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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/31519/full/31519/bje-in-n-y-recruits-head-of-s-f-agency/ <br /><br /> <b>BJE in N.Y. recruits head of S.F. agency</b> <br /> Friday, February 2, 2007 | by <p>joe eskenazi </p> <br /><br /><p>In honor of his 13th year at the Bureau of Jewish Education, executive director Bob Sherman was treated to a “Bob mitzvah” last year. <br /><br /> And, like so many bar mitzvah boys, now he’s leaving. <br /><br /> But Sherman isn’t quitting the Jewish community to practice his bass guitar or join the football team. He’s off to New York City to head the Board of Jewish Education, the biggest BJE in the land. <br /><br /> Sherman’s first day on the job in the Big Apple is July 1. <br /><br /> “I like building things. And as much as New York is the largest BJE, it’s also a BJE that’s ready to really launch into the 21st century and do things a different way,” said Sherman.<br /><br /> He’s moving to an organization with a budget roughly twice what he’s dealing with now and roughly 700 Jewish schools in the area, compared to 50 and change locally. <br /><br /> Also, at age 57, Sherman acknowledged this kind of opportunity might not have come his way again. <br /><br /> If readers are less than familiar with Sherman’s accomplishments — or even his name — they can be forgiven. As the director of the BJE, he has striven to remain out of the spotlight and let his programs do the talking. But those who know Sherman say the Bay Area is losing a truly innovative educator whose ideas have influenced thousands of students. <br /><br /> “Bob is an enormously creative and gifted thinker and deeply passionate about Jewish life and education,” says Rabbi Lavey Derby of Tiburon’s Congregation Kol Shofar, where Sherman attends. <br /><br /> Years ago, Sherman created a plan for Kol Shofar to deal with its education system, and had a Bureau staff member guide the congregation through the yearlong process. “It really changed the way we think about the religious school in our community,” Derby said. <br /><br /> One of Sherman’s most far-reaching efforts was the Tikea program, a fellowship for teen educators. Teen programs are often the Siberia of the Jewish educational world, but in partnership with the Goldman Fund, the BJE created an 18-month fellowship for the overworked, underpaid educators. <br /><br /> A number of the young educators went on to earn higher degrees and have since taken positions in the Bay Area and nationwide Jewish communities. <br /><br /> “It was Bob’s keen understanding that you don’t transform the community by taking one person” and sending them to education seminars, said Toby Rubin, the BJE’s associate director and original head of the Tikea program. <br /><br /> “We not only created a program, we ... created a community that had teen program providers work in concert with each other rather than in opposition to each other [via] turf battles.” <br /><br /> Under Sherman, the BJE has not only expanded in size, but also in scope. It now operates throughout the Peninsula and as far north as Sonoma, as well as its traditional base in San Francisco.<br /><br /> Perhaps the highest praise for Sherman came from his most senior staff, who complimented his ability to inspire his employees to create new programs without micromanaging their progress, all while keeping his door open for both his staff and community members to discuss problems. <br /><br /> “He gives you room to develop whatever it is you’re working on. He has very good ideas, and he passes them on, but he doesn’t get involved with the day-to-day details — that isn’t the best use of his time,” said Keren Lieberman, the BJE’s associate director and a 32-year agency veteran. <br /><br /> Added longtime early childhood specialist Ellen Brosbe, “The thing that impressed me the most was his depth of knowledge in education and organization theory but even more his willingness to really mentor people in the organization. I think that might be his legacy.” <br /><br /> Sherman, for his part, will miss the growing Feasts of Jewish Learning or public events in Golden Gate Park, but the vibrancy of New York called to him as it has called to so many. <br /><br /> “I love Northern California and I’ll miss San Francisco’s culture,” said Sherman, who will be the New York BJE’s first non-Orthodox director. <br /><br /> “I was more suited for a position [on the West Coast] in the early years of my career. That’s why I came out here and stayed out here. But I think people on the East Coast have recognized a need for change and openness and different kinds of things, and that’s why they’re looking west.”</p> <p> </p>

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