Diana Ganger

Diana Ganger “Whether as a Jew in Argentina, or an Argentinean in Israel, or a Jewish-Israeli Argentine in the United States, throughout my life I have had the fortune to have outsider eyes, shaped by G-d’s Lech lecha message to Avram: ‘leaving a known place.’ This has provided me with the opportunity to see what could be different. I saw what could be, and what was. I strived to create what I believe so many Jewish families seek: institutions that know how to forge complex, deep relationships. My life was shaped by illuminating Jewish experiences. My only real core identity, given the variety of backgrounds and influences that have shaped my life, is my Jewish one.”

Diana Ganger grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, born to a German Jewish family that just barely escaped the atrocities of the Holocaust. Between attending British schools and growing up in a geographically diverse neighborhood, Diana was cosmopolitan at an early age, viewing the world from a global perspective. Her Jewish journey began at Lamroth Hakol (“In Spite of Everything”), a synagogue created by German Jews during the waning moments of World War II that still thrives as a vibrant center of Jewish life. Diana’s youth group met weekly to discuss Israel, ethics, the social order, and politics, and she and her peers advanced to become youth leaders in their turn, “madrichim” for the next generation. Attending camp in the summer and youth groups the rest of the year, Diana’s extracurricular activities at Lamroth Hakol supported her interest in political activism and leadership and helped her to cultivate lifelong friendships, community, and a formative Jewish identity. Indeed, she married one of her youth group leaders, Danny, at age nineteen. Rich as these experiences were, Diana and Danny longed to draw closer to Jewish life, so shortly after their marriage they made aliyah. Diana traded her preliminary studies in Biology for an opportunity to become immersed in Israel, its pulse and its people, by studying Social Work at Haifa University. It was in Israel that Diana first began a serious investigation into the ritual and practice of Judaism. One of her teachers at Haifa University, who was traditionally Orthodox, took Diana under her wing. Once a week, they would study the parsha and delve into the tenets of Jewish philosophy.

In 1981, she and Danny changed hemispheres once again; this time, they moved to Saint Louis, Missouri. Diana earned a Master’s degree in Social Work, with a specialization in Family Therapy and Gerontology, at Washington University. Thus, while Diana’s first child, her daughter Sharon, was born in Haifa, her son Iony was born in St. Louis.

Diana’s career in Jewish early childhood education began in 1985, when she became Director of the Moriah Childcare Center in Deerfield, Illinois. Once again she quenched her thirst for Jewish knowledge, studying at the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School and participating in a Wexner Heritage Leadership program. Together with a paradigm-shifting visit to the Reggio Emilia schools in Northern Italy, these experiences provided impetus and inspiration for her work during the twenty years that she led the Moriah preschool.

Aided by an outstanding staff of nearly thirty, Diana was able to realize her creative vision: a Jewish educational institution capable of creating “Covenantal community.” Over time, Moriah’s success became widely recognized, and the expertise supporting Diana’s vision of familycentered schools was disseminated throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2004, Diana moved on to become Program Director at JECEI: the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative, which was created to bring about transformative change in the field. In this role, Diana continues to explore the ways that families and institutions can become more interdependent as co-visionaries and co-thinkers of Jewish life. What rights does the Jewish family have? How will we impact the next generation? Diana and Danny now live in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Sharon is working as an attorney in Chicago; Iony is studying to become a Rabbi in Israel. Diana says that her network of family and friends both ground her and give her wings.