Jane Sherwin Shapiro

“English is my native language, but my soul speaks Hebrew. I tell students that Hebrew is the key to the castle. If they want to pick up the treasure within, they should use every bit of Hebrew they can. For myself, acquiring a deep love of Hebrew led to an even deeper love of Jewish literature of all sorts: Midrash, Talmud, poetry, and most of all Torah. When reciting the blessing ‘chayei olam natah b’tocheynu (He bestowed upon us eternal life),’ we are meant to experience this as a deep convergence between the words and our own life force (hiyut). This is an example of the type of study towards individual spiritual practice that I want to encourage in my students.”

Dr. Jane S. Shapiro co-founded Orot: Center for New Jewish Learning in 2014. Orot seeks to empower Jews of all backgrounds to discover new entry points into the richness of Jewish wisdom. The organization works to bring the light of Judaism into direct conversation with real-life experiences and helps to reshape a new paradigm for Jewish learning as a vehicle towards personal meaning and communal and social reinvigoration. Orot offers classes, programs, and retreats and designs learning experiences that integrate ancient Jewish wisdom with meditation, yoga, music, art, and creative writing. The goal is to empower and support individuals as they open themselves up to experiencing new pathways into Jewish meaning and look to use Judaism as a source for personal and communal transformation. Orot course offerings include Jewish Mindfulness Meditation, Yoga and Hasidic Thought, and Kavanot and Personal Transformation in the Weekly Parsha.

Dr. Shapiro founded Jane Shapiro Associates in 2003. Using a variety of customized techniques, such as interactive teaching, mentoring, coaching, and curriculum development, she helps her clients make a deep connection between their vision and practice, both on the individual and organizational level.

From 2010 to 2015, Dr. Shapiro served as the Coordinator of Mentoring for students in the Master’s in Jewish Professional Studies program at Spertus Institute for Learning and Leadership. In that capacity, she mentored students and developed cohorts of student mentors. From 1987 to 2003, Dr. Shapiro served as the Associate Director of the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning (formerly the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School). She oversaw faculty development and worked with teachers across North America and Israel, assisting new communities in the development of Melton school sites. She also served on the faculty there, teaching a variety of courses in Jewish text and thought.

Dr. Shapiro has taught for or consulted with a wide variety of organizations, including AJC: Global Jewish Advocacy (formally American Jewish Committee), The Jewish Federations of North America, The Jewish Theological Seminary, the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, and Camp Ramah in Wisconsin, among others. In 2004, she founded Kol Sasson, a partnership minyan in Skokie committed to enlarging the roles of women in the observant Jewish world, where she now serves as Gabbai. Dr. Shapiro is a frequent lecturer on topics ranging from adult education, marketing, and program development to professional development for adult educators and communal leaders.

Dr. Shapiro graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a B.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (1976). In 2016, she received a doctorate in Jewish Education with a concentration in Adult Education from The William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education at The Jewish Theological Seminary.