Lessons from 36 Years of Day School Leadership with Rabbi Eli Rubin

What does it take to lead Jewish day schools successfully across four decades — and what does that experience reveal about where Jewish education needs to go next?In this episode of Leadership Lenses, I speak with Rabbi Eli Rubin, who has served as Rosh Yeshiva and Head of School at Kushner in New Jersey for 18 years, following his 18 years as Dean and Headmaster at Ramaz.We explore the tension between running a school as a community and running it as an organization, and why leaders must be willing to hold both at once.Rabbi Rubin shares how he thinks about financial sustainability, what it really takes to make the case to donors, and why strong governance is the foundation of it all.Then the conversation opens up into something bigger: in a moment of historic disruption for American Jewry, what are we actually preparing our students for?Rabbi Rubin argues that Jewish day schools must cultivate not only strong Jewish identity, but genuine ownership of American civic life — and that we have very little time to get there.This episode moves from the operational to the visionary, and offers a perspective that every Jewish school leader should hear.I can't wait to hear what you take away from this conversation.Reach out to our guest and learn more about his school:🌐 School Website: https://www.jkha.org/Get in touch with us: Website:⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.com⁠Subscribe to my Substack:⁠ https://kislowiczconsulting.substack.com⁠Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/leadershiplenses/⁠LinkedIn:⁠ https://www.linkedin.com/in/bkislowicz/⁠Listen on Apple Podcasts: ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leadership-lenses-with-barry-kislowicz/id1813728680