BJE Builder Marcy Goldberg - Temple Adat Elohim

Jewish education provides a language through which our members can understand the world, express what is in their hearts, form relationships with other members of the community and with God, and gain access to a rich treasury of wisdom and insight.  Jewish education is a portal to a richer life that is grounded in the sacredness of a land and people and encompassed in the holiness of time.

 

Builders of Jewish education must begin with a personal conviction that they have something worthwhile to share. Upon that foundation, they must have two visions: first, they must imagine the community that graduates of their educational program will inhabit. Second, they must imagine the path that people might take to become active members of the community. A builder understands what a person needs to know, and also what experiences a person must go through to gain that knowledge and become committed to living within that future community.



Marcy Goldberg is a deeply religious person. She has a meaningful relationship with God that inspires her to elevate her own life through the study and practice of Mussar, meaningful personal prayer and deeply reflective study. She models the religious community in which she wants to live and invites others to become a part of that community through chesed, the lovingkindness that she demonstrates to people on a regular basis. Marcy has created a program that engages the entire family, from children to grandparents. She is engaging and encouraging of everyone, regardless of their beliefs, and encourages them to embark on their own personal explorations as they embrace the kind of people they wish to be and the kind of Jewish family they wish to have.



Even before the pandemic, Marcy was experimenting with new teaching methodologies such as problem-based and project-based learning. However, the upheaval brought by the pandemic necessitated accelerating some of the curricular changes while navigating an entirely new mode of interacting. Marcy reached out to her community of fellow educators, sharing her insights with them, and gaining theirs in return. With the new school year, Marcy helped all of the school grades to experiment with problem-based learning while embracing new technologies and rhythms of the classroom. Flexibility has been a key in all of these changes. No doubt our program will change again before the school year is through, and no doubt, Marcy will be on the vanguard of facilitating that change.



Marcy Goldberg is being recognized at BJE's Out of the Box Gala on February 5, 2021, along with other educational leaders throughout Los Angeles.

For more information about who is being recognized and how to participate, please go to www.bjela.org/gala.

To learn more about Temple Adat Elohim, please visit their website by clicking here.