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Prizmah Conference Archive
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Past Conferences
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Prizmah Conference 2025
Boston, MA
The Prizmah Conference 2025 gathered more than 1,500 Jewish day school and yeshiva leaders, stakeholders, investors, educators, and partners for three days of high-quality learning, meaningful collaboration, and intentional networking.
With more than 130 interactive sessions, four incredibly inspiring shared experiences, and over 65 exhibitors, the conference fostered electric energy, supporting and equipping Jewish day schools and yeshivas with the skills and tools they need to continue thriving.
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Beit Avi Chai Presents: Shir Tikvah–A Song of Hope with Shlomi Shaban
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Jewish Day Schools Meeting the Moment with Paul Bernstein, Lisa Coll, Prizmah Board Chair, and Ethan Fine, Jewish day school alum and Israel Advocate on Campus. A special award was also given to Paula Gottesman for her contributions to Jewish education over the years. Learn more here.
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We also heard from and stood strong with Ronen and Orna Neutra, parents of Jewish day school alum and murdered hostage on October 7th.
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Esa Einaymim: Looking to the Horizon for Jewish Day School Education with Dr. Rachel Fish, Dr. Erica Brown, and Dr. Tamara Tweel
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Keynote Speaker: Emotional Agility with Dr. Susan David
Boston Educator Day
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Over 275 local Boston Jewish day school and yeshiva educators from 13 schools came together for Educator Day. This day of learning and connecting provided teachers the opportunity to build skills and gain tools and techniques to enhance their classroom instruction.
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The Prizmah Conference was made possible with the generous support of Anonymous, Beit Avi Chai, Michelle and Darren Black, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Crown Family Foundation, Risa and Zev Gewurz, Renee and Steven Finn, Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, Jim Joseph Foundation, Leifer Family Fund, Mayberg Foundation, Micah Philanthropies, Jessica and Chuck Meyers, The Beker Foundation, UnitEd, Walder Foundation, Weisfeld Family Charitable Foundation, Arnee R. and Walter A. Winshall, and the Yael Foundation.
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Prizmah Conference 2023
Denver, CO
The Prizmah Conference 2023 theme was Creative Spirit. Over the course of three days, participants celebrated the spirit of creativity, explored innovative ideas, and fostered relationships, to develop imaginative approaches that will have an impact on our schools, our students, and our communities, and shape the future of Jewish education. More than 1,000 attendees from across North America gathered in Denver for more than 150+ interactive sessions to further foster excellence, affordability and innovation in Jewish day schools.
Conference Highlights
“At Prizmah, we believe that day schools and yeshivas are inherently creative places, both in the imaginative, inspirational day to day work, but also in the sense that day schools are creating the leaders and thinkers of the Jewish future.” - Paul Bernstein, CEO of Prizmah
Key Moments
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Educational Futurists
Lisa Kay Solomon, Louie Montoya, and Ariel Raz from the Stanford d. School’s K12 futures team outlined the connection between Judaism and shared futures thinking methodologies for Jewish day school leaders. Participants took away tools and mindsets to adopt active posture toward the future of their school and community.
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Creative Spirit - Perspectives on Torah and Creativity
Rabbi Adina Allen, Yoshi Silverstein, Rabbi Raphael Zarum, and Elyssa Moss Rabinowitz engaged with the creative spirit that drives us forward, recounting how creativity stems from the Torah, and propels leaders from across the spectrum of Jewish life to have an impact on the world.
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The Science of Happiness
Happiness guru, Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, joined the Prizmah Conference to share evidence-based approaches to increase the well-being of students, faculty and leadership in schools. His keynote address explored tools and techniques to improve creativity, innovation, engagement, productivity, and resilience in schools.
Sessions Recap
Throughout the conference, participants had the opportunity to choose from hundreds of sessions designed to develop leadership capabilities, share leading practices, foster belonging, build connections, and meet the emergent needs of Jewish day school leaders.
Prizmah Conference Press Box
- As day school educators gather, focus is on investing in leadership and creativity (JTA)
- Takeaways from Prizmah’s First In-Person Conference Since 2019 (eJP)
- A Morning of Light In Jewish Day School Growth (JNS)
- Today’s Investments for Future Impact: How a Network Organization Leads a Field (Jim Joseph Foundation)
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Prizmah Conference 2019
Atlanta, GA
The Prizmah Conference 2019 theme was Dare to Dream. Over the course of three days, participants reflected on dreams for their school, students, and themselves as educators.
Key Moments
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George Couros
George Couros, the author of The Innovator’s Mindset, opened the conference with a keynote address sharing stories from his time as a public school teacher and leader. His keynote speech was designed to inspire conference participants.
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Eli Talks
This StorySlam featuring Dr. Erica Brown, Rabbi Michael Cohen, Jane Taubenfeld Cohen, Rebecca Lurie, and Rivkah Schack shared stories about dreams for the future of Jewish education.
Prizmah Conference Press Box
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Prizmah Conference 2017
Chicago, IL
The inaugural Prizmah Conference, held in Chicago in 2017, hosted 1,000 Jewish day school leaders from across North America to gather for three days of innovative learning. The theme of the conference was The Power of Story, exploring how to craft, tell, listen, and respond to the powerful stories that emerge and impact and strengthen the field.
Key Moments
The Second City Experience
The Prizmah Conference opened with a renowned improv company leading a crash course in Yes, And. The focus was on discovering new ways to spark change in day schools.
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Keynote
The Prizmah Conference ended with Jane McGonigal, a renowned game designer and author of The New York Times bestseller Reality is Broken”: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World. Her address described how insights regarding learning, thinking, and collaboration from the gaming world can be applied to real-world teaching and learning.