Hasidic Education

For the past decade, I’ve dedicated myself to expanding educational opportunities in the Hasidic Jewish community in New York where I was raised.

I’ve been fortunate to receive a stellar education later in life and, coupled with kindness and generosity of many people along the way, to have opportunities open to me that I once could not have imagined. I feel strongly that members of my childhood community who want similar opportunities should have access to them.

Jewish community through community engagement, op-eds, media outreach, and city/state political lobbying

My work to offer education opportunities over the years has taken many forms: community engagement, political lobbying, personal mentoring, book clubs, advisory roles, media outreach, and more.

While my commitment to expanding opportunity has remained unwavering, my thinking about how best to do so has evolved. Earlier on, I hoped to improve secular education within Hasidic community schools directly. In more recent times, I've come to view change in curriculum as infringing too much on community cultural norms. Increasingly, I believe the better approach is to make high-quality educational resources and opportunities available outside the school system, empowering those who seek them without imposing change on those who do not.

Below is a collection of some of my writings and interviews that reflect my evolving thinking on this topic.