In 2019, the Foundation inaugurated the Woocher Research Fellowship to honor the tremendous contributions of our founding president Dr. Jonathan Woocher z”l to our work and to shaping the future of Jewish life. LKFLT sponsors Woocher Research Fellows to explore the ways in which Jewish wisdom can help people navigate their day-to-day lives, and we are excited to present now the work of Woocher Research Fellow, Dr. Jeffrey S. Kress.

From Encounter to Internalization: Toward a Theory of Applying Jewish Wisdom

Dr. Kress is the provost and the Dr. Bernard Heller Chair in Jewish Education at The Jewish Theological Seminary, where he has been on faculty since 2000. He has taught classes such as Social and Emotional Learning in Jewish Education and Empirical Research Methods, as well as conducted valuable academic research through the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education in the field of social, emotional, and spiritual development in education.As part of his fellowship, he’s written From Encounter to Internalization: Toward a Theory of Applying Jewish Wisdom, in which he explores under what conditions internalization of Jewish wisdom is most likely to occur. He writes: “This manuscript explores the roles of frameworks for understanding, identity, and proximal and distal relationships and community in moving from encountering to internalizing Jewish wisdom.” 

We are honored to share this work with you. Pease read and enjoy.