When Families Become the Classroom: Jewish Learning Through a Latin-Jewish Lens

This week on Adapting, Samantha Vinokor-Meinrath sits down with Ariela Ronay-Jinich, founder and executive director of Olamim, to explore how education helps people navigate the richness of their identities. Drawing on her experiences as a Mexican Jew, educator, and parent, Ariela reflects on how her identities shaped her understanding of learning as a powerful tool for development, belonging, and community-building. 

Ariela shares how Olamim empowers parents, children, and grandparents to create Jewish meaning together through stories, practices, culture, and shared experiences. From Latin-Jewish families to the broader Jewish community, she argues that Jewish learning is not simply about transmitting knowledge but about helping people become more fully themselves while seeing their family's unique story as an essential part of the larger Jewish story. Their conversation examines what happens when we reimagine Jewish education with families—not institutions—at the center. 

Learn more about Olamim at olamim.org.

Learn more about The Jewish Education Project at jewishedproject.org

This episode was produced by Miranda Lapides and Dina Nusnbaum. The show’s executive producers are David Bryfman, Karen Cummins, and Nessa Liben. 

This episode was engineered and edited by Nathan J. Vaughan of NJV Media. 

If you enjoyed the show, please leave us a 5-star rating and review, or even better, share it with a friend. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and be the first to know when new episodes are released. To learn more about The Jewish Education Project visit jewishedproject.org where you can find links to our Jewish Educator Portal and learn more about our mission, history, and staff. We are a proud partner of UJA-Federation of New York.