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Meet our new Jewish School Director – Jill Jacobs

Posted on October 6, 2018

Jill has just started at Temple Beth David as our new Jewish school director. She comes in with a fresh perspective and many wonderful ideas on how to reinvigorate our school. She initially suggested instead of calling our sessions on Sunday, “Religious school” and on Tuesday, “Hebrew school” to call it all by the same name, “Jewish school.” Personally, I like the Jew pride feeling I get when I say the name of our wonderful school.  Already, Jill has reviewed our curriculum and has proposed innovative changes and additions to more readily engage our students whether they are starting out in Kindergarten or ready to be engaged in ninth grade. We are bringing in new resources for our committed teachers, new books and interactive learning for our students, and, in essence, reinvigorating our school experience.

Our new director is a second generation Californian who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area.  She spent a decade on the east coast in Boston and lived in Israel for three years. Subsequently, she has continued to visit Israel many times. She has a BA in History from UCLA, a Master of Arts in Jewish Education from Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion, and has worked as a teacher and Jewish educator at JCCs, synagogues and Jewish day schools on the east and west coasts and even in Israel. Jill is also a mother to a beautiful eight year old girl.  Her philosophy of Jewish education is that everyone is on their own Jewish journey. The purpose of Jewish education is to inspire people to “do Jewish” and equip them with the skills and knowledge to craft their own Jewish life. She sees herself as a coach of Jewish learning inspiring students to live fully and proudly as Jews.

You will enjoy meeting Jill and marvel at her knowledge about Jewish education. We are looking forward to a good year of learning at our Jewish school at Temple Beth David.