Danielle Eskow: Judaism Unbound Episode 192 - Online Jewish Learning
Danielle Eskow, co-founder and CEO of Online Jewish Learning, joins Dan Libenson and Lex Rofeberg for a conversation about leading one of the few for-profit businesses in a field (Jewish education) that is mostly made up of non-profit organizations. [1]
(0:01 - 18:22): To begin the episode, Eskow looks back on the origins of Online Jewish Learning (OJL). Early on, she realized that there existed a large population of students, all around the world, whose needs were not being met by Jewish institutions (including those who have no Jewish institutions near them). She sought to create an organization that could bridge the gap between synagogue and these families’ lives. Over the ensuing years, her work with largely unaffiliated families led eventually to partnerships with synagogue institutions that utilize OJL for once-a-week online learning, [2] in addition to meeting once-a-week at their synagogue. Eskow looks at the distinctions between her work and the work of schools housed in synagogue institutions, along with how OJL differs from simply finding a talented tutor — independent of an organization — who would facilitate Jewish learning for a student (or students). She emphasizes that her institutional goal is not to replace offline institutions, but rather to serve as a supplement to them. She then provides an overview of her organization’s curriculum, including options that OJL has recently offered for people to learn through videos. [3]
(18:23 - 33:13): Eskow looks at the some of the challenges in building a sense of community for Jews who are in areas that lack Jewish institutions. [4] She then reflects on her experiences that led her to found Online Jewish Learning. In doing so, Eskow emphasizes her work with interfaith families, who are often told explicitly or implicitly that they aren’t “Jewish enough” in Jewish institutional spaces. [5] She then takes a deeper look at what it means for OJL to be a for-profit company, as opposed to a non-profit organization (which most other Jewish institutions are).
(33:14 - 45:56): Expanding on the question of for-profit Jewish companies, Eskow considers how her model kept her accountable in a way that might have been lessened had she been structured on donations and grants. [6] Shifting gears, she reflects on the forms of adult education that Online Jewish Learning offers, along with explaining why she — despite those offerings — has chosen to center the education of children. She then returns to the topic of interfaith families, naming that in certain ways her affiliation as a conservative rabbi makes her unable to take on some forms of ritual leadership for students who don’t have a Jewish mother. To close the episode, she states that — largely due to OJL’s ability to customize its curriculum to every child — it may be that some students get more out of their online experience than they would in a traditional synagogue context.
[1] Learn more about Danielle Eskow by checking out her bio here, and learn more about Online Jewish Learning at OnlineJewishLearning.com.
[2] Eskow speaks about what it means to “white label” the OJL curriculum for congregations. Learn more about what that means here (you have to scroll down the page slightly).
[3] Danielle Eskow was a member of the inaugural cohort of the Glean Network’s Start program. Listen into our Judaism Unbound conversations that featured Glean by checking out any of the following: Episode 110: Glean (Elan Babchuck), Episode 111: Unaffiliated Affiliation (Debbie Bravo), Episode 112: The Flourishing Synagogue (Aaron Bisno, Harlan Stone), Episode 113: Embrace the Weird (Miriam Terlinchamp), Episode 114: Sinai & Synapses (Geoffrey Mitelman), Episode 115: Beloved (Sara Luria, Isaac Luria)
[4] At this point in the conversation, Lex references an event he ran simultaneously in North Carolina and South Carolina, via Skype, between two synagogues. Learn more about that event by reading an article he wrote about it, entitled “Yes, You Can Be in Two Places at Once.”
[5] Listen to Keren McGinity’s appearance on Judaism Unbound, which touches on this set of topics, here: Episode 15: Men, Women, and Intermarriage - Keren McGinity
[6] For another Judaism Unbound episode featuring a Jewish organization operating as a for-profit business, see Episode 96: ModernTribe - Amy Kritzer, Jennie Rivlin Roberts