Heritage | Tunisian Jewish; his mother was born in Nabeul, Tunisia |
Today | JIMENA Educator in Residence; Head of School, Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School, 2019 to 2026 |
Expertise | Sephardic pedagogy, Jewish education, North African Jewish history and memory |
Education | BA, McGill University; MA, Tel Aviv University |
Award | Diller Award for Excellence in Jewish Education, 2019 |
Speaks to | Educators, school leaders, students, and community audiences |
Website | |
Adam Eilath is a Jewish educator and writer whose work centers on Sephardic life, Jewish education, and memory. His mother was born in Nabeul, Tunisia, and he describes himself as a proud Tunisian Jew who uses text study and travel to rediscover his family's cuisine, music, liturgy, and values. He earned a BA from McGill University and an MA from Tel Aviv University, with further study at the Shalom Hartman Institute, Yeshiva University, and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
He began his career in the classroom at Kehillah Jewish High School in Palo Alto and at the Jewish Community High School of the Bay in San Francisco, where he taught Talmud, Jewish thought, and history and became Dean of Jewish Studies and Director of Strategic Initiatives. In 2019 he received the Diller Award for Excellence in Jewish Education and was named a Wexner Field Fellow.
From 2019 to 2026 he served as Head of School at the Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School in Foster City, California, where enrollment grew by nearly 30 percent and the school completed a major expansion. He completed the Day School Leadership Training Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary and has served as a facilitator for the Institute for Experiential Jewish Education.
As JIMENA's Educator in Residence, Adam has taught Sephardic pedagogy to every cohort of the Sephardic Leaders Fellowship since 2021, from Los Angeles and New York to social service professionals and senior educators. He also co-presents JIMENA's educator toolkit for day schools. He writes for Distinctions, Mosaic, Tablet, and J. The Jewish News of Northern California, including essays on his family's Tunisian heritage and a family pilgrimage to Djerba.
Speaking Topics
What Adam talks about
1. Sephardic Pedagogy
How Sephardic texts, values, and ways of learning can enrich teaching in any Jewish classroom.
2. Teaching Tunisian Jewish History
The Jewish communities of Tunisia, from Djerba to Gabès, and how to teach their stories.
3. Memory, Myth, and History
Helping students hold family stories, legends, and archival evidence together.
4. Sephardic and Mizrahi Inclusion in Schools
Practical steps for day schools to reflect the full diversity of Jewish students and families.
5. Deep Learning in a Digital Age
Why mastery and close reading still matter as screens enter the classroom.
Select Talks
Selected talks and appearances
2024 to 2026 | JIMENA Sephardic Leaders Fellowship, Senior Educators (2024), Los Angeles and Social Service (2025), New York (2025 to 2026), and Educators (2026) cohorts; JIMENA study webinar (September 2025) |
2025 | The Jewish Education Project, Adapting: The Future of Jewish Education podcast, Strengthening Jewish Identity Through Israel Centered Education (April 29) |
2021 to 2022 | JIMENA Journey to the Mizrah 2.0 educators conference (2022); JIMENA Sephardic Leaders Fellowship sessions on Sephardic pedagogy (2021 and 2022) |
2016 to 2018 | JIMENA programs at the Magnes Collection (2016), a Mizrahi poetry evening (2016), and the Jewish Community Library, San Francisco (2018) |
These are a selection of Adam’s talks. Adam has given many more, at Jewish day school, educator, and community programs in the Bay Area, plus a national Jewish education podcast.
Publications and Media
Read, watch, and listen
Article
Ashes and Echoes: Memory, Myth, and the Fractured Truths of El Hamma
Essay on teaching competing accounts of a Tunisian Jewish community's history, Distinctions (JIMENA), Issue 5, 2025. Read the essay
Article
Jews Must Resist Becoming a People of the Screen
Column on digital media and deep learning in Jewish education, Mosaic, 2026. Read the column
Article
A broken peace left my family's heritage trip in shards
First person essay on a family heritage journey, J. The Jewish News of Northern California, 2024. Read the essay
Article
Tragedy can't overshadow the joys of our Tunisian Jewish pilgrimage
Reflection on a Lag B'Omer journey to Tunis, Nabeul, and Djerba with his daughter, J. The Jewish News of Northern California, 2023. Read the essay
Article
Fiction at Tablet
Short stories on memory and Sephardic life, including The Child Who Remembered Too Much, Tablet Magazine. Read his stories
Affiliations
Organizations
- JIMENA (Educator in Residence)
- Ronald C. Wornick Jewish Day School (Head of School, 2019 to 2026)
- Jewish Community High School of the Bay (former Dean of Jewish Studies)
- Wexner Field Fellowship (Fellow)
- Tikvah Fund, Krauthammer Fellowship (Fellow)
- Institute for Experiential Jewish Education (Facilitator)
Book Adam
Bring this speaker to your audience
To invite Adam Eilath to your school, university, congregation, or organization, use the Book Speaker button above or email info@jimena.org.