" Jewish liturgy, so that instead of learning deductively, students will learn it inductively - that is, experientially. You will learn how to make tefilah of any sort electrifying for your students!

Speakers

Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Adult Jewish educator, Jewish Teachers Institute

Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld, PhD started teaching right out of college in rural Mississippi. With over 10 years of classroom experience and 20 years as an adult Jewish educator, he founded the Jewish Teachers Institute in 2016 which trains and mentors day school teachers, creates curricula... Read More →

Tuesday June 24, 2025 4:15pm - 5:45pm EDT
Julia Rogers: JR - G50

Pedagogy Spirituality

8:30am EDT

T’fillah as TORAH: Tools Of Resilience And Hope

Wednesday June 25, 2025 8:30am - 10:00am EDT

Julia Rogers: JR - G50

The science is clear: A strong spiritual core is key to resilience in our fractured world. T’fillah in form and content is a powerful pathway for exactly this, but only if we teach it and lead it that way. Together, we’ll dive into the science, experience simple practices that make a big impact, and explore what this means for our students, our families, ourselves, and our world.

Speakers

Eliana Light

Songleader, Consultant, Musisian, Day School/Yeshiva, Synagogue Sunday or Afternoon School/Program, Early Childhood Center, Camp, Adult Education, Self Employed

Eliana is working towards a world of One-ness, guided and inspired by Jewish heritage. She is the founder and head T’fillahsopher at the Light Lab and the co-host of the Light Lab podcast. She is also a sought-after songwriter and performer of catchy, content-rich tunes for all... Read More →

Wednesday June 25, 2025 8:30am - 10:00am EDT
Julia Rogers: JR - G50

God Spirituality

Subject God/Spirituality Certificate

10:30am EDT

A Curriculum of Wonder: The Educational Legacy of Abraham Joshua Heschel

Wednesday June 25, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT

Van Meter Hall: VM - G11

Wonder, taught Abraham Heschel, is the chief characteristic of a religious person’s approach to life. What’s the role of wonder in our religious life? Where’s mystery, awe, insight? Abraham Heschel opened a radical way to understand Judaism’s spirituality. His works are treasures of insight for the seeking Jew and his life a testimony of God’s closeness.

Speakers

Ed Feinstein

Wednesday June 25, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT
Van Meter Hall: VM - G11

Spirituality

2:00pm EDT

Amazing Nature / Ma Rabu!

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

Julia Rogers: JR - 278

This session will empower participants to use the wonders of nature in order to engage their students in any subject matter.
Takeaways
"1. Understand the Rambam's guidance on using nature and science in order to engage Jewish learners.
2. One or more techniques for employing this strategy in your classroom."

Speakers

Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

Adult Jewish educator, Jewish Teachers Institute

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
Julia Rogers: JR - 278

Ecology Spirituality

2:00pm EDT

Sew Cool: Hands-on Learning for All

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT

Van Meter Hall: VM - G27

Students love hands-on experiences. Come learn to implement some easy hands-on Tefillah and holiday art projects, and a few songs, that can be used in various ways with preschoolers through fourth grade! Participants will be able to make and take examples home.
Takeaways
1) How to make a Shema #1 pillow;
2) How to make hamantaschen out of construction paper;
3) How to use a Holiday Box for preschool Judaics;
4) How to build a Mi Chamocha Wall of Freedom

Speakers

Karen Daniel

Teacher and music specialist, Beth Meyer synagogue Raleigh NC

Karen Daniel is a preschool music specialist and religious school teacher at Beth Meyer Synagogue in Raleigh, NC. She has taught and performed for many years at CAJE and NewCAJE and has recorded the Teachable, Singable and Jewish series of educational music, and her songs have been... Read More →

Wednesday June 25, 2025 2:00pm - 3:30pm EDT
Van Meter Hall: VM - G27

Spirituality Visual Arts

4:00pm EDT

Playing with words: Jewish Ekphrasis

Wednesday June 25, 2025 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT

Van Meter Hall: VM - 101

Ekphrastic poetry, derived from the Greek word for "description," uses words to interpret a work of art. ‘Ekphrasis’ will be demonstrated through the instructors new book, Vessels of Light, a conversation between a poet and photographer, written in this style. In this class, we will play with words, drawing vocabulary from Jewish prayer, Israel and the Holiday cycle to create small poems.

Speakers

Karen Webber

Adult Educator, Artist, Cantor, Clergy Educator, Entertainer, Musician, Online Tutor (Hebrew or Judaica), Spiritual Leader, Specialist, Storyteller

Karen Webber is a liturgical, teaching and performing artist who builds theatre/music pieces for elder care facilities, mental health centers, public parks and the bimah. An ordained cantor since 1990 (HUC-JIR), Karen is also an accredited teaching artist and a certified Peer Support... Read More →

Wednesday June 25, 2025 4:00pm - 5:30pm EDT
Van Meter Hall: VM - 101

Pedagogy Spirituality

8:30am EDT

That’s Amazing! T’fillah with Kids & Families

Thursday June 26, 2025 8:30am - 10:00am EDT

Julia Rogers: JR - G50

How can we make t’fillah an exercise in spiritual core building? Together we’ll experience and discuss a frame for the morning service that aims to do exactly that. Great for K-5 but adaptable for older and younger kids and families, and works with whatever melodies you might do (we'll learn a few new ones too!) Let’s laugh, sing, and wonder, together!

Speakers

Eliana Light

Songleader, Consultant, Musisian, Day School/Yeshiva, Synagogue Sunday or Afternoon School/Program, Early Childhood Center, Camp, Adult Education, Self Employed

Thursday June 26, 2025 8:30am - 10:00am EDT
Julia Rogers: JR - G50

God Spirituality

10:30am EDT

Deepening Our Relationship with the Now (Using a Fun Call and Response Shehecheyanu!)

Thursday June 26, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT

Julia Rogers: JR - G27

Explore using this fun new musical Shehecheyanu setting as a tool for kicking off the new school year and Rosh Hashanah with more intention. Adaptable for early childhood education through adults, this Shehecheyanu setting incorporates breath, call and response, and focused awareness to bring our attention to ... this ... very ... moment.

Speakers

Rory Michelle Sullivan

Artist-in-Residence

Thursday June 26, 2025 10:30am - 12:00pm EDT
Julia Rogers: JR - G27

Music Spirituality