In his retrospective essay, Seymour Fox (1997) identified “vision” as the essential element that shaped the Ramah camp system. The author takes a critical look at Fox's main claims: A particular model of vision was essential to the development of Camp Ramah, and that model of vision should guide contemporary Jewish educators in creating Jewish educational excellence. He draws upon historical accounts and theories of organizational leadership and change to question Fox's first claim about the history of Camp Ramah and to offer an alternative model of vision to guide future leaders of Jewish camps.

The Melton Centre for Jewish Education represents the Hebrew University’s commitment to the advancement of Jewish education worldwide. For many years that commitment has included a focus on understanding and improving how Israel is taught in the Diaspora. This focus has seen expression in conferences, research projects, professional development programs, and curriculum development initiatives, all animated by a shared incentive to advancing the field of Israel education. In recent years, the Centre's work in this field has intensified in response to a widespread concern that younger Diaspora Jews are increasingly disconnected from the State of Israel. This intensifying work has, in turn, fostered insights, skills and institutional capacity at the Centre that is expected to bear on future projects.

As part of its “Judaism Without Walls” initiative, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) has launched a comprehensive online anthology of Russian-language informal Jewish education materials. The website is the internet companion to a 14-volume, 3,000 page compilation that includes programs, lessons, games, and activities for all age groups. Both were featured at a major JDC Jewish educators’ conference last month in Moscow.

In a recent online Hebrew YNET article, Tamar Trebelsi Hadad writes of the discussions held by the Psychological Counseling Service of the Israel Ministry of Education on the relationships between teachers and students on social networks such as Facebook. Alongside the pedagogic and personal benefits attainable by these interactions on social networks, most teachers are not yet aware of the problems which may arise from these ties. In order to make schools more aware of the issues involved, the Counseling Service plans to publish suggested 'dos and don'ts' for use of social networks by teachers.

Today, Bat Mitzvah is celebrated in some way in most parts of the Orthodox Jewish world. But how should a girl’s religious coming of age be marked? How should communities and families create meaningful Bat Mitzvah celebrations? Is the lack of a single model a liability or an advantage? Over 20 articles feature a variety of historical, halakhic, sociological, psychological and experiential perspectives on the topic in the Fall, 2010 issue of the JOFA Journal.