The 2024 Educators’ Conference is proud to showcase high calibre international presenters. Each of these provides a unique learning environment in a specific area for the professional development of every Jewish educator.
Clare Goldwater is a Jewish educator and leadership coach with expertise in professional and organizational development and experiential education. She is currently Chief Strategy Officer at M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education, where she oversees the development, dissemination of M²’s approach and ideas about experiential Jewish education, through consulting projects to Jewish organizations, publications, curricula materials, and more. She is also a trained Israeli tour guide and the co-author of “A Passion for a People” with Avraham Infeld. Clare has a BA in English Literature from Oxford University, an MA in Jewish Education from Hebrew University, and a Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University. She also holds passports from those three countries and lives in Jerusalem with her family.
Matt Reingold is a Jewish educator with over 15 years working in Jewish day school settings. Since September 2008, he has been teaching at TanenbaumCHAT in Toronto, Canada. He has taught courses in Jewish history, Israeli history and culture, Jewish philosophy, biblical studies, and Jewish laws and customs. Alongside his professional work as a high school teacher, he holds a PhD in Jewish Education from Toronto’s York University where he also served as the university’s first Wexner Fellow & Davidson Scholar. His doctoral research interrogated the intersection between Jewish education and arts-based learning and explored how students use visual and arts-based media to assume the role of biblical commentators. Since completing his doctoral work, his research interests have evolved and he now primarily studies Jewish and Israeli graphic novels and Israel education. He is the author of four books about Jewish and Israeli comics and one co-edited volume (with Sivan Zakai) about teaching Israel. He lives with his wife Chani and their four children.
Zvi Grumet is a master educator and teacher of Tanakh. Prior to making Aliyah, Rabbi Dr. Grumet spent two decades teaching teens in the US. He is currently Director of Education at The Lookstein Center of Bar-Ilan University and chair of the Tanakh department at Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi. He teaches Tanakh throughout the English-speaking world, leads professional development for teachers, and has published numerous articles in both education and Tanakh. His books include Moses and the Path to Leadership (Urim, 2013) and Genesis: From Creation to Covenant (Maggid, 2017), and he recently completed editing all five volumes of the Humash Koren Lev Lada’at (Koren). He is currently working on a thematic commentary to Exodus.
Professor Vardit Ringvald, PhD is the leading scholar of Hebrew pedagogy. She serves as the Director of the Consortium for The Teaching of Hebrew Language and Culture and as a research professor at the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis University. A founder of the School of Hebrew at Middlebury College and the leading scholar of Hebrew pedagogy, curriculum development, teacher preparation, and assessment, Dr. Ringvald is the leading expert in the Proficiency Approach for teaching Hebrew as an additional language.
Earlier in her career, Dr. Ringvald served as Brandeis University’s Hebrew program director, in addition to director of Arabic, Asian, and Romance languages.
As a consultant to many schools and educational organizations, Dr. Ringvald specializes in curriculum development, teacher preparation, and teacher assessment. Her goal is to professionalize teachers and school-based Hebrew programs.
Dr. Sigal Achituv is the director of the Early Childhood Education Graduate Program in Oranim Academic College, and teaches in Oranim Academic College in the early childhood education (ECE) first degree and master’s degree departments. On January 2023 a book she edited together with two colleagues named: Early Childhood Jewish Education: Multicultural, Gender and Constructivist Perspectives was published. The book seeks to explore the fundamental questions of what is the meaning of early childhood Jewish education in the context of some of today’s burning societal and moral issues. Her courses deal with variety of topics related to ECE. Some examples: The Kibbutz EC educational approach – a community-based model for EC Jewish settings; Challenges in teaching bible stories to young children; Teaching Jewish holidays to young children through the Project Approach; Ceremonies and rituals in the Jewish kindergarten according to the developmentally appropriate approach.
Yoni Buckman is the Education Associate at Unpacked for Educators, a division of OpenDor Media. An innovative and experienced Jewish educator, Yoni has been instrumental in designing interdisciplinary curricula and spearheading educational initiatives for American Jewish communities on topics relating to Israel, Judaism, and Hebrew. As part of the Unpacked for Educators team, Yoni plays a key role in forging partnerships with Jewish day schools, congregational schools, summer camps, and independent private schools across North America to deepen their engagement with topics relating to Israel and Judaism.
Dr. Zohar Raviv is an internationally recognized Jewish thought-leader, educator and speaker. Raviv currently serves as the International Vice President of Educational Strategy for Taglit-Birthright Israel, as well as Scholar in Residence for both The ICenter for Israel Education and Momentum Unlimited. Raviv’s professional experience spans Israel, North America, South America, Europe, South Africa and Australia. He holds a B.A in Land of Israel Studies from Bar-Ilan University, a Joint M.A in Judaic Studies and Jewish Education from Brandeis University, as well as M.A in Near Eastern Studies and a PhD in Jewish Thought — both from the University of Michigan.
Raviv plays a central role in shaping Birthright Israel’s educational philosophy, language and pedagogy, and is considered a leading voice in some of the global paradigm shifts concerning contemporary Jewish identity, Israel-world Jewry relations, Jewish peoplehood and the overall mandate of Jewish and Israel education in the 21st century.
Raviv was the recipient of the 2015 Bernard Reisman Award at Brandeis University, where he was recognized as “One of the most influential Jewish educators in the world”.