The Jewish Education Project’s RootOne, an ambitious new initiative generously seeded by the Marcus Foundation that aims to help bring tens of thousands of Jewish teens from the United States to Israel on immersive summer teen trips, has hired Rabbi Leor Sinai as its senior director of Israel education. He will lead the effort to build and implement a bold set of educational and experiential strategies and pedagogy for RootOne-affiliated teen Israel experiences.
The rabbi will work closely with the professional leadership of RootOne’s grantee youth-serving organizations as well as RootOne’s committee of Israel education experts, to advance the educational goals and objectives of RootOne-affiliated immersive teen Israel experiences. In his role as an Israel educational thought leader, Sinai will also serve as a public-facing writer and speaker on teen Israel education and immersive experiences.
“Leor is a unique combination of experienced organizational leader, dynamic educator and educational thought leader,” said RootOne executive director Simon Amiel. “He is absolutely the right person to help RootOne and our partners take the next steps in elevating the Israel experience for thousands of young Jews.”
In 2009, Sinai earned his rabbinic ordination and master’s degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary and is a doctoral candidate in educational leadership at the Davidson School of Education at JTS. Prior to his appointment with RootOne, he served as CEO of the Alexander Muss High School in Israel. He also worked with the Jewish Agency for Israel and is the founding director of The Jewish Lens, an art-based educational startup.
Originally from New York, Sinai made aliyah with his family in 2011.
“Education is the greatest cause of our time. Providing long-term Israel engagement opportunities is vital in today’s increasingly globalized society, where individual and group identities are no longer insular,” he said. “Empowering our youth to forge their relationship with Israel as individuals and as part of the collective Klal Yisrael—prior to their arrival to college—is a transformation that lasts a lifetime. I am very excited to join RootOne, it is a merit to take part in this historic initiative.”
RootOne is an initiative of The Jewish Education Project, an agency committed to being at the forefront of ensuring that Jewish education remains relevant and meaningful in the lives of Jewish youth and their families today and tomorrow.
To learn more, see: www.rootone.org and www.jewishedproject.org.
