Beit Midrash

VR Makom is a spiritual experiment and experience designed to increase middle school students’ sense of awe and wonder. Integrating Virtual Reality into Jewish prayer can create positive student experiences that have a lasting and transformative impact on their attitudes to prayer and spirituality. Oren will share data and anecdotes from his work and answer questions.

Oren Kaunfer is Madrich Ruchani (Spiritual Educator) at JCDS Boston’s Jewish Community Day School. Drawing on a diverse background ranging from Camp Ramah to the Institute for Jewish Spirituality to producing animation at MTV, Oren’s creativity, energy, and spirit elevate and energize the community, and infuse JCDS with genuine ruach (spirit). In 2018, Oren received The Covenant Foundation’s prestigious Pomegranate Prize for emerging Jewish educators and received a grant for his groundbreaking work bridging virtual reality and prayer. Oren is particularly interested in creating innovative and engaging t’fillah (prayer), and fostering meaningful connections to Judaism.

A socio-historical analysis of the development of yeshivas and their conversational practices, focusing on systematic evaluations of dialogues within traditional study pairs (Chavruta) and groups (Chabura). We explore these practices’ contributions to modern educational objectives, such as knowledge creation, dialogical and collaborative learning, and fostering critical thinking. Additionally, we discuss the degree of autonomy in yeshiva textual studies. This examination also considers whether Western educational traditions might benefit or find solutions to their challenges through these ancient learning methodologies.  

Dr. Zvi Bekerman teaches anthropology of education at the School of Education, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and is a research fellow at The Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace in the same university. His main interests are in the study of cultural, ethnic and national identity, including identity processes and negotiation during intercultural encounters and in formal/informal learning contexts. He is particularly interested in how concepts such as culture and identity intersect with issues of social justice, intercultural and peace education, and citizenship education. In addition to publishing multiple papers in a variety of academic journals, Bekerman is the founding editor of the refereed journal Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education: An International Journal.

Among his most recent books: Bekerman, Z., & Zembylas, M. (2017). Psychologized language in education: Denaturalizing a regime of truth, Palgrave Macmillan – Springer; Bekerman, Zvi (2016), The Promise of Integrated and Multicultural Bilingual Education: Inclusive Palestinian-Arab and Jewish Schools in Israel, Oxford University Press, 2016; Bekerman, Zvi & Michalinos Zembylas (2012), Teaching Contested Narratives Identity, Memory and Reconciliation in Peace Education and Beyond. London, Cambridge University Press; and Bekerman, Zvi; Geisen, Thomas (Eds.) (2012) International Handbook of Migration, Minorities and Education Understanding Cultural and Social Differences in Processes of Learning. New York: Springer. Claire McGlynn, Michalinos Zembylas, & Zvi Bekerman (Eds.) (2013) Integrated Education in Conflicted Societies. Palgrave, Mcmillan.