From the Director of Jewish Learning

Ariel Moritz joins Beth El as the Director of Jewish Learning. In this role, she will develop a new educational and social experience for Beth El youth and teens employing the approach of experiential education. Ariel has spent the past 5 years designing and managing global leadership and service-learning programs for teens with a geographic focus in Africa and Europe. As a fellow with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), she lived and worked in Turkey supporting the Jewish community through programming for religious school students, youth groups, and elderly community members. Ariel first began her career working in social justice at American Jewish World Service where she served as the assistant to Ruth Messinger and led service-learning trips for university students and young professionals. She has taught religious school to 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th graders and earned her Jewish Teaching Certificate from Gratz College. As an alumni of Camp Ramah in the Poconos, both as a camper and counselor, and USY member, Ariel has experienced first-hand the impact of immersive Jewish education on her own path and identity. Originally from Philadelphia, Ariel earned her BA in sociology and politics from New York University and her work has since taken her throughout South America, Africa and Europe. While Ariel has already been a member of the Beth El family for the past few years, she is excited to join the team and offer Beth El families an engaging and immersive social and educational experience that allows Jewish youth to learn the foundational skills of our tradition, explore their Jewish identity and develop friendships.