JLE – Jewish Learning Experience – is a bold rethinking of how to be relevant in an ever-changing world

Andrew Adler | Jewish Louisville Community

Corey Shapiro and Carol Jones are among the most passionate and hardest working members of Louisville’s Jewish community. Five years ago — about the time that Covid was upending life across the globe – they joined with a diverse group of Louisville stakeholders to launch a fundamental rethinking of how Jewish education for elementary and high school students might evolve. They played a consistent role in the growth of this project as it developed organically, along with the help of so many others. The Jewish Heritage Fund and the Jewish Federation of Louisville brought the initial group to the table, offered critical financial and logistical assistance, and supported thought leaders from the inception, donating considerable staff time and expertise to the initiative.

Significantly, representatives from several Jewish congregations–Temple Shalom, The Temple Congregation Adath Israel Brith Sholom, Adath Jeshurun and Keneseth Israel–along with the existing Louisville Beit Sefer Yachad (LBSY) — helped provide a vision of Jewish education for the future of our community. Together, they laid a groundwork for a reimagining of Jewish education in Louisville.

Initially, they brought in experts from the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based consultancy firm Plan A Advisors, to prompt a discussion about how to best ensure that no opportunity was missed. The group concluded that a completely new, independent agency would open a wide range of exciting possibilities. It would be separately governed, with its own board and executive director, bringing together what had been disparate programs into a single, unified structure – a true community school.

Subsequent discussion over several years eventually yielded a name: Jewish Learning Experience – more often referred to by its initials: JLE. Following the guidance of the community, JLE is in the process of setting up its governance structure. Efforts are currently underway to hire an Executive Director, who will lead the new Grades K through 8 and high school programs. Throughout this transition, a pilot program for high school-age students is already being shaped. Shapiro and Jones have been vital participants in this process at every stage.

Thus, it was only natural that both of them would be picked to lead the Board of the new JLE initiative. They join Eric Goodman, Yehudah Husband, Rachel Klein, Kevin Trager, Becky Ruby Swansburg, Mark Behr, and Elliott Rosengarten, on the governing body of the newly forming organization.

“I think there was just an opportunity to start with something brand new, something innovative,” says Shapiro. “It started with an interest from the Jewish Heritage Fund and Jewish Federation thinking through what a school representing the whole community would look like.”

Committee meetings, aided by a facilitator, examined various core issues such as breadth of curriculum, optimal size, and most efficient means of governance. “We tried to get buy-in from the four largest synagogues,” Shapiro explained, “to show that everyone’s in the room.”

The goal, Shapiro says, was not necessarily unanimity, but consensus. There was acknowledgement that post-Covid, existing institutions were facing “shrinking enrollment,” making it even more imperative that “these kids all know each other, because it’s such a small community.”

Simply put, “the hope is to re-engage students and families,” particularly those who haven’t hewn to traditional pathways into Judaism, Jones says.

“We did a lot of focus groups, wanting to hear from families. And the thing everybody is asking for is ‘connection,’” she says. Students, especially teenagers, don’t always thrive amid legacy classroom settings. “Content has to be delivered in a way that engages them — families were asking for a lot of flexibility.”

Teens “have a lot more independence, with more after-school things they can do on their own or with their friend groups” says Jones, who has two teenagers of her own, ages 17 and 19. “There’s a lot more competition.”

That thinking led the entire community to embrace innovation. “Let’s take a step back from the knee-jerk reaction of what people tend to think of about their experience with religious or Hebrew school,” says JHF Program Director Jaime Jorrisch. “There are innovations happening all over the country to imagine what a supplemental school can be – not just as a mitzvah-prep school, but as a catalyst for community engagement for families and children. So, we see this as a transformative initiative for the community at large.”

The project wouldn’t have begun or be moving forward without the tireless support of JHF. “They have been an integral part of this journey from the first step,” says Sara Klein Wagner, President and CEO of the Federation and the Trager Family JCC. “JHF has committed a three-year grant to support this start up. It’s another example of their ongoing, exceptional commitment to this community and we must thank them.”

“For us, this is a three-prong strategy to invest in Jewish identity-forming experiences for children: camp, teen Israel travel and supplemental school,” says Jorrisch. “This is based on research that’s been done about how these experiences impact children through their lives, and the ways they are involved in the Jewish community.”

“This new JLE entity is focused on meeting the needs of today’s children and families — recognizing our world is changing so quickly around us,” Wagner emphasizes. “It’s about what today’s families and children will embrace and their defining take-aways, knowing that the world is always changing and there are more competing activities than ever before.”

AJ, KI and Temple Shalom, LBSY and the Federation have signed onto the JLE as founding members of the K-12 program. For now, The Temple is choosing to maintain its separate elementary and middle-school religious school program: JLAB (Jewish Learning and Belonging), a component of its Chester B. Diamond Religious School. But it is participating in the new JLE framework for a combined high school as it continues to take shape. LBSY will continue its programming under the leadership of Bev Weinberg and their board at least for the next school year with the goal of coming under the auspices of the JLE.

“We’re all very excited about this first transitional phase of JLE, and the concept high school program in development that will be open for students in the fall of 2025,” Wagner says. Noah Klein, an assistant principal at Seneca High School, is being brought on to lead the high school program for next year and is already meeting with prospective students.

“Noah is excited to be part of creating something new and is approaching the challenge with the spirit of: ‘There’s learning just to learn, and there’s learning with a purpose.’” 

Klein has been an educator in this community for nearly two decades. “I love being an educator and I love helping young adults shape their identities and ideals,” he says. “My sense of identity as a Jewish person drives much of what I do as an educator, and I want to pass that sense along to the next generation of future Jewish leaders.” 

Recalling the former Kesher Kentucky Leadership program, JLE’s pilot high school framework will include a component dubbed Kesher Sundays, a leadership development program for 9th and 10th graders. Kesher Sundays aims to foster connections (in Hebrew, the word ‘kesher” means “connection” or “bond”) between current and future Jewish leaders and organizations. Sessions will be designed to be lively and interactive, exploring such topics as Jewish government, Jewish arts, and Jewish philanthropy, meeting on Sundays throughout the school year. The program will highlight out-of-classroom events like field trips and may include at least one overnight experience. 

The high school initiative under the JLE will succeed the program presently offered by the High School of Jewish Studies (HSJS). “It is important for us that this next step for Jewish education in Louisville build on the successes that principal Sarah Harlan and her board built at HSJS over more than a decade,” Wagner says. “As JLE combines all the initiatives under ‘one roof,’ we share our gratitude with Sarah, the HSJS board, and all the people involved for what they have done for this community and for this transition.” 

Even as this new high school initiative “gets legs” Co-Chairs Shapiro and Jones are back at work, getting the details on JLE’s formation “right.” From setting board members’ roles, to hiring the new Executive Director, to making sure that the entire program sets out on the right path, their leadership embraces the big picture and small details. But ultimately, their work is about building a future for our community. 

“My hope is that we will be able to offer programming that draws families in,” Jones says, “because this is a type of education that can’t be outsourced. It has so much to do with what families do in their homes and with their day-to-day decision making. Is it based on Judaic ethics? How do they talk to their children about different issues that come up? This will be a partnership.” 

It’s vital to regard Jewish Learning Experience not simply Version 2.0 of an existing institution, but as an entirely new approach to immersing young people in Judaism and Jewish life. Call it a living, breathing acknowledgment of our Jewish future. 

It is reported in the Talmud that a person planted carob trees even into old age. When asked why, he said, “Just as my ancestors planted for me, so will I plant for my children.” As the five-year work of Shapiro and Jones–with support from JHF, the Federation, the synagogues, clergy and many volunteers—begins to bear fruit, there is no question that the work they have done has that very spirit at its core.