Transformimg Jewish Lives
Co-Creation: The New Imperative
From Sh'ma, a Journal of Jewish Ideas:
A dozen New Jersey parents, reviewing a recent field trip, discuss their children's progress in an experiment in family-driven Jewish education. A California mother organizes a group of families to study traditional Jewish texts through storytelling. Local experts are hired to facilitate discussion. A group of Atlanta families participates in a home school Jewish learning collective emphasizing parent-child interaction. In Washington, D.C., a mother works with a group to establish a Hebrew charter school while a father coordinates efforts to develop a five-day-a week after school Jewish enrichment program. A group of parents in New York City also explores the after school model. In Phoenix, parents are creating a community-wide collaboration where families will choose from an array of educational programs offered by numerous local organizations. Philadelphia parents hire a rabbinical student to run a weekly Hebrew language immersion gathering for their children.
These efforts are a sampling of programs created by a small but growing vanguard of families addressing the Jewish educational needs of their children. Who are the parents behind these initiatives? What do they have in common? How might their actions inform the transformation of Jewish education?
Read the full article in Sh'ma: a Journal of Jeiwsh Ideas...
New Group Moving Jewish Family Education to the Forefront
From eJewishPhilanthropy:
Fourth-grade students at Temple Israel Center in White Plains, NY recently gathered for one of a series of Havdalah programs, splitting into groups and discussing the blessings and ritual objects and even making some of their own.
Not particularly unusual on its face. But what made it more notable was the fact that it occurred beyond the synagogue walls, in someone's home, and most importantly, that parents participated as well.
Read the full article in eJewishPhilanthropy...
JESNA Chief Ideas Officer Quoted in eJewishPhilanthropy's "New Group Moving Jewish Family Education to the Forefront"
From eJewishPhilanthropy:
"Doing Jewish education without family involvement is almost thoughtless," said Dr. Jonathan Woocher, Chief Ideas Officer and Director of the Lippman Kanfer Institute at JESNA. "It ignores a central dimension of the educational process. So we must examine how to make families full partners in the educational process. My hope is that Shevet will move that conversation forward."
Read the full article in eJewishPhilanthropy...