"Barriers to Entry" Awarded the 2025 Ilia Salita Excellence in Research Award

Barriers to Entry: Exploring Educator Reticence for Engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Announced as the Recipient of the 2025 Ilia Salita Excellence in Research Award

The Jewish Funders Network (JFN) was pleased to announce that the research project Barriers to Entry: Exploring Educator Reticence for Engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 Ilia Salita Excellence in Research Award (ERA). Led by Dr. Keren Fraiman, Dean and Chief Academic Officer at the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, this innovative research was recognized for its critical contributions to understanding and addressing challenges in Jewish education.

Established by Genesis Philanthropy Group (GPG) in memory of their late CEO and President Ilia Salita z”l, the award, now given by the Maimonides Fund, grants $15,000 annually to innovative and practical research that addresses contemporary Jewish issues. The 2025 award was presented at the JFN International Conference in Nashville.

Dr. Fraiman’s research sheds light on the complexities educators face when teaching about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through a mixed-methods approach involving workshops and interviews with experienced educators, she identified key barriers—including knowledge gaps, emotional challenges, pedagogical hurdles, and communal pressures. Her findings offer actionable strategies to support educators in navigating these obstacles with confidence, an area of increasing urgency following the events of October 7, 2023.

Her work has already impacted educational programming and policy, with presentations across major organizations such as Hillel International, the iCenter, and the Foundation for Jewish Camp. Professor Jon A. Levisohn of Brandeis University emphasized the significance of the research, stating:

“Through her careful analysis, we now understand not just that Israel education is hard—we knew that—but more precisely how it is hard. This is what good scholarship does; it makes our understanding more precise and rigorous. And in that way, good scholarship is fundamental for any intervention that hopes to make a difference.”

Learn more about Barriers to Entry: Exploring Educator Reticence for Engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on May 7th at 12:00pm ET.

For more information about the Ilia Salita Excellence in Research Award and the Jewish Funders Network, please visit www.jfunders.org.