During the past decade, the Isralight Center for Jewish Leadership has offered rabbis and educators from across the globe the opportunity to visit our Jerusalem headquarters for a series of professional conferences, seminars and summer internships. As these rabbis and educators returned to their home communities across the globe, the demand for the type of content offered by Isralight, enabling educators to clarify some of the most important and fundamental teachings of Jewish thought, has grown exponentially. We now have many alumni in important positions of Jewish educational and communal leadership who continue to rely on Isralight to provide resources and inspiration to them and to their colleagues and students.
One such young leader, is Rabbi Sam Thurgood of Durban, South Africa. Rabbi Thurgood participated in Isralight’s summer internship for rabbinic students in 2007, and subsequently returned to participate in our Isralight Rabbinic Enrichment Conference two years later. Rabbi Thurgood is a popular community rabbi and teacher at the Yeshiva School in Durban, where he has developed a series of creative lesson plans utilizing much of the material he has gained from his training at Isralight, as well as the many written works of Isralight’s Founder and Dean, the renowned author Rabbi David Aaron.
Rabbi Thurgood has been instrumental in setting up a ten day community scholar in residence opportunity in Durban, beginning May 17. Isralight’s Founder and Dean Rabbi David Aaron, together with Associate Dean Rabbi Moshe Kornblum will visit Durban, and will be offering a variety of different seminars during their stay…Here are some of the highlights of their upcoming trip:
1. Teacher Training
Rabbi Aaron will be presenting sessions to Rabbis and Jewish Studies Teachers at Yeshiva Day School.
Rabbi Aaron will also be presenting to Talmud Torah Teachers at the Durban Hebrew Schools Association an after school program for Jewish kids who attend the local public schools.
2. Young Leadership Shabbaton
Rabbis Aaron and Kornblum will be leading a Shabbaton geared towards building leaders in the Youth and young adult communities. The focus of the Shabbat will be to provide inspirational content and encourage young adults within the college and post University age group to consider taking a more active role and to consider even becoming a leader in the Jewish community..
3. Lay Leadership Retreat
The following week there will be a 2 day retreat specifically focused on the lay leadership of the Kehilla,as well as a separate seminar for the Women’s League of the Jewish Community, in order to offer encouragement and inspiration to the vital role these individuals play in the vibrancy of the Jewish community.
For more information regarding the many leadership training opportunities offered by the Isralight Center for Jewish Leadership, please contact Rabbi Sam Shor, Director of Leadership Development via email sam@isralight.org .
