By COLlive reporter
This summer, students will go to camp and the teachers will stay at home.
The annual twin conferences for male and female teachers, educators and principals in Chabad schools and yeshivos in North America will be taking place on the web this year.
Merkos Chinuch Office, the educational division of Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch at Lubavitch Headquarters which has been organizing the summer learning and training conferences since 2001, made the announcement Friday.
Rabbi Nochem Kaplan, Director of the Merkos Chinuch Office, said they will be substituting the conferences with webinars – interactive video conferences and online workshops.
“While we will not be able to recreate the electrifying atmosphere of a Kinus, the webinars will allow many mechanchim and mechanchos who were previously unable to attend Kinusim to benefit,” he said.
Kaplan, a 40-year veteran in the field of Jewish education, said the webinars will feature workshops and lectures presented by noted educators and “will enable hundreds of educators from across the globe to join, watch, listen and learn.”
They will also facilitate interactive exchanges and live chats so that participants will have the opportunity to question and engage the presenters. The Vaad Hakinus is currently discussing themes and formats with a number of premier educational thinkers and lecturers.
The full list of webinar presenters will be announced during the coming weeks. Mechanchim and Mechanchos will be required to preregister to participate and will receive handout materials in advance. They will need to have Internet access and receive a webinar code to be able to log-on and participate.
Speaking to COLlive.com, Rabbi Kaplan cited finances as one of the reasons for the change. Another reason he gave was the timing. They can’t hold the convention during the 9 days and mid-July is a bad time for the educators since some yeshivas are already operational in Elul.
The conferences have inspired educators from U.S. Chabad schools and from as far as Europe and Australia and provided them an opportunity to effectively retool for the next school year.
They featured state-of-the-art educational thinking as well as practical issues which mechanchim and mechanchos need to deal with daily in the course of their classroom duties. For many, the tone of the next years was set during the Kinusim.
“This is a new idea (and) I hope it will work well,” Rabbi Kaplan said. “I’m planning two 1-day Kinusim during the school year, for the camaraderie. During the next few months we will look toward the possibility of rescheduling Kinusim for some point during the school year.”
Merkos L’inyonei Chinuch is continuing to hold similar summer-time conferences for Chabad Shluchim on university campuses and for instructors of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute.
For whatever reasons I could not attend the past conferences, but now that it’s online I plan B’E”H to join, which is likely the case for many around the world. Regardless if finances was a reason, I’m sure it will benefit many more. But, maybe they could do both in the future, bec. I do understand the benefits of the atmosphere and achdus aspect.
Yes. Atmosphere and farbrengening with other teachers is my years inspiration and broadens my knowledge and skills tremendously.
The best would be to have the kinnus and make it available on the web for those who cannot attend.
the best part of kinus was being in a room with a bunch of lubavitcher women dressed beautifully classy tasteful AND TZNIUSDIK everyone wil deffinitly miss that
They could have the kinus as usual and still put the classes on the web. So much is gained from the farbrenging and sharing….chaval.
I think it’s a real pity. The atmosphere isn’t.the same and I think it displays yet again a lack of respect for mechanchim/chos, as opposed to the kinusim for shluchim, where one is wined and dined.
You will double participants
Just read so you wouldn’t have to comment.
“Speaking to COLlive.com, Rabbi Kaplan cited finances as one of the reasons for the change.”
this is a great idea, I can for the first time be part of the Kinus!
Thank you Rabbi Kaplan for all of the seminars to date, as a teacher I appreciate them very much. May you have much hatzlocha in this changeover, I am looking forward to participating.
A grateful teacher.
That’s the bottom line. Budget has been streamlined.
i was never at the kinus do to a lack of funds! but this year i will be there!
truth be told this is just about saving money, and there is nothing wrong with saying so, no need to to say that more people can be part of it