Deep learning and genuine mastery require sustained focus, practice, and human guidance— not shortcuts, distractions, and digital gimmicks. Unfortunately, screens in classrooms have displaced what is essential for true understanding. Given the latest research on the significant downsides of educational technology, how can our community move schools toward more effective and more enduring models of teaching and learning?

The habit of reading is not just personal; it is a civic responsibility. Literacy underpins democracy, prepares young men and women for lives of civic purpose, and deepens the capacity for informed judgment by transmitting the hard-won lessons of history and culture. How can Jewish day schools cultivate serious readers who are prepared to steward our republic with wisdom and discernment? How do we help create a new birth of reading?

The Hebrew Bible is part of America’s civilizational DNA, and great Jewish leaders have shaped the American project in every arena of civic life. As America celebrates its 250th anniversary as a nation, American Jews should consider our special role in strengthening the American fabric. Jewish days schools should see themselves as American citadels: models of educational excellence for the nation to emulate and guardians of the Jewish ideas at the heart of American liberty.

Jewish teachers are our civilizational torchbearers. Yet the field faces a generational crisis: fewer Jews and fewer Americans are entering the teaching profession. How do we inspire the next generation to take up this sacred work and ensure the continuity of excellence in Jewish education? How do we invest in educating, preparing, and elevating the next generation of master teachers and school leaders?

The foundation of serious learning is mastery of the fundamentals: Hebrew letters and Hebrew language are the gateway to the great texts and teachings of the Jewish tradition; English grammar is the gateway to deep reading and clear expression; the facts of history are the gateway to understanding the deeper meaning of Western civilization. Without mastering the scales, our students are forever halted at the door of true culture. Against the delusion that critical thinking is possible without true mastery, we need to offer a different approach: the renewal of knowledge as the basis of true learning.

For generations, Shakespeare has been a crucial rite of passage in shaping the moral and intellectual imagination of our students.  How do we teach Shakespeare and other masterworks of the Western canon in a way that invites serious thinking about the truths of human nature, the beauty of great art, and the role of Jewish ideas in shaping how our students understand the heights of human culture? Can Jewish day schools help lead a Shakespeare renaissance and send a message the great books should return to the center of the humanities curriculum?