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ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Hi, my name is Gabe Goldman and I am the Director of the Jewish Nature Center. My wife and I have been married since 1974 and we have four children, two dogs, a bird and many little furry visitors to our home. It gets crowded at times but we love the kids too much to get rid of them.

I have been a Jewish educator for over 25 years--as classroom teacher, college instructor, educational researcher, teacher trainer, textbook author and, for a decade, the Curriculum Director of the Cleveland Jewish Education Center. I hold a BA in History from the University of MO; an MA and Ph.D. in the areas of Educational Studies and Multi-cultural Education from the University of CT. My doctoral dissertation is on the pedagogic techniques found in the Torah and Talmud.

My Jewish learning came largely from my experience at the yeshiva of the Bostonner Rebbe. 15 years ago I began to pioneer what is now called Jewish environmental nature education. In 1994, I resigned my position as Curriculum Director to become national program director for Shomrei Adamah, a position I held until becoming the the Jewish Educator for the New Jersey 'Y' Camps in the spring of 1997. Subsequently, the NJ 'Y' Camps created the Jewish Nature Center and I became its first director.

I am a student of Native American survival and earth stewardship skills, learning under the tutelage of Ray Reitze, Jr. certified as a Master Guide by the State of Maine and the founder of the Earthways Survival School. I routinely travel to the Earthways School in rural, Canaan, ME to take courses in tracking, basket making, foraging and an assortment of wilderness survival skills. I am proud to be an honorary caretaker of the Leni Lennape lands in the Delaware River valley.

I firmly believe that education is the way to bring about meaningful and lasting change. I also believe that the best way to motivate people to become earth keepers is by helping them to fall in love with nature.