Deborah Niederman
Director of Education
Temple Shalom
Dallas,
Roles at NAAEE
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Deborah Niederman is a values-driven Jewish educational leader with more than 30 years of experience creating multigenerational and experiential learning communities. As Director of Education at Temple Shalom of Dallas, she partners with lay leaders to cultivate visionary initiatives that bring Jewish learning to life. She helped launch the Temple Shalom Justice Garden, a vibrant space that unites wellness, ecology, education, and food justice, and is now leading the effort to open a nature-based Early Childhood Center, set to welcome its first learners in 2026. Guided by the values of joy, wonder, friendship, and holy community, Deborah designs hands-on curricula and community experiences that connect people of all ages to Torah, the natural world, and one another.
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Debbie received her Bachelor of Arts in Judaic Studies and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1993, she earned a Masters in Jewish Education from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles and in 1995, she received the title Reform Jewish Educator and in 2018 an Honorary Doctorate in Religious Education. For more than 20 years, Debbie has served on the board of the Association of Reform Jewish Educators and is a past president of that organization. Temple Shalom is the fourth congregational learning program Debbie has led.
Debbie is one of the authors of the CHAI: Learning for Jewish Life curriculum core developed by the URJ Department of Lifelong Jewish Learning. She served as the Associate Director of the Leadership Institute for the Union for Reform Judaism for five years and previously served as a Regional Educator, Congregational Consultant and Curriculum Writer at the URJ. Debbie also worked for her alma mater, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, for over 10 years serving as both the Coordinator of Career Services and the Director of the Alumni Association of the Schools of Education.
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