Welcome!

Hi! I’m Olivia Friedman.

I’ve taught formally for thirteen years. I currently teach at Ida Crown Jewish Academy- this is my tenth year. Prior to that, I taught at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School for three years. If all goes well, this upcoming year I will be moving and teaching at Jewish Leadership Academy, a new school in Miami, Florida.

I love Jewish education. Over the years, I’ve realized I tend to think about it- and do it- differently from other people. This is unsurprising, as I’ve had experiences and been exposed to people and systems that other people have not had the ability to access. For example, in high school (as explained in this Faces of Orthodoxy post), I switched to North Shore Country Day School, a non-Jewish high school in Winnetka, IL, for my junior and senior years. Prior to that, I had attended a more Bais Yaakov school. Best of all, I married a man who was raised as a Bobover Hasid, and who is an autodidact.

I am one of the few people to have attended Camp Agudah Midwest for years but also served as a Tzevet member at Camp Stone. I’ve taken courses at Hebrew Theological College and Hunter College. I’ve earned degrees from Stern College (Bachelors in English), Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies (Masters in Bible) and Northwestern University (Masters in Education, with a focus on Teacher Leadership and Gifted Education.) I’ve also completed the Matan Bellows Eshkolot Teacher fellowship (which included an incredible trip to Israel!)

Recently, I served as Rosh Mosh at Camp Moshava Ba’ir Chicago during its inaugural year, debuting a curriculum I created from scratch. I am the creator of the Parsha for Kids podcast. And before I did any of this, I wrote The Curious Jew blog.

So education is in my blood.

This is the space where I will share my book reviews, tools and techniques, reflections, musings, and project ideas. I welcome you to reach out and ask questions, push back and share ideas. I’m looking forward to learning from you!