CAJE News

CAJE is thrilled to celebrate The Miami Jewish Film Festival (MJFF)’s inclusion — for the fourth time — on MovieMaker Magazine’s prestigious list of the “50 Best Film Festivals in the World.” This significant honor places MJFF, a program of CAJE, in the top tier of global cinematic institutions and reaffirms its standing as a leader in the presentation of international Jewish and Israeli cinema. With this recognition, MJFF continues to make history as the only Jewish film festival ever to be named to MovieMaker’s annual list, which highlights festivals that filmmakers and audiences alike regard as transformative experiences.

In January of this year, Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools released a report about Jewish day school alumni on campus. It shows in numbers just what a difference attending Jewish day school makes in the lives of young Jewish college students. This data provides us with more concrete evidence of what those of us in the field already know-- compared to peers who did not attend Jewish day school, Jewish day school alumni consistently report stronger ties to their Jewish identity, a deeper connection to Israel, and greater participation in Jewish life during their college years. Simply put, these are the building blocks of our Jewish future, and Jewish day school is where these students learn to build.

Last month Scheck Hillel Community School once again played host to a vibrant and inspiring event: the 8th Annual CAJE Jewish Day School Robotics Festival, supported by the Eleanor M. and Herbert D. Katz Foundation. Over 230 students from 12 Jewish day schools across South Florida gathered to showcase their creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration skills in a fun and friendly robotics competition. The festival marks the culmination of a year of hands-on STEM learning through CAJE’s Jewish Day School Robotics Program — a flagship initiative that introduces robotics, coding, and engineering into Jewish day schools across the tri-county area.

This summer, CAJE Adult Learning: The Center for Jewish Ideas and Engagement is thrilled to unveil an extraordinary collaboration with the Jewish Heritage Alliance (JHA)—a global initiative committed to reclaiming and celebrating the powerful legacy of Sephardic Jewry. Together, we're launching a captivating new course that dares to tell the story most history books have left out: Sefarad: The Untold Story That Changed the World. From the dazzling heights of medieval Spain’s golden age to the long and dark shadows cast by the Inquisition and Expulsion, the story of Sefarad is one of both triumph and tragedy. It includes the complex and often heartbreaking journey of the conversos — Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity, many of whom continued to practice Judaism in secret, thus shaping a hidden chapter of incredible resilience.

At the end of April, more than 55 participants from Miami, including high school seniors and staff, traveled to Poland for CAJE’s Leo Martin March of the Living. Although this year’s journey did not continue to Israel, the connection to Israel was present throughout-- woven into the educational framing, the reflective moments, and many of the sites that were visited in Poland. In Kraków, we walked through once-vibrant Jewish neighborhoods. At Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Birkenau, we bore witness to the horrors of the Holocaust.

On Wednesday, May 7, more than 60 rabbis, educators, and community leaders gathered for a deeply impactful Lunch & Learn event with Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg, one of the most influential Jewish thinkers and theologians of our time. Titled “The American Jewish Century: Stories, Insights and Wisdom from a Lifetime Shaping the Jewish People,” the session was hosted by CAJE: Adult Learning | The Center for Jewish Ideas and Engagement, in collaboration with the Hadar Institute and the Rabbinical Association of Greater Miami.

The new Netflix miniseries Adolescence is haunting. It pulls no punches as it unpacks what it means to grow up today, where the line between online and offline is increasingly invisible, and increasingly dangerous. As the show follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller, who is accused of a horrific act, it forces viewers to confront the social and emotional weight our kids carry. As a parent, educator, and someone who works closely with hundreds of teens each year, it stuck with me. But what stayed with me even more than the plot was the silence. The missed conversations.

50% of all new teachers drop out of teaching within their first five years. Since 2008, CAJE has partnered with the Jewish New Teacher Project (JNTP) to increase teacher retention and reduce teacher dropout. Through the two-year JNTP training, new teachers are paired with veteran teachers so they can better handle the school culture and challenges of the classroom. Simultaneously, JNTP shows experienced teachers how to serve as mentors to new teachers. Mentor-mentee pairs meet regularly to focus on classroom management, instructional planning, and pedagogy. This collaboration is a win-win because it not only enhances the new teachers’ practices and satisfaction but also encourages the reflective growth of the mentors. This week, the CAJE Miami - Jewish New Teacher Project (JNTP) program concluded Year 1 of the two-year training.