The Mayberg Foundation invests in organizations and initiatives with bold ideas – to inspire, educate, and strengthen Jewish community.
PROJECTS
MyZuzah
Jewish Education
Innovation Challenge
NEWS & UPDATES
Marni Darby is the Mayberg Foundation's Executive Assistant. She is also a Momentum Community Leader and madricha, as well as a familiar face within Momentum’s learning circles. Marni’s Momentum journey began in 2009 when she joined a group of 40 women on Momentum’s eight-day journey to Israel. It was her first trip to the Jewish homeland in almost three decades — and her first trip with Momentum. The trip led to Marni changing her life and meeting some of her closest friends. She found the structure and support she needed and is so grateful to now be able to bring Judaism to the people she loves.
Read more about Marni's journey here
Sharon Freundel, Managing Director of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge is being recognized in memory of Dr. Shulamith Reich Elster (z”l), a mentor of mentors and educational leader in, and founder of, many Jewish institutions in our community. Shulamith was considered a dean of Jewish education, serving the Jewish community in multiple capacities for over 57 years. Sharon has been teaching learners of all ages – with an emphasis on children and teens – in our local community for 30 of the 45 years she has served as a Jewish educator.
By tapping a strong organizational leader for a key programmatic role, Mayberg doubles down on its hybrid strategy, incubating dynamic operating programs in addition to making grants.
On February 8, over 80 Jewish education leaders from around the country came together for a winter seminar hosted by Lifnai V’Lifnim, a Mayberg Foundation grantee. Read about this collaborative conference in The Jewish Link.
Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of Aish (a Mayberg Foundation Grantee Client) explains the importance the Jewish Agency and the necessity for it to reach younger Jews where they are — social media — to strengthen Jewish identity.
Mayberg Foundation grantee clients Rabbi Mitch Malkus (head of school at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School) and Lianne Heller (executive director of Sulam) were recently published in eJewish Philanthropy.
Their co-authored article, “Designing exceptional learning for all students: A collaborative approach,” maintains, “Research has shown that when students have agency in their own learning they become independent, resourceful, and motivated lifelong learners and critical thinkers who ultimately become expert citizens.”
We are excited to celebrate JEIC’s newly-released films illustrating how current Jewish educational practices may stunt children’s spiritual development.
The film ‘A Daughter's Story’ by Dreamworks producer Saul Blinkoff takes a hard look at how kids are turned on - or off - to enjoying Jewish learning and developing a personal relationship with God.
Accompanying the feature, Shmuel Hoffman's making-of film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the production, ideas, and reactions to ‘A Daughter's Story.’
Mayberg Foundation Trustee Manette Mayberg was recently published in eJP. Her article, “The invaluable role of a Jewish educator: A funder’s perspective,” maintains that the most important resource in Jewish education is the educator. “The long-term goals of Jewish education,” she writes, “are to shape a committed, thoughtful, ethical generation of Jews.”
Rachel Mohl Abrahams’s piece, "Enabling Student Agency," was recently published in The Lookstein Center's Jewish Educational Leadership.
In the article, she highlights a few day schools that created opportunities for student independence during the pandemic. She calls on schools to continue to find ways to give students agency over their learning as we move forward.