Daniel R. Weiss, at The Blogs

Sep 8, 2024, 5:46 PM

It’s been a week. It has been a week since I made Havdalah with my family, my wife, and our three sons. It has been a week since we prepared to send our oldest son back to Israel for...

Aug 2, 2024, 12:38 AM

A Surprise Blessing in the Grocery Store

Yesterday, I was stopped in the grocery store. I recognize that living in Memphis, Tennessee, with a Jewish population of roughly 8500, I can stick out like a sore thumb. I was wearing my Kippah, as I do every...

Feb 6, 2024, 11:48 PM

Recognizing Everyone’s Unique Ability

Sometimes I am different.
Sometimes I am the same.
But I am always worthy.

Photo from Adi Negev-Nahalat Eran

There are experiences and places in our lives whose impact can be felt days, weeks, months, and even years later. For me, visiting Mechva Alon and ADI Negev – Nahalat Eran, over two days in July 2023, was such...

Oct 19, 2023, 9:05 PM

Why Jewish day schools matter now more than ever

Waking up on October 7, 2023, and hearing about the terror in Israel is a lot to handle. Terror anywhere is hard to understand. Even more so when it happens to your friends, your family, and in a place...

Jul 24, 2023, 6:14 AM

Meeting the Needs of All Citizens

It has now been a week since the conclusion of the KKL-JNF World Education Conference. Together with 250 other educators from 22 different countries, I saw a part of Israel that I have not seen on my previous 15...

Apr 25, 2023, 12:00 AM

After Death, We Are Holiness

I have been fortunate to visit Israel 12 times with groups of students and twice as a student myself on Tichon Ramah Yerushalayim and then the One Year Program at the Rothberg School at Hebrew University. Each of these...

Mar 31, 2023, 7:17 PM

Reflections on Another School Shooting

This week was tough to be a Head of School in Tennessee. A colleague lost her life on Monday, together with two other staff members and three young students. They died because they went to school. They died while trying...

Feb 21, 2023, 4:05 PM

Inclusion: the Essence of Jewish Education

Walking through the hallways of nearly every Jewish Day School across the country, can be an enlightening experience. Hallways are decorated with student work, reflecting the diversity of topics taught in our classrooms and the diversity of our students...

Feb 2, 2023, 10:34 PM

Give Them Five: Making the Headship Sustainable

A question that has been asked a lot as of late is, why isn’t the headship in Jewish Day Schools sustainable? I’d like to suggest that a head of school needs at least five years to effectively bring about...

About Me

Dr. Daniel R. Weiss has been the Head of School at Bornblum Jewish Community School in Memphis, TN, since 2018. Daniel earned his bachelors in Jewish Studies from The Ohio State University, a masters in Jewish Education from Siegal College, and a doctorate from Northeastern University. He has 25 years of experience working in Jewish Day Schools. He is a proud husband and father of three.