Talking about Death and Dying: A Webinar for Educators

More than ever before, we are living in a time that we will be called upon as Jewish educators to address death and dying in our communities. We can view this moment as an opportunity to do right by our students and their parents by helping them look at life in a deeper way. Join us as we welcome Rabbi Melanie Levav, Director of PJ Library New York, to share with us her knowledge as a rabbi, a chaplain, and a social worker, in guiding our families in this important conversation. Rabbi Levav will be interviewed by Rabbi Dena Klein, Managing Director of New Models at The Jewish Education Project.

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Rabbi Melanie Levav is the Director of PJ Library New York, a program of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, where she leads a New York-based team charged with growing PJ Library in New York, bringing the gift of high-quality, free children's books into the homes of families raising Jewish children in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester. Previously, Melanie served as the Assistant Executive Director, Financial Resource Development, and Director of Pastoral Care at the Edith and Carl Marks Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst, a JCC serving the Russian-speaking Jewish community in Brooklyn, New York, where she was also the agency's first full-time Jewish educator earlier in her career. Melanie has served as a consultant to the Natan Fund and Ikar, collaborating on projects to expand conversations in the Jewish community about death and dying, including creating original content for deathoverdinner-jewishedition.org. She has also worked for JCC Association, JDC, and UJA-Federation of New York, in the areas of Jewish education, volunteer management, and fundraising. Melanie was ordained as a rabbi ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary as a Wexner Graduate Fellow, is a board certified chaplain, and a licensed social worker.