From 7 students in a single pilot program to 11,000 students in 11 countries — fifteen years of ShalomLearning, told through the milestones that shaped us. Some will surprise you. A few will move you. One might even make you smile.
At 15, ShalomLearning is not slowing down; we are accelerating. In this message from Executive Director Lillian Rountree, learn how ShalomLearning is strengthening its infrastructure and broadening its network to prepare for the next chapter: five new board members including a World Series Champion and Team Israel MVP, pro bono expertise in finance, law, marketing, and sales, a first-of-its-kind AI-enhanced Jewish curriculum, and an ambitious $500,000 fundraising goal — including a birthday celebration that raised $100,000 in a single appeal. Plus, how you can be part of what comes next.
One morning in Bethesda, Maryland, a little girl wrapped her arms around the legs of a dining room table and refused to let go.
She was not being dramatic. She genuinely, deeply did not want to go to Hebrew school.
Her father happened to be the co-founder of Blackboard — one of the most widely used educational software platforms in the world. And even he didn’t have an answer. Until, together with a friend who’d been a Hebrew school dropout himself, he decided to build one.
That moment — two fathers, two sets of frustrated kids, one synagogue — is where ShalomLearning began. The pilot launched in 2011 with seven students. Not seven hundred. Seven.
Fifteen years later, ShalomLearning serves 11,000 students alongside 200 synagogues and religious schools, reaches military families stationed overseas, and has expanded to 10 countries outside the United States. The little girl at the table is grown. The idea she helped spark is very much alive.
In a city with one of the world’s oldest Jewish histories, something brand new is taking root.
This summer, ShalomLearning launched a partnership with Beth Hillel Rome — the first and only Progressive Jewish community in Italy’s capital. Founded just over a decade ago by ten courageous Roman Jews, Beth Hillel has grown into a vibrant, self-funded congregation of 300+ members, a 40-child Hebrew school, and a community that welcomes families from across the globe.
After only four months with ShalomLearning, students are making what their educator Rachel Rosen describes as “leaps and bounds” of progress. Teachers say prep is easier and lessons finally feel consistent. And the community is experiencing something remarkable: a b’nei mitzvah boom, with 15 students now in the current cycle and 10 anticipated every year for the next five years.
But the Beth Hillel story isn’t just about outcomes — it’s about what it truly takes to bring Jewish education across languages, cultures, and borders.
A Red Taxi, a 125-Year-Old Synagogue, and ShalomLearning’s Growing Mission
A Message From Our Executive Director
Not long ago, I hopped into a little red taxi in Hong Kong and headed up the hill to Ohel Leah — a 125-year-old synagogue that has anchored Jewish life in the city for generations. I was there to visit one of ShalomLearning’s longest-standing partners, and the conversations I had there opened my eyes to what’s possible as we continue to grow.
The “wild west” of AI has arrived in Jewish education, but are we building a tool that enhances our schools or a “black box” that replaces our voices?
This past month, ShalomLearning was at the forefront of this conversation as a lead sponsor and presenter at both the ARJE Annual Gathering and the Jewish Digital Summit. Our Senior Managing Director, Heidi Lovitz, and Director of Client Care, Shira Sender, led a standing-room-only deep dive for more than 80 professionals to address the questions keeping educators up at night.
What we discovered wasn’t a divide between tech-lovers and skeptics but an “Anxious Middle,” a community seeking a compass.
Tu BiShvat invites us to celebrate trees, the land, and our relationship to the natural world. This year, we’re pairing that tradition with one of ShalomLearning’s core Jewish values: responsibility (Achrayut, אַחֲרָיוּת).
In this new learning experience for grades 5–6, students explore what responsibility really demands, especially when doing the right thing comes with a cost: time, money, comfort, popularity, or even risk. That question matters deeply for pre-teens, who are eager to challenge assumptions, test limits, and understand where they fit in something larger than themselves.
One of the things we love most about our work is that Jewish education doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in conversation. With teachers. With professional peers. With grandparents and parents.
In the months ahead, ShalomLearning will be out in the field learning, sharing, and bringing practical tools back to our community through three major gatherings where Jewish educators and engagement professionals are shaping what’s next.
Fifteen years ago, ShalomLearning didn’t begin with a grand vision. It began with a familiar tension.
Busy days. Carpools. Homework. Sports. Long work hours. And thenHebrew school.
For many modern Jewish families, it felt like one commitment too many.
Devin Schain didn’t set out to build a global Jewish education organization. He set out to solve a simple, human problem: How do we make Jewish learning meaningful without asking families or kids to choose between Judaism and real life?