The 2013 ECE-RJ Conference
Revolution in Early Childhood
Technology, Teaching, Testing, Torah
Celebrating our Bat Mitzvah year, the Morristown Conference, in collaboration with the local Partnership for Jewish Learning and Life, was the largest in our history with over 400 attendees.
Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the URJ, welcomed clergy, professional staff and lay leadership from all the local Reform congregations in the MetroWest Region to the Kehillah Connection Breakfast, and was our fifth speaker in our “Distinguished Speaker” Series.
Additionally he met privately with all past and present ECE-RJ Board members during a give and take conversation about the future of Jewish early childhood education. Rabbi Daniel Cohen of South Orange, NJ was the Keynote Speaker; his topic “Tots and Tech: Speaking the Language of Today’s Kids,” set the tone for the conference.
In addition to 35 scheduled workshops, ECE-RJ was pleased to offer a special two-part workshop presented by eight directors of the URJ Camps.
Other important guests were Rabbi Jonathan Stein (President of the CCAR), Cantor Ellen Dreskin, Lisa Lieberman Barzilai (NATE) and Jane West Walsh (PARDeS). URJ Books & Music sponsored a dessert reception and introduced their author Ann D. Koffsky, who wrote the 3,000,000th book distributed by PJ Library, Noah’s Swim-a-Thon. Host congregations, Temple B’nai Or of Morristown and Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel of South Orange were welcoming and made our group feel at home for a wonderful “home-made” Shabbat meal and two very different but extremely spiritual experiences.
