tl;dr, Vol. 1

This newsletter was designed to share useful information about ADRABA or compelling ideas with you, our kehillah. 

But sometimes, one need not elaborate too much.  And so, I’m introducing a new feature: tl;dr – too long, didn’t read – where I share something from the world-wide Jewish web with a little bit of commentary.

Today, Ann Pava, chair of the JFNA Office of Education and Engagement, dropped a piece at eJewishPhilanthropy entitled “Redefining Jewish Education: Federations’ Goals for a New Century.”   (You can read the full piece here.)

She pointed out that “[w]hen Federations invest in education and engagement, they are really trying to do at least one of 10 things.”

Pay close attention to her subsequent list.  It sounds very much like the agenda of a certain Jewish blended-learning high school opening up in Toronto in September 2019.

1. Introduce people to Judaism, including Jewish community, Jewish organized community, and Federation.
2. Help participants  – students  – understand the relevance of Judaism and Jewish tradition to their life. Help them to live more completely and be more fulfilled (to thrive) because Jewish tradition and wisdom are in their life.
3. Help participants learn the stuff of Judaism, including building a mental framework for holding that stuff and then filling that framework. Help participants to wonder about but also wonder at Jewish ideas, to know what to know about Judaism and also how to get to know Judaism, to see patterns and key ideas in the tradition.
4. Facilitate participants’ development of Jewish independence and confidence, helping participants to become powerful, competent, proactive Jewish adults.
5. Immerse participants in Jewish places and communities, helping them develop connections to Jewish peers and the places they meet.
6. Develop participants’ Jewish memories that can serve as a foundation for their lives, imprinting their senses of self with formative experiences and moments that happened with Jewish materials and in Jewish contexts.
7. Help participants access God: Engage in, explore, and celebrate participants’ spirituality, using Jewish language and concepts.
8. Live or exercise Jewish values with participants: Be in responsibility to the world (baal taschit) and in responsibility to each other and to community (chiuv and klal yisrael). Observe Shabbat, read Torah, make blessings and engage in other mitzvot.
9. Better our world through participants’ family and individual engagement: with each other as they teach their children to be actors in the world, in service with community organizations, rooted in community and able to use the power of community to make change.
10. Live in community, inclusive of those who have diverse opinions or ways of living, inclusive of those with different physical needs or learning needs, all integrated together for the betterment of all.