Jody Bessner This is Me

Education

 View all 7 references Web References

1. 1. www.jrf.org

   www.jrf.org/edtalker/policy-do - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/17/2007   Last Visited: 3/17/2007

   Jody Bessner, NY
   ...
   To Jody Bessner, Education Director at West End Synagogue in New York, NY, the idea of requiring X number of hours of synagogue attendance leads to a number of problems: it encourages people to merely fulfill the requirements, overemphasizes the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony, and encourages "retirement" from synagogue life after completion of this rite. She would much prefer that synagogue attendance be considered a communal norm, rather than a "requirement." This would, in her opinion, be more in keeping of the Reconstructionist value of maximizing involvement. She also admits that she belongs to a shul where the cultural change she is encouraging has not taken place, much to her chagrin.

2. 2. www.westendsynagogue.org

   www.westendsynagogue.org/jody_ - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/18/2003   Last Visited: 5/18/2003

   Jody Bessner
   ...
   Education Dir. Jody Bessner
   ...
   Jody Bessner came aboard in the mid-1990s under a three-year grant to set up a family education program. She stayed on after the grant ended and is now Education Director of the synagogue and principal of the Hebrew school.
   ...
   Jody Bessner
   ...
   Education Director Jody Bessner
   ...
   Jody Bessner has been the education director of West End Synagogue for the past six years. Enrollment at the school has quadrupled during her tenure, and classes are offered for children from pre-kindergarten through the high school years. Her emphasis as Hebrew School director has been to integrate family learning with an interactive, hands on school curriculum.
   
   Jody has a B.A. in Judaic Studies from Brooklyn College, an M.S.W. in communal service from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, C.S.W. certification from New York State, and post graduate certification in Jewish family education from the Board of Jewish Education and Fordham University. Jody is past vice-chair of the JFENNY, the Jewish Family Educator's Network of New York, and is chair of the Judaic Studies Committee of the Brandeis School, a Solomon Schechter school in Lawrence, New York. Jody is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Community Center of West Hempstead, and is a member of the Chavurah Committee at the JCC. Prior to coming to West End in 1996, Jody was a family educator and teacher at the Samuel Field YMHA in Queens, and a Hillel Director at several colleges.

3. 3. www.jrf.org

   www.jrf.org/edtalker/edtalk_di - [Cached]

   Published on: 4/8/2006   Last Visited: 8/27/2007

   Jody Bessner, NY
   ...
   To Jody Bessner, Education Director at West End Synagogue in New York, NY, the idea of requiring X number of hours of synagogue attendance leads to a number of problems: it encourages people to merely fulfill the requirements, overemphasizes the bar/bat mitzvah ceremony, and encourages "retirement" from synagogue life after completion of this rite. She would much prefer that synagogue attendance be considered a communal norm, rather than a "requirement." This would, in her opinion, be more in keeping of the Reconstructionist value of maximizing involvement. She also admits that she belongs to a shul where the cultural change she is encouraging has not taken place, much to her chagrin.