By Debbie Niederman,
I’m Past President Debbie Niederman from Temple Sholom in Dallas Texas. As we turn to the second chapter of NATE’s life, beginning around 1973, we can reflect on what had been achieved in the course of a generation. What had been a rare exception in the life of a Reform synagogue, a congregational educator, was now becoming understood as an essential member of the professional leadership team throughout North America. NATE’s leaders were striving to raise educational standards in American Reform Judaism through programs like Accreditation, (b) to elevate the overall importance of education within the Reform synagogue by advocating for increased compensation and professional status, (c) to create new and expanded opportunities (in the synagogue and beyond) in which Reform Jewish learning could take place through the focus on NFTY, URJ Camping and accessible Jewish Music, and to enlarge and strengthen the professional standing of the Reform Jewish educator through the RJE title and professional standards developed by the UAHC Commission on Jewish Education.
NATE members understood that in order to produce excellence within the settings where they worked, they themselves had to be doogma ishit—personal examples of learners constantly dedicated to their own learning and professional advancement.
Honoring Vanessa Ehrlich
When we talk about raising the bar at ARJE, we often name programs, standards, and structures. But tonight, we honor a leader who reminded us that raising the bar is also about raising people into leaders.
Through her many years as a volunteer leader, and especially her role as Co-Chair of Operations, Vanessa Ehrlich helped ARJE create thoughtful programs that live our values with full integrity. She understood that excellence doesn’t happen by accident; it happens because someone is paying attention, asking the right questions, and inviting others into the work.
The Rebecca Gratz Award was created to honor an educators’ life long work in congregational education.
Rebecca Gratz offered her students a safe place to spend their Sunday mornings and a basic primer in Judaism that she hoped would equip them with sufficient Jewish knowledge. She taught lessons steeped in contemporary values and sought to kindle an enthusiasm for Judaism. Her hope was if learners once tasted the waters of life, they would thirst for more.
Vanessa is the living vision of what Rebecca Gratz began. As we read in Pirkei Avot 2:16: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it. Vanessa’s great gift was helping others discover where their passion could meet the needs of Jewish life. She saw leadership as something to be cultivated, shared, and sustained in every setting she inhabits.
That belief is reflected in how she speaks about raising the bar at her own school through accreditation. For a time, her school was the only accredited school on the North Shore. But if you ask Vanessa what mattered most, she would say that what mattered was the process: the honest reflection, the partnership with lay leaders, and the commitment to keep getting better together.
Under Vanessa’s leadership, collegial support and learning were the vehicles for connection, growth and clarification of personal and organizational values. She helped create the conditions in which others could step forward, contribute meaningfully, and raise the bar for our field. Because of Vanessa’s leadership, many of us in this room can say we helped shape the experience of congregational education. Vanessa saw our members' potential and invited, encouraged, or simply told them how they could and would strengthen NATE and ARJE.
Thank you, Vanessa, for helping ARJE raise the bar and for showing us that the most enduring standards are built not just through excellence, but through generosity, trust, and shared purpose.
It is my honor to present Vanessa with the Rebecca Gratz Award for her commitment and contribution to congregational education and for her career lived in Rebecca Gratz’s legacy.