The Birth of NewCAJE

Going to its Grassroots, NewCAJE Launches as an Innovative, Pluralistic Network of Jewish Educators

An intergenerational group of Jewish educators has issued a call to the grassroots membership of the Jewish educational community to re-establish the pluralistic network that was CAJE under the name NewCAJE – New Coalition for Alternatives in Jewish Education.

A letter from Rabbi Cherie Koller-Fox, a founder of CAJE, endorsed by seven other past CAJE presidents, went out this week to former members inviting them to become charter members of NewCAJE and outlining a series of steps to make the organization viable. The letter was accompanied by an endorsement from some forty young leaders – Jewish educators, rabbis, and communal workers in their twenties and thirties – pledging their support for “the establishment of an independent organization that will bring together Jewish educators across denominations and teaching settings, will advocate for Jewish education on a national level; will create networking opportunities for educators to disseminate innovative ideas; and will celebrate Jewish life and culture and its transmission to a new generation.”

The new organization will incorporate the core CAJE values of pluralism, shared teaching and learning, and immersion in Torah l’shema. Operationally, it will be volunteer-led and supported by its grassroots constituency. Money initially raised will go to buy the intellectual property of the former organization, to outreach to the next generation of Jewish educators, and to produce the next conference.

For more information, check out the NewCAJE Website.