In-person seminar: 26–28 January 2027, Rome
In-person seminar: 26–28 January 2027, Rome
A Yesod Europe Seminar in partnership with M² The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education.
As Jewish communal professionals, we influence far more than programmes and services. Through our decisions, relationships, leadership and daily work, we help shape the culture and character of our organisations and communities.
Yesod Europe invites professionals working outside primarily educational roles to explore how Jewish values, ideas and perspectives can inform professional practice in ways that feel genuine and meaningful. Together, we will ask:
What makes an organization Jewish? What values drive us as Jewish professionals, and how do they show up in the daily work of leading, deciding, and building?
This seminar is delivered in partnership with M²: The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education. You will be introduced to tools, ideas and approaches to help you identify opportunities within your own role and consider practical ways to bring those ideas into action.
PROGRAMME DETAILS:
In-person seminar: 26–28 January 2027, Rome
Online follow-up cohort session: 25 March 2027, 11:30–12:30 CET
Participation fee: €300
Applications Close: 16 November 2026
Notification: Participants will be selected and notified by 19 November 2026.
Participants are expected to commit to both the three-day in-person seminar and the online follow-up session.
WHO IS THIS FOR:
This seminar is designed for Jewish communal professionals in Europe who:
- Work as a paid community professional in Europe.
- Influence organisational culture, decision-making or strategy through their professional responsibilities.
- Work primarily in non-educational roles, such as:
- Management
- Communications and marketing
- Fundraising and development
- Human resources
- Operations
- Finance
- Community relations
- Strategic planning
WHAT WE’LL EXPLORE:
- Personal values work: Who you are as a Jewish professional and what drives you.
- Learning about challenges facing European Jewish communities through an excursion into historic and modern Rome.
- What makes an organisation “Jewish,” and where your organization sits within the breadth of contemporary Jewish life.
- Case studies of values in practice, drawn from real communal contexts.
- Approaches for translating this into your own role.
WHAT YOU’LL TAKE WITH YOU:
- A more articulate sense of the values that drive your professional life.
- A practical framework for understanding your organisation through a values lens.
- A peer community of Jewish communal professionals across Europe engaged in the same questions.
- Case studies and tools you can bring into your work.
- A clearer sense of what you want to do next, with support to act on it.
ILANA GLEICHER-BLOOM
Ilana Gleicher-Bloom is the Director of Resources at M², where she loves the work of turning big Jewish ideas into practical tools educators can actually use. This builds on two decades of experience across Jewish educational settings: most recently as Director of Experiential Education at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, and before that as the founding director of an innovative congregational religious school in Chicago, work that earned her the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize in 2018. Earlier in her career, she taught Talmud and Tanakh at Jewish high schools in New York and Chicago. Ilana holds a BA from Brandeis University and was part of the inaugural cohort of the Melamdim Teacher Education Program at the Hartman Institute and Tel Aviv University. She lives in Jerusalem with her husband and three kids, and can usually be found with a book, a coffee, or both.
ELYSSA MOSS RABINOWITZ
Elyssa Moss Rabinowitz creates worlds of Jewish meaning and beauty by using all forms of media to create interactive, participatory events and programs of Jewish content. She is a co-founder and the Executive Director of Kol HaOt- Illuminating Jewish Life through Art, a Jerusalem-based organization dedicated to weaving the magic of the arts into Jewish educational experiences. Located in the beautiful artist colony in Hutzot HaYotzer in Jerusalem, the Kol HaOt Center hosts workshops, gallery exhibits, performing arts events, an artist-in-residence program, and a variety of professional development programs for teachers and educators. An experienced facilitator and Jewish educator, Elyssa enjoys serving as adjunct faculty for M² in a variety of roles. Originally from California, Elyssa has lived in Jerusalem most of her life, with her life partner Dovi, their five children, two in-laws and precious granddaughter!
To apply for The J Factor – Uncovering Jewish values in our Professional Practice please click here
APPLICATIONS CLOSE 16 NOVEMBER
Participants will be selected and notified by 19 Nov
Feel free to contact us at info@yesodeurope.eu if you have any questions.
