Staff
Dr. Arielle Levites, Managing Director
Dr. Arielle Levites is the Managing Director of CASJE. Her research focuses on contemporary American Jewish education. She has conducted a number of applied studies on behalf of American Jewish educational enterprises, with a focus on young adults and teens. Her work has been recognized with awards from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, and the Network for Research in Jewish Education.
Dr. Levites has served as the Golda Och Postdoctoral Fellow at the Jewish Theological Seminary, a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, a visiting assistant professor at Hebrew College in the Shoolman Graduate School, and an affiliated scholar at Brandeis University’s Mandel Center. She holds a BA from Brown University in Religious Studies, a MSEd in Religious Education from the University of Pennsylvania, and a PhD from NYU in Education and Jewish Studies.
Dr. Bethamie Horowitz, Director of Professional Learning Communities
Dr. Bethamie Horowitz is CASJE's inaugural Director of Professional Learning Communities. Dr. Horowitz directs the CASJE Research Fellowship and new professional learning groups.
A socio-psychologist by training, Bethamie is an astute analyst of the American Jewish community, identity dynamics, and Jewish education. From 2007-2020 she was a faculty member and eventually co-director of the Ph.D. program in Education and Jewish Studies Program at New York University. She served as Research Director at UJA-Federation of New York in the 1990s, and as Chief Scientist at the Mandel Foundation Israel and its School for Educational Leadership from 2000-2007.
Naomi Gamoran, Program Manager
Naomi Gamoran is CASJE's Program Manager, overseeing CASJE's operations and administration. Naomi is passionate about using evidence to improve Jewish education.
Prior to her work at CASJE, Naomi served as the DC Senior Program Director at Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps, where she developed the leadership skills of young Jewish adults and connected them to community-based organizations working for social justice. Naomi worked as a social studies teacher at Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School, teaching world history, psychology, and sociology. Naomi holds a BA in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Maryland-Baltimore. Additionally, Naomi has been involved in formal and informal Jewish education at synagogue and camp settings.