MaTaRoT: 鲸鱼传媒 Center for Jewish Professional Learning & Leadership
Your Goals. Your Growth.
MaTaRoT: 鲸鱼传媒鈥檚 Center for Professional Learning and Leadership is your hub for professional development in Jewish Education. MaTaRoT, meaning “goals,” describes our work together: Mentoring, Teaching, Reaching Together.
鲸鱼传媒鈥檚 menu of professional development offerings is guided by a belief that teaching is a complex and dynamic process that demands continual improvement.听 We believe that supporting teachers and educational leaders in congregational schools serves to deepen and broaden theexperiences of the professionals, and thus the students and the families in their programs. By focusing on the intellectual and pedagogical growth of all of the professionals who interact with the students week in and week out, we are investing in improving the teaching and learning in these institutions.
Choose your Path
We offer three paths for your professional growth:
Bonim Beyachad is a 10-month cohort-based fellowship at 鲸鱼传媒 in Newton, MA to support adults who are new to teaching in part-time and supplemental Jewish educational settings. The fellowship provides in-person and virtual professional development in pedagogy, content, and classroom management for new teachers.
Educational leaders in all settings of Jewish Education partner with an experienced leadership coach to grow their leadership skills and stances.
Meet virtually throughout the year with a coach, one on one, to examine and practice specific leadership skills, as you navigate and strengthen your professional practice. (Up to 16 sessions)
Instructor:听MaTaRoT Faculty Dates & Times:听Agreed upon between faculty coach and participant Location:听Zoom
Coaching Pricing
Size of Congregation
CJP Congregation
National Congregation*
Small (0-200 family units)
$1,800
$3600
Medium (201-450 family units)
$2,250
$3600
Large (over 450 family units)
$2,750
$3600
*鲸鱼传媒 alumni price for National Coaching (outside of Boston) ONLY: $3300.00
Are you reimagining your Congregational Education program? Do you need support and guidance as to where to begin and how to accomplish your community鈥檚 goals and aspirations for the children and families in your program?
Join with our experienced Faculty and Coaches to dream big and succeed in implementing new structures and content for your program. Working one on one with a coach you will identify areas ripe for innovation and create a workplan to realize your dreams.
鲸鱼传媒鈥檚 MaTaRoT Program ReDesign Coaches contract with each school or program individually to meet your needs and your budget.
Inviting God into the Classroom Join MaTaRoT and Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire for this four week short course.
Dates & Times: Tuesdays, November 4, 11, 18, 25; 7-8pm ET Location: Zoom (link provided upon registration) Cost: $150/participant Registration: /invitinggodintotheclassroom/
Learn some practical skills for inviting God into the classroom. We will focus on 鈥楨ssence鈥� 鈥� ideas about God and 鈥楶resence鈥� 鈥� ways to encounter a Spiritual Awareness for young people. Our practice will include teaching about God鈥檚 name and character, prayer-full skills, blessings, storytelling, Torah Godly Play and creative writing. Resources will be shared included textbooks, curricula, videos, podcasts, AI tools etc. If you have a resource or tool for inviting God into the classroom, come share it with us.
Directors of Education in the Greater Boston Area are invited to join a monthly COP guided by the interest of the group. In this group we share, explore, and critically respond to the opportunities and demands of our important work. This group is open to all schools in the CJP catchment area.
Join our Community of Practice for the 2025-2026 school year.
Pictured: Educators gathered for their year-end lunch at 鲸鱼传媒
Our 鲸鱼传媒 PBL faculty has years of experience in supporting Congregational Schools and communities to incorporate elements of PBL into their weekly program. PBL provides students and teachers with opportunities for following their passions, bringing relevance into the classroom, having voice, and choice, exploring questions that have meaning , and creating products and services that have real-world applications. Schools have experimented with whole-school change through PBL, as well as small innovations with groups of children during short intervals of time.
Schedule an information conversation with Marion Gribetz to learn more about how PBL can elevate teaching and learning in your setting.
(Pictured: In October 2022, 鲸鱼传媒’s MaTaRoT Center hosted colleagues from the liberal Amsterdam Jewish community for a week of project-based learning. The group celebrated Simchat Torah with 鲸鱼传媒 2015 alumna Rabbi Susie Schwartz at her shul Temple Israel of Boston.)
Bonim Beyachad is a 10-month cohort-based fellowship at 鲸鱼传媒 in Newton, MA to support adults who are new to teaching in part-time and supplemental Jewish educational settings. The fellowship provides in-person and virtual professional development in pedagogy, content, and classroom management for new teachers.
Instructor:听MaTaRoT Faculty Dates & Times:听Agreed upon between faculty coach and participant Location:听Zoom
Coaching Pricing
Size of Congregation
CJP Congregation
National Congregation*
Small (0-200 family units)
$1,800
$3600
Medium (201-450 family units)
$2,250
$3600
Large (over 450 family units)
$2,750
$3600
*鲸鱼传媒 alumni price for National Coaching (outside of Boston) ONLY: $3200.00
Leadership Coaching
Jewish Educators partner with an experienced coach to develop and deepen skills in areas such as change management, interpersonal communication, supervision, leadership, etc. to achieve professional goals. (Up to 16 sessions)
Building on the success of our current coaching we are pleased to offer several choices for听Leadership Coaching听in the coming year, including听limited spaces听for those coachees that would like to continue for an additional year.
Curriculum Coaching
For Senior Educational Leaders: Are you looking to review your curriculum needs? Have you been considering making a change to your curricular goals, scope and sequence? MaTaRoT coaches are available to work with you as you investigate your curricular needs (10 sessions).
Marion Gribetz, Director of 鲸鱼传媒 Educational Initiatives
Our newly redesigned MaTaRoT MJED and professional development offerings provide educators with flexible, applicable, course work that closely connects theory and practice. Our new incoming cohort will study together in community and support each other as they grow and develop new knowledge and skills. The focus on the soulfulness of education and the skills needed to be instructional leaders is the perfect combination to help these individuals gain knowledge, skills and their individual habits of heart, mind and hands.
Certificate in Jewish Spiritual Education (4 credits)
Certificate in Jewish Educational Leadership (4 credits)
Certificate in Emerging Trends in Jewish Education (4 credits)
Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Jewish Education (4 credits)
All four modules within a certificate program must be completed to earn the graduate level certification. (Individual modules may not be taken for graduate credit.) Upon completion, students earn 4 graduate credits and an official transcript from 鲸鱼传媒.
Using Certificate Credit Toward a Master in Jewish Education Degree
If you enroll in a certificate program and decide to apply to our Master of Jewish Education program before the end of the course, you are eligible to apply up to an additional 4 credits (for a total of 8 credits for the certificate) toward your degree.
鲸鱼传媒鈥檚 Master of Jewish Education (MJED) Program offers a comprehensive curriculum that combines leadership for learning, pedagogic application, and social and spiritual learning; supervised field experience; and an opportunity to become an iCenter Fellow for the teaching of Israel.
MJED Fast Facts
A flexible three year, part-time program听designed for Jewish educators working in Jewish settings who want to transform their practice. Complete your degree in the comfort of your home through our award-winning online courses鈥攚ithout sacrificing the personal attention you鈥檝e come to expect from 鲸鱼传媒. Note: 鲸鱼传媒 also offers the MJEd in conjunction with rabbinical or cantorial ordination.
Courses are online, combining synchronous meetings with asynchronous work and assignments. Join a dynamic community of students from across the country and around the world in an interactive virtual classroom with 鲸鱼传媒 faculty. Use our听Schoology听online learning platform to learn with ease and comfort and build a personal relationship with your faculty adviser who will serve as your mentor and guide. 鲸鱼传媒 has been recognized nationally for its online learning programs, and our faculty have been teaching in the online environment for more than a decade.
A specialized focus on听Jewish Spiritual Education, Jewish Educational Leadership, and听Emerging Trends in Jewish Education.
A program designed for听Jewish leadership and learning for a pluralistic world.
Year-long field experience听in your home community. Current teaching may count toward your field experience.
Year-long field experience听in your home community. Current teaching may count toward your field experience.
Faculty advisor听to guide you throughout the program.
No Hebrew language prerequisite for admission. Hebrew courses may be taken before or during the program. Students are expected to pass a Hebrew assessment by the time they graduate, and those who wish to be exempt may request to take a Hebrew assessment upon entering the program.
Earn a Graduate Level Certificate听in one of the following areas (each certificate is 8 graduate credits): Certificate in Learning & Leading or Certificate in Jewish Spiritual Education.
We offer the opportunity to combine a Master of Jewish Education from 鲸鱼传媒 with traditional text study at the 听in Jerusalem to prepare for a career in Jewish Day School Education. This is a two-year, pluralistic graduate degree program.
If accepted into the Pardes Teacher Fellowship, you will receive generous living stipends to spend an academic year in Israel, and a first-year teaching salary while working as a Jewish Studies Teacher in a Jewish Day School in North America.
