News & Blogs Category: Partners in the News

Two successful Jewish summer camps have announced plans to open new branches on the West Coast.

“We are looking at Northern California and we are also looking at Southern California,” Eden Village’s founding director, Yoni Stadlin, told J.

Both camps are planning to hold their first sessions in the summer of 2018.

Campers at Eden Village Camp inupstate New York. photo/jta-courtesy of eden village camp

The two new camps come in addition to Camp Ramah Northern California, which just concluded its first summer session at an oceanside location in Watsonville, on Monterey Bay.

The Reconstructionist camp, geared to third- through 10th-graders, is being started with a $1.4 million grant over four years from the Foundation for Jewish Camp, an incubator for specialty camps.

Camp JRF opened 15 years ago in a rented space and now houses more than 400 campers every summer on its campus in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.

The new camp will be within a few hours drive of three of the largest congregations affiliated with the Reconstructionist movement.

Meanwhile, Eden Village, which promotes Jewish environmentalism, received a grant from the Foundation for Jewish Camp and the S.F.-based Jim Joseph Foundation to expand its operations from New York to the West Coast.

The new camp program will focus on vegetable farming, animal husbandry, food justice, whole food cooking and healthy food systems.

“We feel blessed and immensely grateful,” Stadlin said. “There is so much demand for the kind of Earth-based Judaism and loving kindness that Eden Village Camp creates.” — jta & j. staff

Source: “West Coast to get two new Jewish camps,” J Weekly, October 6, 2016

The Shalom Hartman Institute has received a grant from the S.F.-based Jim Joseph Foundation for $1 million over three years to expand its iEngage on Campus program on the West Coast and to launch new Israel education initiatives to be piloted at West Coast campuses.

The Shalom Hartman Institute, founded in 1976 in Jerusalem, is a pluralistic center for research and education that aims to improve the quality of Jewish life in Israel and North America. The Shalom Hartman Institute of North America now has received two major grants from Jim Joseph.

The iEngage on Campus program — which Yehuda Kurtzer, president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America, called “a cornerstone of our work in North America”  — will include campus professionals, academics and undergraduate students at up to nine campuses from Southern California to Washington.

As for which schools will be involved, “We’re not yet in a place to name any of the new campuses,” Ben Cutter, a N.Y.-based official for Shalom Hartman, told J. by email. “Contracts are still being negotiated and conversations are underway  at a number of schools.” An announcement could come in a few weeks, he added.

The expansion will involve intensive training programs in Israel and North America that provide education on Jewish peoplehood and the relationship of the Jewish people to the State of Israel. The goal of the West Coast iEngage initiative, officials said, is to ensure that college campuses are sites of elevated and ethical discourse on Israel.

Program components during the 2016-17 school year include a fellowship program for Hillel directors, campus rabbis and educators; seminars on campus, and a scholar-in-residence program.

Al Levitt, president and chair of the Jim Joseph Foundation, said in a release that his board was “especially pleased that these programs leverage the close relationship between the Hartman Institute and Hillel International” and offer the opportunity “to positively influence tens of thousands of Jewish students on West Coast campuses.”

Source: “iEngage program gets $1 million Jim Joseph Foundation grant,” J Weekly, September 15, 2016

Yedida Bessemer asked eJP readers to think about what excellent Israel education looks like and called for field-wide standards and benchmarks to determine whether efforts are effective. We at the iCenter want to share our experience from seven years of  building this field and working closely with schools, camps, synagogues, Israel travel experiences, and other educational and communal settings to help learners, in any environment, develop meaningful relationships with Israel, the land, and its people.

While much work lies ahead, we offer a range of approaches, resources, specific programs, and more from which educators can draw so that all kinds of learners – regardless of personal interests, level of previous knowledge, Hebrew language skills, travel in Israel, or other factors – will engage in outstanding Israel learning experiences.

As educators continue to seek help infusing Israel into their learning environments, a good starting point is the iCenter’s Aleph Bet of Israel Education, a set of 12 core principles, approaches to content, and essential pedagogies that together constitute the building blocks for the field. Sections of the Aleph Bet include: “Israel as a Cornerstone of Jewish Identities,” “Eretz, Medina, and Am Yisrael,” “Modern Hebrew,” “Israeli Arts and Culture,” “Relating and Relationship-Building,” and “The Educator,” among other principles.

We recognize that principles do not alone build a field. Yedida is right in calling for educational standards and benchmarks. How do we go about developing them and ensuring their productive use? Whether in schools, camps, or other communities, we see the greatest success when each institution decides on its own standards and benchmarks with the buy-in of its faculty, staff, and other key leaders.

Day schools can look to three related models to help guide development of their Israel education standards and benchmarks. On a spectrum from the systemic to more focused approaches, we invite day school educators to explore BASIS from Jewish LearningWorks, iNfuse, and Hearts and Minds, initiatives either designed, implemented or supported by the iCenter. Common among these models is allowing space for lay leaders and professionals, in a guided manner , to engage in rich and productive conversations about Israel in their school. We again see success in schools that, prior to adopting or articulating Israel education standards, take time to think deeply about and articulate an overarching vision for Israel education. This vision then serves as the criteria against which standards and benchmarks are developed.

You can learn more about – and maybe even adapt – the rich set of standards for Israel education recently developed by the iNfuse schools by emailing us at [email protected]. We also are accepting inquiries for the next group of schools that will take part in our day school initiative, which you can learn more about by emailing [email protected].

If you’re not a day school educator, we have myriad other resources. For summer camps, we work closely with leaders and educators to help map where Israel currently exists in the camp environments – and how Israel can be more deeply integrated into all camp activities. The Goodman Camping Initiative has been a vehicle for more than 50 summer camps to implement a systemic integration of Israel throughout the camp and to be positioned to make real change. The activity database and planning tool are available foranyone to access.

Along with these initiatives, in our work with thousands of  Jewish educators through numerous programs and frameworks we have been struck and inspired by the passion they share to become effective Israel educators. Whether they are enrolled in institutions of higher learning, are part of Birthright Israel Fellows, or engaged in the day to day work of Israel education in a multitude of educational settings, every educator needs principles to guide and inform the Israel education experiences they create.

We want to broaden the access and reach of our resources, to welcome more people into the conversation and process about how we can both initiate and then further develop the relationship between learners and Israel. Developing the right standards and benchmarks for every single institution is integral to this conversation, and to the iCenter’s work.

Dr. Lesley Litman is the Director of HUC-JIR’s Executive MA program in Jewish Education and a consultant to the iCenter.

Anne Lanski is Executive Director of the iCenter.

Source: “Israel Education Standards and Benchmarks: Which waze do we go?,” Dr. Lesley Litman and Anne Lanski, eJewishPhilanthropy, September 7, 2016

(JTA) — BBYO launched a five-year, $90 million campaign — aided by two unprecedented gifts — in an effort to double the Jewish youth organization’s annual growth rate.

The “This Moment in Time” campaign will also enable BBYO, the world’s largest pluralistic Jewish youth group, to expand its workforce, increase summer program offerings and grow its endowment.
As part of the initiative, the organization set a goal of 27,000 members annually by the end of the 2022 school year and a reach of 110,000 North American Jewish teens in its programs, according to a statement. The group says it now has 19,000 members with a reach of over 80,000 teens.

The initial grants, totaling $28.8 million, came from longtime funders The Jim Joseph Foundation and The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, two organizations promoting education and Jewish identity building.

“We believe that BBYO is uniquely positioned to ensure that the Jewish future is vibrant,” said Stacy Schusterman, co-chair of the Schusterman Family Foundation.

BBYO’s CEO, Matthew Grossman, said the organization was “grateful for these significant investments, which will help position us for even greater global reach and impact on Jewish teens.”

The new initiative is based on a six-month study of how the group can build infrastructure in order to increase growth.

BBYO must raise additional funds to reach the $90 million goal.

Source: “BBYO launches $90 million campaign to double annual growth rate,” JTA, September 7, 2016

(JTA) — When lowering my shoulder, planting my feet and pushing hard to make something happen, I love to reflect on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s exhortation to act with “the fierce urgency of now.”

My feelings in those moments are usually not very MLK-like — self-righteousness, self-satisfaction and just a touch of self-pity make me feel both impatient and smug. Over the last month, however, “the fierce urgency of now” has challenged me in a new way, as I struggle to process the violence, oppression, naked fear, hatred and cynicism that is dominating our national news and politics and spilling into our communities.

The sense of urgency and the desire to act right now collides with two simple questions: What should I do?  What can I do?

From conversations with friends and colleagues at other Jewish and secular organizations, especially those engaged in volunteering and service, I know I’m not alone either in feeling a sense of urgency or in asking these questions. At Repair the World, we approach this challenge by focusing on our simplest premise: Jewish life and Jewish values offer not just the inspiration and imperative to heal what’s broken in our world, but also give us guidance about how to do it.

Here are four foundational lessons, grounded in Jewish principles, which have been tested and verified by Repair the World and others as best practices for service engagement — that is, inspiring individuals and organizations, especially millennials, to serve their communities, society and the world. Whether their intention is to pack and deliver food boxes to the needs or teach inner-city girls how to write computer code, these practices provide bedrock stability from which they — we — can lean into the challenging issues of our times.

Use your hands, head and heart: The secular service world teaches that transformative service requires three elements: hands-on volunteering, contextual education and personal reflection. These elements echo the beginning of Pirkei Avot, the Jewish wisdom collection also know as Ethics of Our Ancestors: “The world rests on three pillars: Torah [study/education]; service of God [spiritual reflection]; and deeds of kindness.” (1:2) These pillars bring balance and therefore strength to the most difficult kind of work; these are the tools that enable Jewish young adults to stay resolved and grow when they confront deeply troubling issues in local communities.

Be real, even (especially) when it’s uncomfortable: Authenticity and discomfort win over spin and polish every time. The most essential way to perform authentic service is also the most difficult thing to do: addressing the actual, self-expressed needs of the community that you are serving. Pirkei Avot suggests there are 48 ways to learn, which include “a listening ear,” “deliberation in study,” “asking and answering,” “listening and illuminating” and “learning in order to teach.” (6:6) If we don’t listen to those we intend to serve, we contribute to injustice for others.

Temper urgency with curiosity: It’s easy to be lost in the urgent need to act, especially when human lives (or souls) are on the line. We make a terrible error, however, when we become too emotionally invested in the action. When an organization says its doesn’t have the time, energy or money to learn more about the hypotheses underlying its model, it is a sign of too much emotional investment. Again, Pirkei Avot: “If there is no Torah study, there is no ‘derech eretz’; if there is no derech eretz, there is no Torah.” That is, “If there is no applied knowledge, there is no analytical knowledge. If there is no analytical knowledge, there is no applied knowledge.” (3:2) From the entrepreneurial revolution of the last two decades we know whoever learns the fastest has the highest likelihood of success. This is no less true in the nonprofit sector. 

Be an ally, not a superhero: Jewish young adults feel most gratified and empowered when they are able to build meaningful relationships both with people like them and with people unlike them who experience oppression in a more personal way. This is probably what Ben Zoma, quoted in Pirkei Avot, meant in saying, “Who is wise? One who learns from every person.” (4:1) Peer-to-peer engagement is a critical first step in building close bonds and new community through powerful shared experiences.

These Jewish values not only make service more meaningful and more effective, but they make it more likely that more young Jews will engage seriously with the programs and be part of a community around them.

Many organizations and communities that are doing this important work are joining in the inaugural “Service Matters: A Summit on Jewish Service” in New York on Sept. 15. With Repair the World serving as convener, a diverse group of professionals, social entrepreneurs, current and prospective funders, Jewish educators and others will explore ways of working to engage people — especially Jewish millennials — in meaningful service through a Jewish lens.

The summit will be an opportunity to elevate meaningful service in Jewish life, strengthen the bond between Jewish values and engaging young Jews, and wrestling with our responses as Jews and human beings to the issues of our time. Together, with urgency, we can bring the change, be the change, that all of us wish to see.

(David Eisner is CEO of Repair the World. Learn more about the upcoming “Service Matters: A Summit on Jewish Service.”)

Source: “Millennials want to serve. Jewish tradition tells them how,” David Eisner, JTA, September 5, 2016

The Louisville Jewish Community Center has had a garden for years, but never the staff to make the most of it. For Michael Fraade, a member of the first cohort of Hazon’s JOFEE Fellowship who is spending the year working on the JCC’s environmental programming, that garden has the potential to change the ways in which members of the community understand the rich relationship between the earth and Judaism.

“We’ve got summer camp kids at the JCC’s day camp who come in for programs,” Fraade said. “Seeing some of the kids’ faces light up when they realize that’s a mint plant and they can take a leaf and eat it and it tastes like mint, or hearing that that yellow flower is going to eventually turn into squash – making those connections is really gratifying.”

The JOFEE Fellowship is the first standardized professional training program for aspiring educators in the field of Jewish Outdoor Food, Farming and Environmental Education (JOFEE). Funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation, the fellowship is run through Hazon in partnership with the Jewish Community Centers Association of North America, Urban Adamah, Pearlstone Center, and Wilderness Torah. (The last three, along with Hazon, form a group called the J4.)

That collaboration emerged after the 2014 publication of the JOFEE Report, the first professionalized report on the state of the field. The report was based on interviews with JOFEE stakeholders, a survey of 655 adults who’d participated in immersive JOFEE experiences, and program histories from JOFEE organizations. While the report painted an impressive picture of the field’s achievements and growth – it grew from 6 immersive programs in 2000 to 41 in 2012; 63% of the study’s participants had at some point felt disconnected from Jewish life, and for 32% of them, a JOFEE experience proved their primary means of reconnection – it revealed some striking gaps.

The immersive experiences studied in the report included programs like the Adamah and Urban Adamah fellowships, 3-month long residencies for students and young professionals that introduce them to subjects like organic agriculture, urban farming, and food justice in a Jewish framework. Those programs tended to spark a passion for JOFEE in their participants. “These very talented, intelligent, great, creative people were coming into JOFEE through these opening programs,” said Yoshi Silverstein, the director of the JOFEE fellowship “but then would have some difficulty knowing exactly what happened next.”

The answer was the JOFEE Fellowship. A yearlong program that provides its participants with extensive experiential and pedagogical training, a living stipend, one-on-one training and a JOFEE position at a Jewish organization, it’s a first step in addressing the lack of clear professional paths in JOFEE. It’s also an elegant means of addressing two other issues: the need to strengthen and professionalize the field, which has until now lacked a standardized, articulated set of fundamentals for educators, and to expand its reach in Jewish communities.

“In the Jewish community, experiential education is not the dominant norm,” explained Jakir Manela, the executive director of Pearlstone Center in Baltimore. “It’s not deeply integrated across the Jewish community yet.”

At the Louisville JCC, Fraade is working toward achieving that integration. He helps run the Center’s garden, provides educational programming to everyone from preschool students to participants in adult education programs, and works on building community partnerships. Among those is a partnership with New Roots, a food justice organization that provides organic local produce to more than 1,000 Louisville families. It’s been operating since 2009, when a few friends founded the group to help address food disparity within the city.

For Fraade, who will help integrate the JCC’s food justice efforts with those of New Roots, the New Roots story helps illuminate the importance of JOFEE education. “One staff member of an organization or a committed group of volunteers can create something that really flourishes over time,” he said.

The Pearlstone Center’s Manela imagines those grassroots efforts, as a collective, having an enormous impact. He sees JOFEE as a means for American Jews, as well as those in other countries, to adopt more responsibility for the planet, live more sustainably and create a more inhabitable world for future generations.

That’s a lesson Zelig Golden is imparting to Wilderness Torah’s JOFEE fellow Daniella Aboody, who has joined the organization’s youth programming team. Every JOFEE fellow is paired with a professional mentor at their organization; Golden is Aboody’s mentor. Although their professional relationship just began, Aboody’s first connection to the world of Jewish environmentalism was a Wilderness Torah experience; in some ways, Golden, the organization’s founding director, has been a mentor to her for years.

Aboody spoke passionately about the impact of JOFEE on her ability to relate to Judaism. “I felt like I found my tribe that I didn’t even know I was looking for,” she said of attending one of Wilderness Torah’s signature Earth-based Judaism festivals in the spring of 2013.

Aboody has been in the JOFEE field since then, working in the Bay Area with Urban Adamah The Kitchen, a Jewish life startup. When she heard about the JOFEE Fellowship, she was committed to both the field and the Bay Area, but couldn’t see how to move forward in her career.

The fellowship didn’t just give her the forward momentum she was looking for; it also let her become a part of Wilderness Torah, which felt, in a way, like coming full circle. As a member of Wilderness Torah’s staff, Aboody is helping coordinate the center’s yearlong youth programs for grades K-5 and 6-7. She’s also helping design youth programming for some of the organization’s festivals, including this fall’s Sukkot on the Farm Festival.

Like Aboody, many of the fellows had a moment of clarity during a JOFEE experience – half spiritual, half vocational – that made them feel a powerful bond with the field.

“I spent time studying in Israel, and that was where I made the connection between my religion and the earth,” said Jessica Berlin, a fellow at Hazon’s Isabella Freedman Center in Connecticut. “I have this memory of harvesting hyssop to make za’atar, and I had this crazy moment when I realized that was the exact herb that was once offered as a sacrifice in the temple. Judaism became totally live and relevant to me in that moment.”

Adam Berman, the executive director of Urban Adamah, thinks those kinds of experiences are at the heart of JOFEE. “The long term goals of JOFEE are to make Judaism relevant, alive and compelling to humans on our planet in ever-deepening ways,” he said.

“Our relationship with the natural world and with all of creation is a primary part of who we are as Jews,” Manela said. As Fraade emphasized, agriculture and farming was central to ancient Jewish communities, and values and practices rooted in those communities are still central to the religion today. For both Manela and Fraade, JOFEE provides a tangible way to incorporate the spiritual environment of Judaism’s past with the American Judaism of today.

The JOFEE Fellowship, which began in June, will undergo extensive professional evaluation in its first year. Anecdotally, though, the fellows are already starting to understand what that might look like.

“A few weeks ago, I did a farm tour with a group of young Jewish professionals from New York City, and for a lot of them, it was the first time they ever saw food growing,” Berlin said. “It was so cool to see their eyes like light up when they really made that connection of the thing that they’re eating and the way that it grows.”

Talya Zax is the Forward’s summer culture fellow. Contact her at [email protected] or on Twitter, @TalyaZax

Source: “The Earth Moved For Them — Did It Move For You?,” The Forward, August 28, 2016

From today through Monday, the Jewish Emergent Network – a collaboration between seven Jewish organizations from across the United States – is kicking off its inaugural project, the Rabbinic Fellowship, with a dynamic, content-rich Shabbat-based New York City convening to welcome its first cohort of rabbinic fellows. The convening will be hosted by Romemu, one of the Network’s New York-based organizations. Kabbalat Shabbat and Shabbat morning services will be held at Romemu and open to the broader Jewish community.

The goal of the Fellowship is to create the next generation of entrepreneurial, risk-taking change-makers, whose skills will equally prepare them to initiate independent communities and be valuable and valued inside existing Jewish institutions and synagogues. Each fellow will be steeped in the spirit and best practices of the Network organizations and poised to educate, engage, and serve an array of target populations, especially young adults and families with young children. During the convening, the Fellows will be engaged in programming focused on God, rabbinic skills, davening, program design, self-assessment and more. Through curriculum designed by the Network and consultant group ChangeCraft and facilitated by a variety of teachers, fellows will experience case studies, immersive sessions, group conversations, music, and prayer side by side with the clergy and leadership of the seven communities. A core component of the convening will be a multi-session deep dive into the Romemu community and how it crafted and implements its vibrant services.

The first cohort of Network fellows includes: Rabbi Nate DeGroot at IKAR in Los Angeles, Rabbi Sydney Danziger at Kavana in Seattle, Rabbi Jonathan Bubis at The Kitchen in San Francisco, Rabbi Lauren Henderson at Mishkan in Chicago, Rabbi Suzy Stone at Sixth & I in Washington, DC, Rabbi Kerry Chaplin at Lab/Shul in New York City, and Rabbi Joshua Buchin at host community Romemu, also in New York City.

The Fellowship placed these select, early-career rabbis into each of the seven participating Network organizations for a two-year period, in order to train the next generation of enterprising rabbis to take on the challenges and realities of 21st-century Jewish life in America in a variety of settings. The seven organizations in the Network are all devoted to revitalizing the field of Jewish engagement. While each community is different in form and organizational structure, all have taken an entrepreneurial approach to this shared vision, operating outside of traditional institutional models and rethinking basic assumptions about US Jewish communities with regard to prayer, membership models, staff structures, the religious/cultural divide, and physical space.

The Fellows have been embedded in their new communities since July 1st. Each Fellow will take on a variety of independent rabbinic tasks and will receive weekly supervision and support from leaders within the host organization. Throughout the two-year program, fellows will meet seven times as a fully assembled cohort, including the inaugural convening, traveling to each of the seven Network organizations for intensive site visits at which they will learn from Network and non-Network rabbis, teachers and other experts from around the country. The final site visit, planned for the first Shabbatof June 2018 at IKAR in Los Angeles, will also include a public-facing conference that welcomes clergy, staff, and lay leaders from across the country to engage with the fellows and share best practices of innovation and creativity with regard to Jewish community building. Towards the end of the first cohort, a second cohort of rabbinic fellows will be selected and placed.

Seed funding for the first four years of this program has been generously provided through a grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Crown Family, the Charles H. Revson Foundation and Natan. Network members are continuing to secure additional program funding over the next four years.

Source: “Jewish Emergent Network Gathers in New York City,” eJewishPhilanthropy, August 4, 2016

Earlier this year, Barry Chazan, professor emeritus of education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, penned an op-ed for the New York Jewish Week in which he discussed the 21st-century shift toward personalization and customization.

“Mattresses, automobiles and worldviews that speak to ‘my’ tastes, desires, interests, schedule, and way of thinking and living in the world,” wrote Chazan.

His argument was that up until now, the focus of Israel education has been on what is good for Israel, the Jews, and Jewish continuity. Today, however, the way we teach Israel has shifted with the way we teach and experience everything else.

“Israel is not the subject of Israel education—rather it is the one learning about Israel,” Chazan wrote. “The content of Israel education is not Israel—but rather the relationship with Israel. The aim of Israel education is not Israel—but rather finding a meaningful role for Israel in our lives.”

Chazan’s outlook is the same one that served as a spark for the formation of the innovative iCenter program, which invests in Israel-focused professional development opportunities for educators that work at camps, day schools, synagogues, on Taglit Birthright trips, and more. The iCenter, according to its website, is a national hub and catalyst for building, shaping, and supporting the field of Israel education.

“We support educators across all settings and provide the tools to bring Israel into their students’ lives,” the website says.

Anne Lanski, executive director of iCenter, told JNS.org that her team is working to shift educators’ mindset from one of curriculum and information to a focus on the learner—so that students begin to understand Israel and information about it “in the context of something relevant and meaningful to them.”

Lanski said that when education focuses on an issue—the people of Israel, the issue of Israel, how to deal with that issue—it turns Israel into a “subject” and too often not even a positive one. The iCenter’s “Aleph Bet of Israel Education,” therefore, offers a set of core principles, approaches to content, and pedagogies that the center hopes constitute the building blocks for the new-age field of Israel education. The goal is to change Israel education into an experience that becomes integrated into everywhere that Jewish kids are today.

“We used to say, ‘In what grade did you teach Israel?’ or, ‘Where does Israel live in your school?’ The answer would be like 6th grade, second semester,” said Lanski. “Now there is an understanding of the need for identity development and excellent education and a learner-centered education, and meaning that allows Israel to live organically in the lives of young Jewish kids in a way it didn’t before.”

One way the iCenter is fostering this transformation is through its iFellows Master Concentration in Israel Education, which to date has equipped more than 150 educators with the tools to employ a learner-focused approach to Israel education. The program includes rigorous academic study, ongoing mentorship, learning opportunities in Israel, and the creation of a final Israel education project. Following graduation, students join an alumni network through which the iCenter ensures the ongoing ability to share ideas, resources, and experiences.

Similarly, the iCenter’s Birthright Israel Fellows leadership program offers a growing network of young leaders who staff Birthright trips the opportunity to explore their own Israel stories, in order to ignite the passion they share for the Jewish state in their young travelers. Participants learn how to bring their stories to life.

Yaniv Havusha participated in a Birthright Israel Fellows seminar in March 2016. He said he learned how to share his personal Israel story, which centers on his parents—a mother who is an American immigrant and an Israeli father. The couple met just before the Yom Kippur War in 1973. As an American, Havusha’s mother faced a dilemma: stay in war-torn Israel with the man she loves, or return to safety in the U.S. Ultimately, she stuck it out in Israel. The couple made it through the war and later moved together to America, where Havusha was raised.

When Birthright groups visit Mount Bental, which overlooks Syria, Havusha now knows how to tell the story the way he sees it in his head: tanks, live action, and love. He shares pictures and letters written by his parents during that time and brings the circumstances to life.

“The goal is not have them (Birthright participants) become cheerleaders for Israel,” said Havusha. “It is just to start that ball rolling, to connect, to help them know what is [in Israel] and the impact it can continue to have on them when they return.”

At the Jerusalem U non-profit, Zeev Ben-Shachar’s role as director of Israel education has him using similar techniques to those of educators trained through the iCenter. Ben-Shachar is involved in developing Jerusalem U films about Jewish identity and Israel.

“We learned a long time ago, if you want students to connect, you have to connect to their minds and hearts,” said Ben-Shachar.

Caption: An event of the iCenter’s Birthright Israel Fellows leadership
program, which offers a growing network of young leaders who staff
Birthright trips the opportunity to explore their own Israel stories. Credit: Courtesy of the iCenter.

On such film is “Beneath the Helmet,” which tells a personalized story about the Israeli military through the eyes of combat soldiers on the ground, rather than only delivering the facts. “Inside Israel,” meanwhile, offers the tale of Israel as the so-called “start-up nation”—but rather than presenting a laundry list of key accomplishments and technologies, it demonstrates how the Jewish state has leveraged those technologies to make the world better, as seen through the eyes of the entrepreneurs themselves.

The other methodology employed by Jerusalem U is conveying critical-thinking skills to its students. Rather than exclusively promoting an Israel advocacy agenda, this approach centers on engagement and education, explained Ben-Shachar. His strategy is to provide students with all of the information they need, against the backdrop of a plan to transform them into pro-Israel advocates by educating about the difference between history and narrative as well as by teaching them best practices for unpacking the sometimes-biased news coverage on Israel.

“I believe that to support Israel is to have truth and justice on our side,” Ben-Shachar said.

The new LINK – Discovering Your Israel Connection curriculum of the pro-Israel education organization StandWithUs seeks to empower students to establish their own unique, modern connection to Israel by introducing them to the Jewish state in ways they could not experience through traditional Jewish education models, said Mina Rush, director of community engagement for StandWithUs.

“If the only Israel connection students are given is kachol v’lavan (the Israeli flag’s colors of blue and white) and falafel on Yom Ha’atzamaut (Israeli Independence Day), how can we expect them to meaningfully discern between clearly anti-Israel bias and the facts?” Rush asked. “The love, connection, and pride students should feel towards Israel must go beyond the superficialities of ‘feel-good Israel.’ What better way than to expose them to the best of what a nation built on Jewish values looks like? LINK addresses this through lessons on diversity, humanitarian aid within and without Israel, innovation and technology that improves the lives of people everywhere—all delivered with cutting-edge, interactive technology. The intent is to not whitewash some of the more complicated realities, but to first build a strong foundation of respect, connection, and pride before tackling them.”

The LINK curriculum is both project-based and experiential, using the same best practices recommended by the iCenter. It also adaptable, utilizing the latest technologies and devices as they emerge.

“School by school, camp by camp, community by community, we are embarking on a process of helping educators think intentionally and meaningfully about how they integrate Israel into what they are doing,” said the iCenter’s Lanski. “We think that after a decade, Israel will be experienced by the next generation like never before.”

“New models focus on the ‘I’ in Israel education,” JNS, July 7, 2016

Fifth Cohort of iCenter’s Master’s Concentration in Israel education represent spectrum of educators from different backgrounds and universities.

A new cohort of iFellows graduated from the iCenter’s iFellows Master’s Concentration in Israel Education (iFellows) with fresh approaches and skills to bring dynamic Israel experiences to their learners. Including students from eight leading academic institutions across 12 campuses, members of the fifth cohort work in varied settings, from camp, to university to day schools. Now certified as Israel educators, they employ a learner-focused approach to Israel education in which they help build authentic, personally meaningful connections between the learners and the land, the people and the State of Israel.

“The iCenter provided me a new set of tools, methodologies and ways to look at and explore Israel Education together with my students,” said Lihi Gordon, former Israel Fellow (Shlicha) to Hillel Foundation of Orange County. “Working with college students requires an educator to have an open mind, to ask the right questions that stimulate a conversation and to allow the students to think and form an opinion.”

She added, “As an Israeli, the iFellows program allowed me to expand my own horizons, and to go on a journey of my own and explore together with my peers what Israel is, what Israel Education means, and how we can continuously improve it. I believe Israel Education, like general education, is a very dynamic field that constantly changes. The iFellows seminar allowed me to experience and see this fluidity and equipped me to help my students, friends, and colleagues experience it as well.”

“Coming to this seminar to cap off the year of learning gave me not only the tools and the language that I was missing, but the power, confidence, and legitimacy to teach about Israel in a uniquely personal way,” says Nasya Milller, graduate of the Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership. “The mentorship of the Master’s Concentration and ongoing application of the educational language of the iCenter has really helped shape my future path as an educator.”

5th Cohort of iCenter’s Master’s Concentration in Israel education represent spectrum of educators from different backgrounds and universities

The 37 students in the fifth cohort are in education, rabbinical and cantorial studies, representing the spectrum of Jewish denominations and a diversity of opinions. They come together as a cohesive group within this unique institutional collaboration, based on a shared commitment to and passion for Jewish education and to Israel. The program integrates rigorous academic study, ongoing mentorship, learning opportunities in Israel and creation of a final Israel education project, which students presented at the seminar. Throughout the year, over the course of three seminars, the students are given the opportunity to examine the core issues of the field, including various approaches to Israel education and its fundamental principles. There are now a total of 152 iFellows.

“Each year I am more and more impressed with the iFellows program and what our students are able to bring back to HUC as a result of their participation,” adds Michael Zeldin, senior national director of the schools of education at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and Director of the Rhea Hirsch School of Education and DeLeT. “Our students bring various passions to their work as Jewish educators. Some are passionate about social justice, some about camping, some about music. As a result of the year they spent at our Jerusalem campus, all of them bring a passion about Israel to their work. What the iCenter does so beautifully is to provide a forum for students to marry their personal passions to their passion for Israel.”

The program was initiated in 2010 and has been growing exponentially every year. Through the current creation of an alumni community, the iCenter is ensuring an ongoing framework in which graduates share ideas, resources, experiences and work in the field over the years to come. The iFellows program offers students unprecedented access to a national network of experts in the field. For students who have spent years studying the work of these leading thinkers—many of whom are pioneers in the field—the opportunity to engage with them directly is a key component of the educational experience.

“The iFellows Master’s Concentration in Israel Education opportunity has been a real game-changer in both my graduate education as well as my future career working for the Jewish community,” says Naomi Rosenfeld, a member of iFellows cohort 5 and a graduate student at the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership program at Brandeis University. “Through its creation and consistent enhancement of the field of Israel Education, the iCenter’s renowned faculty members provided us with knowledge, resources, a common language, a network, and confidence we can rely upon to both educate about and foster life-long relationships with Israel. I feel very fortunate to have participated in such an inspiring yet practical learning opportunity.”

“This collaboration brings together educators across denomination and political lines who now share a common language about Israel education,” says Anne Lanski, executive director of the iCenter. “The result is a broad community of empowered educators who create a deeper connection to Israel with their learners and help shape Jewish life for future generations.

Source: “New iFellow Graduates,” KosherOCMagazine, June 27, 2016

A new Early Career Fellowship Program will launch later this year to develop and position young leaders for careers in Jewish education. The pilot program is led by Gann Academy in Waltham, Massachusetts; Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York, New York; and de Toledo High School in Los Angeles, California and is supported by a $1.5 million grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation. The grant is the latest example of the innovative high schools’ expanding leadership role in strengthening the Jewish community in their local communities and nationally.

The multi-year matching grant funds Gann hiring a national manager to form and oversee this first-of-its kind program and the recruiting of six national Fellows—new college graduates—at the three different Jewish high schools (beginning in 2017). These schools share a deep commitment to training the next generation of educational leadership.

As Rabbi Marc Baker, head of Gann Academy, notes, “The Jim Joseph Foundation grant is another example of the depth and breadth of our mission and impact. Along with Abraham Joshua Heschel School, and de Toledo, we are here to prepare our students for today’s world and to ensure that we are building a solid foundation for the next generation. Teaching the teachers is a critical component of that foundation.”

The three pilot schools will become an on-ramp for new talent, benefiting directly from the contributions of the fellows while learning what it takes to recruit, inspire and connect young professionals to a meaningful career.

“The Early Career Fellowship Program provides a unique path into Jewish day school education for our best and brightest college grads,” adds Bruce Powell, head of School at de Toledo High School in Los Angeles. “In essence, the program ensures that we develop quality professionals who will be the future of our schools and who will guarantee that we can continue with our sacred task at the highest level. The vision of the Jim Joseph Foundation and Gann Academy is transformative.”

In addition to the recruiting and assignment of the six Fellows, the matching grant enables the development of a robust curriculum for the Fellows, the annual convening of the Fellows to compare experiences and share learning, and the creation of formative and summative evaluations.

“With their records of educational success, these schools are natural partners for this innovative new program,” adds Chip Edelsberg, executive director of the Jim Joseph Foundation. “There is an urgent need to develop talented young leaders who possess skills and support necessary to deliver excellent Jewish education in a variety of settings. As the Fellowship evolves, we look forward to sharing findings and key lessons to help all who care about the future of Jewish life and learning.”

While the essence of the Fellows’ professional development will be their full-time work over two years as part of the schools’ Jewish and Student Life teams, they will also seek to engage with other constituents in their local communities. Those activities will include but not be limited to working with regional directors of teen youth organizations, adult education, and doing student recruitment work with local synagogues and day schools or other synergies, as determined by the Fellow and the school.

“This exciting partnership will offer our high school students a fabulous opportunity to learn from terrific role models as the Early Career Fellows simultaneously learn how to become leaders in the field of Jewish education,” adds Ariela Dubler, Head of School, The Abraham Joshua Heschel School. “We are thrilled to be a part of this innovative program.”

The grant also will support an independent evaluator to provide careful study of the program’s efforts on the Fellows and their school communities with an eye towards the scalability of the program and its capacity to increase a pipeline of expertly prepared Jewish educational leaders for the future.

Source: “Program for Careers in Jewish Education Launched with $1.5M Foundation Grant,” The Jewish Voice, June 22, 2016

“As a community, we are heavily invested in identifying ways to engage teens in Jewish life,” said Sarina Gerson, the director of Springboard, JUF’s Teen Engagement Initiative. “While support of programs and outreach to teens are critical, it is equally, if not more important that we actually understand what teens want and work with them to create meaningful experiences.” This lesson, she added, is emphasized in a new study, Generation Now: Understanding and Engaging Jewish Teens Today released by The Jewish Education Project.”

Generation Now offers an unprecedented look at Jewish teens- their interests, hopes, beliefs, and more. Based on more than two years of research, focus groups, and surveys, the report outlines 14 outcomes that Jewish teen initiatives and programs should strive to achieve in order to have the deepest, most meaningful impact.

These outcomes would reflect a program’s ability to impact teens both as human beings and as Jews. They include that teens: feel a sense of pride about being Jewish; experience learning that is both challenging and valuable; establish strong friendships with each other and their families; and feel inspired and empowered to make a positive difference in the world in which they live.

“As our process of listening directly to teens unfolded, what we began to learn clearly warranted a complete paradigm shift in how the Jewish community approaches teen education and engagement,” says David Bryfman, Chief Innovation Officer at The Jewish Education Project, who oversaw this research and compilation of the report. “We should develop Jewish opportunities in concert with teens and that address all aspects of their lives. As a whole, teens want to learn, want to be challenged, value family and friends, and they often seamlessly blend all facets of their identity and personality.”

Although not every Jewish program will address all 14 recommended outcomes, as teens participate in multiple programs over the course of their development, the hope is that they will experience the majority of the outcomes.

These outcomes-along with accompanying indicators and measurement tools-are already being field-tested in many communities. In Chicago, they are being used to measure the impact of existing programs for teens, as well as new, immersive, Jewish experiences taking place over school vacations through Springboard.

Gerson explains that a baseline survey of Jewish teens in Chicago was fielded in April and May to gain local insights. “We need to know how teens are connecting to existing programs, as well as how these programs might already be providing the outcomes we want,” she said. “Springboard will support local programs by providing professional development, assistance with program design, and field-tested measurement tools to ensure that teens have access to the highest-quality Jewish experiences.”

Generation Now builds on a 2013 report by the Jim Joseph Foundation. Following the release of that report, the Jim Joseph Foundation began partnering with funders in 10 US communities-including Chicago-to significantly invest further in Jewish teen education and engagement.

The Jewish Education Project has run the National Incubator that has been working closely with these communities as they design and modify their teen initiatives based on the latest research.

“If we, as a community, are going to be successful at supporting meaningful and relevant Jewish learning experiences for teens,” said Josh Miller, Program Director at the Jim Joseph Foundation, “we must be attuned to what matters most to them as human beings and as Jews.”

For more information about how JUF’s engages local Jewish teens, see the Teens@JUFwebpage at juf.org/teens .

Source: “New survey gives insight into Jewish teens’ attitudes and behaviors,” JUF News, June 1, 2016