Grand Conversation
Podcast
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The Grand Conversation Podcast brings together scholars and educators to explore the opportunities and challenges of contemporary Jewish educational curriculum, culture and policy.
Season 5
- Election Season at SAR High School – A conversation with Rabbi Jonathan Kroll, Principal and Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz, Associate Principal
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“On this special episode of the Grand Conversation, Rabbi Shmuel Hain hosts a discussion with Rabbi Jonathan Kroll and Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz about the upcoming presidential election. In this polarized moment, how has SAR High School tried to foster an environment where all members of our community, staff and students, can engage in political discussion with civility and respect?
Transcript Notes: Election Education: A Presidential election provides an opportunity for our students to explore important issues that affect the future of our country. While the political theater is often full of divisiveness we believe that our students can engage issues civilly and with deep respect for each other. A committee of staff members is coordinating educational programming for our students over the course of the next few months. During in-service we shared this draft of an affirmative set of principles that guide the way we as a community approach the election.”
- Ungrading: It Turns Out that Getting Rid of Grading Changes Everything (Well, A Lot)
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SAR educators, Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz, Ms. Sarah Medved, and Ms. Rebecca Glassberg, who have experimented with different forms of ungrading–removing teachers’ grading power in the classroom and making students responsible for their own learning–talk about their experiences, what brought them to ungrading, and the anticipated and unanticipated outcomes.
- Confidence Project with Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, Mr. Aaron Mitchell & Mr. David Sable
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David Sable and Aaron Mitchell join Rabbi Harcsztark to discuss The Confidence Project, a Machon Siach initiative to connect SAR students and faculty with their peers in three Bronx high schools. This follows on the relationship that SAR Academy has developed with Atmosphere Academy in Riverdale. As we began to bring SAR students together with students from Comp Sci High, The Theater and Arts Production Company School (TAPCo) and the Fannie Lou Hamer School, our teachers worked with Aaron Mitchell and David Sable to prepare our students for conversations across cultural differences. David and Aaron share their professional experiences and guidance as Rabbi Harcsztark shares his vision for this project.
- American Jews and Higher Education: Past is Prologue
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“American Jews and Higher Education:
This series will explore the experience of American Jews in higher education, and consider some of the challenges raised in recent years by shifting campus culture and changes in law and policies around admissions, discrimination, and free speech on campus. As a school committed to the “”grand conversation between Torah and the world””, the majority of whose graduates continue on to secular college, how are we thinking about some of these issues, and what work do we need to do to prepare our graduates to engage them?Past is Prologue
In this episode, Rabbi Shmuel Hain interviews Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz about the history of Jews’ experiences on American college campuses, from the arrival of waves of Eastern European immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th century, through decades of exclusions and quotas through greater acceptance on campuses after World War II. How was higher education once seen as an essential component of American Jews’ “”making it””? And how has shifting campus culture, and shifting cultural and educational norms, in the last part of the 20th and early 21st century, affected that acceptance, and Jewish students’ comfort on campuses? “ - What the Numbers Tell Us, And What They Mean
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In this episode, Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz speaks with two individuals who understand how to gather and use data to offer insight into schools’ successes and areas for improvement. Her first guest is Rabbi Joseph Beyda, principal of the Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School, who discusses his use of data to take the measure of his school community and assess the effectiveness of its programs. Her second guest is Jake Trumbo, project coordinator at Bach Harrison, who oversaw the three administrations of the survey gathering data about substance use among Modern Orthodox adolescents. He discusses the process of surveying, and what it looked like from his side.
This is the second episode in our new series: Substance Use among Modern Orthodox Adolescents: Identifying Problems, Implementing Solutions.
- A Conversation with Dalene Beaulieu
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For the past six years, Machon Siach has been working to understand the scope of the substance use problem among Modern Orthodox adolescents, and to identify and implement evidence-based interventions to address that problem. This eventually led to the implementation of the Guiding Good Choices parenting program for all 9th grade parents. In this work, we have been guided by Dalene Beaulieu, an expert from the University of Washington’s Social Development Research Group. Listen as we explore what we learned from her, and what she learned about our community, over these years. This is the first episode in a new podcast series, hosted by Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz, called Substance Use among Modern Orthodox Adolescents: Identifying Problems, Implementing Solutions.
- Translating Talmud Series: Shema, Time and Gender
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This special series of the Grand Conversation is devoted to the topic of Gemara Education. Our host is Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, Founding Principal of SAR HS and Dean of Machon Siach.
Over the past several years, Machon Siach has convened a Faculty Beit Midrash to develop a shared language for teaching gemara to Modern Orthodox High School students. As part of its research, faculty collaborate with scholars in the field to discuss ways to meaningfully translate their scholarship into the classroom.
This series features one-on-one conversations between Rabbi Harcsztark and outstanding gemara scholars.
In this episode, Rabbi Harcsztark and Dr. Sarit Kattan Gribetz discuss Dr. Kattan Gribetz’s book and research on Time and Difference in Rabbinic Judaism. Key questions include: What do we learn from how the rabbis conceptualized time and how can we translate some of these insights and values to our high school students? How do we deepen our understanding of gendered time including the differences between men and women in Jewish law rooted in the conceptualization of time? What is the relationship between the academic study of Talmud and the religious engagement of Talmud Torah?
Season 4
- Conflict, Crisis, and Communication: A Conversation with Rabbi Dr. Daniel Roth
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This podcast is part of a series of episodes devoted to important conversations we are having at Machon Siach in the aftermath of the October 7th Hamas Terror attacks on Israel, the subsequent military campaign in Gaza, and the impact of the war on Am Yisrael around the world.
This episode features an eye-opening discussion between Rabbi Tully Harcsztark and Rabbi Dr. Daniel Roth- the director of Mosaica, an Israeli NGO focusing on insider religious mediation.
What exactly does the work of insider religious mediation look like during a war?
Is there ongoing dialogue between religious leaders in Muslim and Jewish communities in the Middle East at this terrible time?
What should we as high school educators be teaching our students about the role of religion in this seemingly intractable conflict?
- Our Kids On Campus: Where Are We Now, Where Are We Going?
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“This special episode of the Grand Conversation, recorded at the end of October, is devoted to important, complex, and ongoing issues being discussed in our community in this Post-October 7th world:
How can we meaningfully connect with and support our alumni on college campuses, and how are we helping parents and current SAR HS students navigate the college guidance process?
Our guest host is Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz, Associate Principal of SAR HS and Director of Research and Program Development at Machon Siach. Our two guests are leaders of SAR High School’s College Counseling team, Mr. Michael Courtney, Director of College Counseling at SAR HS and Ms. Michelle Biller-Levy, Associate Director of College Counseling at SAR HS and Director of Post-Graduate Initiatives, at Machon Siach.”
- The Heroes of Israel’s Volunteer Civil Service
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This special episode of the Grand Conversation emerged from the meaningful UJA mission to Israel that our Founding Principal Rabbi Tully Harcsztark was fortunate to join. On that mission, Rabbi Harcsztark ran into Effie Shoham- Shteiner in Jerusalem, an historian specializing in Medieval Jewish History. He is an associate professor at Ben-Gurion University in Be’er-Shevah. Since October 7th, Effie has not been pursuing his academic interests. Instead, he has been volunteering around-the-clock on behalf of the citizens of Medinat Yisrael, especially those from the south who were most directly impacted by the October 7th attack. We are honored to share with you Rabbi Harcsztark in conversation with Effie about the work he has been doing since October 7th.
- Translating Talmud Series: Bridging Scholarship and Students
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This special series of the Grand Conversation is devoted to the topic of Gemara Education. Our guest host is Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, Founding Principal of SAR HS and Dean of Machon Siach.
Over the past several years, Machon Siach has convened a Faculty Beit Midrash to develop a shared language for teaching gemara to Modern Orthodox High School students. As part of its research, faculty collaborate with scholars in the field to discuss ways to meaningfully translate their scholarship into the classroom.
This series features one-on-one conversations between Rabbi Harcsztark and outstanding gemara scholars.
In this first episode of the series, Rabbi Harcsztark and Dr. Elana Stein Hain have a timely discussion on whether and how to teach the talmudic sugya of redeeming captives in the aftermath of the Hamas terror attacks and taking of some 200 Israeli hostages. They also discuss Dr. Stein Hain’s research (and soon-to-be-published book Circumventing the Law) on legal loopholes in rabbinic literature and how to teach this subject to high school students and adults.
- Israel @75: Israel Education at SAR HS
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This episode of the Grand Conversation Podcast, Israel @ 75, is devoted to a wide-ranging discussion of Israel education at SAR HS, featuring: Rabbi Tully Harcsztark, Principal of SAR HS and Dean Of Machon Siach; Ms. Rebecca Wolf, Coordinator of Israel Education and History faculty at SAR HS; and Mr. Yossi Ben-Harush, an Israeli educator who has been at SAR HS for the past two years teaching gemara, ivrit and Modern Israel. Our guests discuss several important questions about Israel Education at SAR HS, including: How has our approach to teaching Modern Israel evolved over the years? How do we navigate critical discussions of Israel current events in our history classrooms? How do we educate our students to participate in difficult discussions about Israel as insiders? What role does advocacy play in Israel education?
- Gemara Education: The High School Classroom and Beyond
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In this episode of the Grand Conversation Podcast, Rabbanit Schlaff joins Rabbi Shmuel Hain to discuss the goals of high school gemara education, recent trends in gemara education in post high school yeshivot and midrashot, and how teaching Torah Shebe’al Peh at SAR High School has changed since the school’s founding twenty years ago.
- Making Sense of Gemara in the High School Classroom
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This issue of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION features a conversation between Rabbi Harcsztark and Talmud professor Dr. Jeffrey Rubenstein about teaching gemara to high school students. This podcast offer an inside look at the important work of the Machon Siach Gemara Faculty Beit Midrash.
Season 3
- To Thine Own Self Be True: Authenticity and Spirituality in the Modern Orthodox Classroom
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This issue of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION is the third in our series on Spirituality and the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva High School. It focuses on the role of authenticity in the classroom and its connection with spirituality. Is there value for teachers and students to bring their spiritual identities in the classroom? How do teachers and students navigate authenticity when it does not align fully with the school’s values? To explore these questions, this issue features a paper by and podcast with Ms. Chana Krasnjanski, an SAR High School English teacher and a member of the Machon Siach Faculty Beit Midrash Spirituality workgroup.
- Spirituality and the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva Part II
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This issue of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION is the second in our series on Spirituality and the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva High School. How can we help students create and deepen their inner spiritual lives? How can we utilize research on spiritual development in adolescents to encourage Jewish practice that is imbued with meaning?
- Spirituality and the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva Part I
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This edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION kicks off a series on Spirituality and the Modern Orthodox Yeshiva High School. How can we help students create and deepen their inner spiritual lives? How can we utilize research on spiritual development in adolescents to encourage Jewish practice that is imbued with meaning? Rabbanit Lisa Schlaff and Dr. Gillian Steinberg coordinated the eight member Faculty Beit Midrash (FBM) group that brainstormed and researched these questions. This edition of Inside the Conversation features two of the FBM research papers and a podcast discussing the group’s work on spirituality.
Season 2
- Between School & Home: What Covid-19 Taught Us About Policy
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This edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION reflects on the feedback of a small focus group of teachers, parents and alumni organized by Dr. Tammy Jacobowitz and Ms. Shira Schiowitz. In response to the disruption caused by Covid-19, they wanted to think more deeply about the intersections between school, home and community and wondered what they could learn from this unusual moment in history about areas of potential alignment and tension between the values of school and home.
- Teaching American Zionism Through Civics Education
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This edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION focuses on American Zionism and Israel education. It features an important essay by Rabbi Tully Harcsztark articulating an alternative approach to teaching American Zionist students the complexities of democratic governance in Israel through a comparison with American democracy and citizenship. The paper was written as part of a research group formed by Rabbi Harcsztark after an Encounter trip he took with other educators, academics, and rabbis. Professor Avi Helfand was part of that research group and he joined Rabbi Harcsztark for the podcast, guest hosted by Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz.
- Israel Education: Teaching The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
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This edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION shares some of the important work of Machon Siach on the subject of Israel Education: Teaching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Teaching about this conflict presents a unique challenge for yeshiva high school educators: How to simultaneously instill within students a strong connection to Israel and pride in the Zionist enterprise whiley laying bare the complex historical realities of Israel’s past and present? At its inception Machon Siach established a research cohort comprised of SAR High School administration and faculty and outside experts to explore this question in-depth. More recently, Machon Siach has partnered with the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace on a program for yeshiva high school principals and educators to engage with each other and with experts to learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and share best practices for teaching.
Season 1
- Theological Perspectives: Homosexuality in Contemporary Orthodox Thought
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This edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION examines the question of Orthodoxy and Homosexuality from a theological perspective. While much discussion has been devoted to policy questions about inclusion in the Orthodox community, less attention has been paid to the deeper theological questions raised by the remarkable shifts in American society on gay marriage and related issues.
Rabbi Nati Helfgot surveys the range of theological perspectives on this issue in an important research paper and in a podcast with Rabbi Shmuel Hain.
- Citizenship in the Modern Orthodox Community
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This pre-election day edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION focuses on the critical work of our Citizenship research group. Following the 2016 election, Machon Siach convened a research group to take a step back and examine several core questions: What aspects of citizenship should be essential to American Modern Orthodox Jews? How do we educate our students towards broader civic engagement in addition to advocacy for parochial concerns? What impact does our commitment to religious Zionism and Medinat Yisrael have on our obligations as citizens?
Dr. Rivka Press Schwartz explores these questions and more in a thought provoking paper and in a pre-election podcast with Rabbi Shmuel Hain.
- Israel Education at SAR: Teaching of Israeli History at a Modern Orthodox Day School
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This edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION focuses on the critical work of our Israel Education faculty research group. How do we foster strong identification with Medinat Yisrael while simultaneously teaching history critically and comprehensively? Ms. Adina Shoulson, SAR High School History Department Chair, and Dr. Laura Shaw Frank, AJC Director of Contemporary Jewish Life and former Director of Israel Guidance at SAR High School, explore this question from a number of perspectives.
- Educational Deliberations: On Teaching the Concept of Shevut
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Machon Siach at SAR High School’s Gemara Education Cohort bridges together the theory and practice of teaching Torah Sheb’al Peh in a Modern Orthodox Yeshiva High School. In this second edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION examines the impact of our unique milieu on the way we teach challenging topics like the rabbinic prohibitions of Shabbat. Rabbi Tully Harcsztark‘s insightful paper explores the different methodologies to be employed in order to have these prohibitions “make sense” to teachers and students. The paper presents a model for how to learn, teach and discuss Torah in-depth in our schools and communities.
- The Use of Metaphors in Discussing Homosexuality
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This inaugural edition of INSIDE THE CONVERSATION is devoted to Dr. Gillian Steinberg’s research on “The Use of Metaphor in Discussions of Homosexuality.”
WATCH…Dr. Steinberg’s “Siach Talk” highlighting the educational and communal importance of the topic.
