During these extraordinarily uncertain times, families need inspiration, connection and comfort.

Jewish children’s stories are uniquely positioned to provide this kind of encouragement and support. The simple act of reading Jewish stories aloud--with children, parents, grandparents and other caregivers in relationship--can reaffirm our most deeply-held values, and provide an emotional compass for whatever may lie ahead.

For this reason, and so many others, The Covenant Foundation is proud to highlight the power of stories as a tool to build resilience and shape positive Jewish identity, with the selection of the 2024 Jewish Family Education Fellow: Dr. Miriam Udel.

Miriam is the Director of the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University where she teaches Yiddish language, literature, and culture. She is the author of Honey on the Page (NYU Press, October 2020), a collection of nearly fifty Yiddish stories and poems from around the globe, most of them appearing for the first time in English translation. Miriam is also the author of “Never Better!: The Modern Jewish Picaresque” (University of Michigan Press, 2016), winner of the 2017 National Jewish Book Award in Modern Jewish Thought and Experience.

“As a scholar of modern Jewish cultural transmission, I believe that the most urgent and pressing question confronting our community is, and always has been, how shall we explain this world to our children?” Miriam explained.

“Translation literally means carrying across,” she continued. “And there is so much power that we can metaphorically carry across generations. Sharing stories whether in Yiddish, Ladino or any of the other 20 ‘fusion’ languages developed in Jewish communities over the millennia – enables each of us to derive important insights and lessons for ourselves, our children and our time."

“Seeing our own experience and the collective human experience reflected in literature helps us feel connected to our past and bolsters our ability to face the future,” said Joni Blinderman, Executive Director of The Covenant Foundation. “Stories and the act of inter-generational storytelling can revive our spirit, bring us new insights, develop our character, and ensure that deep learning and meaning-making occurs not only in the classroom, but also in relationship, amongst family members, at home.”

To celebrate and share her work, the Covenant Foundation has created two audio clips of Miriam reading stories from her book, Honey on the Page. We encourage you to listen The Bird Story and The Baker Story with your own children or students. 

Miriam received ordination from Yeshivat Maharat, a program designed to bring qualified mid-career women into the Orthodox rabbinate. She uses “darshanit” (interpreter) as her rabbinic title, both as a descriptor of her contribution and in recognition of such historical figures as Rivka bas Me’ir Tiktiner, the first woman known to have published a book in Yiddish, identified as “harabanit vehadarshanit.”

The Fellowship will officially begin August 2024. Over the next year, Miriam will use this fellowship to bring her research on children's literature into Jewish educational spaces, both formal and informal. She plans to work directly with teachers to develop curriculum around Jewish children's stories and poems, as well as with curious families who want to integrate global Jewish texts into their lives. Through her scholarship, program development, and relationship-building, Miriam will develop approaches for Jewish educators to think intentionally about intergenerational storytelling and how it can nurture children's budding resilience.

“I'm interested in cultivating a critical sensibility in reading children's literature that can grow up with children as they shift from emerging to sophisticated readers,” Miriam shared.

“The Covenant Foundation is an ideal partner in this work, and I’m so grateful to them for supporting this vision. I'm excited to connect with the inspiring Jewish educators alongside whom I'll be learning. Together we can use the richness of Jewish children’s literature to instill values that families will carry forward with them through their entire lives.”

We invite you to grow the field of Jewish Family Education together with us! Join the conversation about Miriam’s work and the field of Jewish family education as a whole, by subscribing to Sight Line, and visiting us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.