Kaleidoscope: The Prizmah Monthly

In This Issue

In Memory of Elan Ganeles z’l
Thought Leadership on Headship and Sustainability
Purim is Almost Here!
Jewish Day School Perspectives and News
Upcoming Programming
Don’t Miss This
Mazel Tov Moments

In Memory of Elan Ganeles z’l

Along with the entire Jewish day school and yeshiva family, we are horrified by the murder of Elan Ganeles z’l in a terror attack in Israel earlier this week. Elan was a proud alumnus of the Bess and Paul Sigal Hebrew Academy and the Hebrew High School of New England (now the New England Jewish Academy).

Elan was a shining light, and represented everything we hope for in our Jewish day school students — he was an active member of his community, he had a deep commitment to Judaism and the land of Israel, and he was striving to make the world a better place through acts of kindness and wisdom. After graduating from high school in 2014, Elan lived and worked in Israel, volunteered as a lone soldier, and became a Sergeant in the IDF. A recent college graduate, Elan had an extraordinarily bright future in front of him.

At Prizmah, we share a profound connection to the greater Jewish day school family of North America, and we feel this loss deeply.

Ann Pava, past Prizmah Board Chair, founding Chair of the Hebrew High School of New England, and friend of his family, noted, “I am so touched that Prizmah has chosen to remember Elan in Kaleidoscope today. It is so well deserved. He was brilliant, funny, unpredictable (in a nice way) and a good friend. He is a role model for how we all want our children to grow up to be. This is a heart wrenching loss for his family, his community, and the Jewish people - he had so much left to do.”

Our hearts mourn together with the Ganeles family and the West Hartford community. May Elan’s memory be a blessing and an inspiration, Baruch Dayan Ha’Emet (ברוך דיין האמת).

As a day school community, our love of and support for Israel is steadfast and transcendent. We are committed to the ideal of instilling a love for the State of Israel in our students, and we hope and pray that calm will be restored in the coming days and weeks. Knowing that Israel faces multi-faceted, complex issues that require productive discussion and learning, please visit Prizmah’s Knowledge Center for resources about how to talk about the situation in Israel, as well as acts of terrorism, aggression, and loss with your students and communities.

L’Shalom,

Paul Bernstein, Chief Executive Officer and David Friedman, Chair, Board of Directors

Thought Leadership on Headship and Sustainability

Sharing a Sacred Responsibility

by Ilisa Cappell

In this issue of Kaleidoscope, we have the opportunity to hear from leaders of our Jewish day schools and yeshivot. We thank these leaders for their vulnerability in sharing their experiences so that together as a community, we can learn more about what we can do to

support, sustain and nourish our professionals in their roles. Carrying the weight of leadership in a Jewish day school is an enormous task. Through reading about the experiences of these heads, we gain a deeper understanding of our leaders, what our schools need to thrive, and what we can do to share the load and carry this sacred responsibility together. Read more.

The Psychological Impact of the Headship

by Rabbi Dr. Rafi Cashman

The conversation I had most frequently at this year’s Prizmah conference was about sustainability—or rather, the lack of sustainability—in the headship of Jewish day schools. During my first few years in this role, I would ask colleagues, How can I do this job

for 20 years? It’s not possible! The most common response was about how expectations had changed, that they were now more and more unreasonable. While that may be true (I have no personal comparison), I think there are some deeper issues at play that are worth thinking through, that took me a long time to gain clarity about—and I’m still hardly out of the woods on this question. Read more.

From Survival to “Thrival”: Empowering Leadership Teams

by Deborah Skolnick-Einhorn

I am no expert on sustainable headship, at least in terms of years. I began my tenure in July 2020, so I’m just getting ready to sign my second contract. But considering the intensity of my first couple of years (I count them in dog years), I had to quickly develop survival strategies. Read more.

Fifteen Lessons for Headship Sustainability

by Mark Shpall

While I tried to do my due diligence as to the demands of headship, what I quickly learned was that being a head of school is not an easy job. Most of us started our journey to headship on the education side. However, as heads, we are expected to be masters in education,

finance, budgeting, marketing, the emotional development of students (and faculty), communications, development, facilities, learning differences, risk management, hiring, firing, tuition assistance, recruitment, governance and public speaking. All of that while maintaining a work-life balance and a sense of personal satisfaction and happiness. Read more.

Overcoming Loneliness Through Relationships

by Aviva Walls

That first year of being a head of school, I didn’t feel like I was living my own life. I had to make enormous decisions with little information and without the opportunity to build trust with my team first. I was used to having tremendous expertise in my role, but there was no

handbook for how to run and open a school during a pandemic. This only added to my sense of isolation. Read more.

One Solution to the Headship Conundrum

by Daniel R. Weiss

Among the items found in the job description of heads of school in Jewish day schools are technical skills such as budget review and management, fundraising, strategy development and implementation and problem solving. A Rosov Consulting study commissioned by

the JFNA identified “softer skills” such as “establishing and developing a leadership team, capacity building, fostering school culture, designing a succession plan and managing stakeholder expectations.” Add to this faculty supervision, curriculum management, involvement with parents and facility management. Read more.

Managing the Emotional Labor: A Case for Sustained Mentorship

by Johanna Shlomovich

Emotional labor is the unpaid part of the job, the invisible work we do to keep those around us comfortable and happy. When embarking on a headship, no one talks to you about the emotional labor. No one recognizes the amount of time, energy and bandwidth that goes into it. Read more.

Leadership Success: Position and Disposition

by Jordan Soffer

According to one recent article, the average tenure of Jewish day school heads is 4-5 years, barely enough time to get one's footing. In facing this leadership crisis, we ought to consider the factors that tend to our leaders’ success. Every school leader was selected because

because a community believed in them. So why are so many of us running away after just a few years? How can schools keep their talent on the team for longer? Read more.

Purim is Almost Here!

Share how your school is celebrating Adar and Purim

We love to see the real life joy that fills Jewish day schools every day, and what better time to share pictures than Adar, the happiest month in the Jewish calendar. Share how your school is celebrating Adar and Purim this month by tagging @prizmahcjds on social media and emailing high resolution photos to [email protected].

Jewish Day School Perspectives and News

Prizmah and JEIC Announce the Jewish Day School Educators Pipeline Working Group, Jewish Link
Educational Group Formed to Address Day School Strategies, Teacher Shortage, JNS
Mandel JDS 8th Graders Book Drive Creates Library in Africa, Cleveland Jewish News
Milwaukee Students Break Ground On Tiny Homes for Veterans, KTVZ

Share your day school news with us at [email protected] for a chance to be featured in our next newsletter!

Upcoming Programming

Collaborating Through Controversy: A Series for Board Leaders and Heads of Schools

7:00 PM - 8:00 PM ET // 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM PT

A deep dive into navigating the work of race, ethnicity, diversity, and building cultures of belonging in Jewish day schools and yeshivas. This series will focus on the systems and structures as well as the cultural norms that lay a foundation for strong partnerships between lay leaders and the head of school, with a focus on collaborating through potentially controversial topics like race, ethnicity, and diversity. Register here.

Join school counselors, mental health professionals and learning specialists from across North America, explore up to date knowledge of best practices in mental health, learn more about what these theories look like when applied, and develop methods and approaches for bringing these systems back to your school. Register here.

Sponsored by the Ruderman Family Foundation

Simple and Sustainable Social Media Strategy

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM ET // 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM PT

Your school’s social media presence is a form of interruption marketing- the goal is to “stop the scroll” of your readers. This does not mean posting every piece of content that you have every single day. To engage your followers in an appropriate way while avoiding burnout, you need a basic framework of how often you will post, what types of content, who provides the content and accompanying media, and how to schedule it in advance. This hands-on session will help you build this framework to bring back to your school, ready for implementation. Register here.

Prizmah Meetups

Connect with day school peers on a regular basis to share ideas and brainstorm solutions with colleagues from across the field.

Don’t Miss This

Prizmah’s Rising Leaders Cohort Applications are Open

The Rising Leaders Cohort is a ten-month program designed to support, engage, and deepen the skills and professional development of Orthodox women in Jewish day schools and yeshivas who currently serve in a supervisory role. Rising Leaders provides a meaningful experience for school professionals who aspire to deepen their leadership capacity in their current roles, and for roles they will hold in the future. Learn more and apply here.

Nominations are open for the 2023-2024 cohort of YOU Lead

Nominations are open for the 2023-2024 cohort of YOU Lead, Prizmah’s signature nine-month leadership development program for school leaders (not including heads of schools). YOU Lead is an important way to invest in the leadership development of key members of your faculty and staff. It is ideal for individuals who are assuming new leadership responsibilities and/or are rising leaders in your school community. YOU Lead participants and alumni include curriculum coordinators, principals, Judaic directors, directors of teaching and learning, teacher leaders/mentors, admissions directors, development directors, directors of student life, grade-level deans, department chairs, and directors of educational technology.

Applications launch Mid March, but in the meantime, nominations are still open.

JNF’s Educators Mission To Israel

JNF’s Educators Mission to Israel is an opportunity for Heads of School, Senior Jewish Educators, Directors of Congregational Learning, Jewish Day School Principals, and Department Chairs to learn about eco-zionism, visit the

Alexander Muss High School in Israel, attend workshops, lectures, and discussions on the current challenges of Israel education, gain exposure to JNF’s educational activities and materials, and network with over 200+ educators from around the world. Learn more.

Pardes Teacher Fellowship

The Pardes Day School Educators program is changing. Students will now spend two summers and an academic year at Pardes in Jerusalem, including intensive Torah study, Hebrew language ulpan, and pedagogic

training. Then they’ll spend one academic year teaching Jewish studies at a day school in North America, scaffolded by rigorous pedagogic training and one-on-one coaching. They will then come back to Pardes for a final summer of a curriculum-building workshop and graduation. Learn more.

Mazel Tov Moments

Mazel Tov to Sulam, the special education inclusion program, on receiving a one-million dollar gift for the Sulam Teacher Attraction and Retention Initiative.
Mazel Tov to Northwest Yeshiva High School on the appointment of their next head of school, Rabbi Yehuda Gabay.
Mazel Tov to Addlestone Hebrew Academy on the appointment of their next head of school, Rabbi Boruch Perton. Prizmah was proud to partner with Addlestone on this search, and looks forward to continuing to support the school, board, and community during this transition.
Mazel Tov to Jewish Womens International on securing a grant from SRE Network to to further support Jewish day school and JCC families experiencing domestic violence.

Share your “Mazel Tov Moments” with us at [email protected] for a chance to be featured in our next newsletter!

To view the full list of current Prizmah Leadership Searches, or to learn about the Prizmah search process, click here or reach out to [email protected].

Explore resources, templates, and videos curated and created for Jewish day school professional and lay leaders in Prizmah’s Knowledge Center.

Our mailing address is:

Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools
254 West 54th Street
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New York, NY 10019
Phone: 646-975-2800

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