Many have called the early 21st Century a "renaissance" for the Jewish community. Part-time education, an important part of this exciting change, brings innovative approaches to reaching, engaging, and enriching Jewish families across the country. Read the stories below to learn about some of these creative new approaches and learn from leading thinkers about possibilities for the future of Jewish education.
Innovative Education Around the Country:
- Wilderness Torah Opens Pathway for Jewish Educators
- Communal Approaches to Israel Education: Looking at three Shinui communities that decided to focus on Israel education across their communities
- From Strength to Greater Strength: Collaborations between Reform and Conservative religious schools
- The Retreat Institute: Offering "beyond the classroom" learning for students and families in the Cleveland area.
- When Jewish Education Becomes a Family Affair: One Cleveland family's experience in the Shabbaton program.
- Project-based Learning Offers 'Deeper and Better' Way to Teach Judaism: A look at an emerging trend across the country, utilizing project-based learning in part-time settings.
- JQuest: Children in Lafayette, CA are engaged in Jewish learning through their choice of educational tracks.
- Jewish Learning Community Network: In Los Angeles, three Conservative synagogues are changing the experience of Jewish learning for their combined communities.
- B'nai Mitzvah Mentors: B'nai mitzvah students in Cleveland build bonds with older members through mentoring and tutoring.
- @Akiva: Community teen programs re-envisioned under one umbrella for diverse groups of teens.
- Shorashim: Community educators engage kids and families in many aspects of their congregational lives, Westchester NY.
- Fierverker Jewish Learning Community: Philadelphia-area kids learning in experiential camp-like settings (go to page 37).
- Kashkesh: Early elementary students love their immersive Hebrew experience in Westchester, NY.
- Hebrew Through Movement: Hebrew class is about running, jumping, and reaching.
- Rimon: Children in the Philadelphia area are experiencing problem-based-learning with flexibility and choice.
- B'Tzelem: teens in Cleveland are engaging in Jewish education in a new way by learning to be companions for children with special needs.
- Shalom Explorers: young familiesare empowered to take the reigns of their children's Jewish learning in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- MASA: Families are learning together on selected "journeys" of their choice in New York City.
- Kesher: Jewish families are connecting to educational opportunities in San Francisco.
What's Next for Part-Time Education
- Ideas in Jewish Education and Engagement: What do we want for our children? by JFNA Jewish Education and Engagement Staff
- The Unique Place of Congregational Education in the Lives Of Children, Teens, and Families by Dr. Rob Weinberg
- A Mighty System with Some Mighty Big Questions by Anna Marx
- Innovation in Part-Time Jewish Education, Ohio Jewish Chronicle
- So Shall You Make It: Igniting Change in Congregational Learning, ELItalk by Nancy Parkes
- If you have a New Model for Jewish Learning, then Share Share Share! by Anna Marx
- Federation joins national network sharing learning experiences, Jewish Herald-Voice, Houston, TX
- Riding the wave of change in part-time Jewish education by Anna Marx and Rabbi Phil Warmflash
- When School Doesn’t Look Like School: Applied Judaism by Wendy Grinberg
- One Educator's Response on the findings of the Pew Report and the Jewish Future by Nancy Parkes
- Worthwhile Change: New Models of Congregational Education by Anna Marx, Cyd B. Weissman and Rob Weinberg
- Let's Get the Movement Together by Ed Frim
- Today’s Complementary Ed Is Not Your Father’s Hebrew School by Cyd B. Weissman and Rob Weinberg
Do you have an innovation worth sharing? Tell us about it.