The CJPE is proud to launch “A Deep Dive into Jewish Peoplehood Education“; a new seminar series for educators interested in understanding the principles and practices of excellent education for Jewish Peoplehood. Join a select number of your educational colleagues in this series of six webinars designed to help you do the following: achieve deeper…
The Jewish establishment’s anxiety regarding the Jewish identity of millennials is not unfounded. The emergence of a new generation of Jews who were born and raised in open society with a freedom to choose their Judaism does not necessarily promise continuity. Furthermore, individualism, egocentrism and criticism of existing establishments, tendencies associated with Millennials, created room for additional concerns. These concerns…
I love my nuclear family. I also love my extended family. And I particularly love the way they celebrate Thanksgiving. When I was living in New York, our family of five would go to our first-cousins home every year. It was just about as “Americana” as you could get, with the traditional Thanksgiving foods, the…
Taken straight from the headlines: Website Offers Virtual Seder Dancing Bar Mitzvah Boy Donated his $36,000 gift money to Charity Virtual Judaism: Finding Second Life in Online Community Should Auschwitz be a Site for Selfies? When you read these headlines are you confused? concerned? angered? Or are you curious? hopeful? inspired? If you were one of…
We are delighted to release the latest edition of the Peoplehood Papers, which focuses on developing teen leadership with a Peoplehood orientation. This edition is a partnership with the Diller Teen Fellows Program, and contains 11 articles by a wide variety of educators and Jewish professionals engaged in teen leadership and empowerment. As Adam Weisberg…
The past year has been a very productive one for the Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education and we’d love to share some of the highlights from the past 12 months: Two new editions of the Peoplehood Papers: #13 on Jewish Peoplehood: What does it mean? Why is it important? How do we Nurture It?; #14, inspired by the…
We have chosen some ready-to-use educational resources from the Peoplehood Education Toolkit that bring together themes of Jewish Peoplehood and the High Holiday season. Check them out: Collective Prayer – A text study and activity based on the Vidui (Confession) liturgy of the High Holidays. How do we understand the language of “we” in relation to our…
Check out the new media resources in the CJPE Toolkit for Jewish Educators. We are curating and organizing selections of short video clips that educators can use to explore the themes of Jewish Peoplehood. With each video clip we also offer you suggestions for activities to use with those clips, and all part of our interconnected…
Check out the latest resources in the Toolkit focusing on the theme of Collective Identity. We have some great new activities for you. They include activities using debate and discussion, reflection and some creative arts, as well as those based around stimulating texts and movies. And for a great Passover-themed activity, check out “Collective Memory…
Check out our new ideas and discussion guide for a clip from the movie “Keeping the Faith”. Synopsis of the Movie: In this 2000 movie, directed by Ed Norton, a comedic romantic triangle is created, when childhood friends, Jake and Brian, both fall in love with the same girl, their childhood friend, Anna. But things…
The Hebrew month of Elul has just begun, and with it comes the countdown to the new year. Rosh HaShana and the season of the High Holydays is only a few weeks away. Elul is a month with enormous power. It is traditionally the time in which Jews start a process of “cheshbon nefesh” (…
As a kick-off to our new series of movie resources, based on the engaging and stimulating short films from the Ma’aleh Film School in Jerusalem, we are excited to share with you a link to the movie “House no. 103”, a story of a community and family struggling with crisis. Movie: House no. 103 – a…
Big Questions and Hard Questions For whom are we responsible?” is a different question than “What does it mean to be responsible?” or “Do we have a responsibility to our particular heritage?” The latter questions are examples of what I’ve come to call Hard Questions: they matter to everyone, but they invite a response only…
I really appreciate Josh Feigelson’s distinction between Big Questions and Hard Questions. I think it is so rich and helpful, and can provide us with a roadmap to more effective Peoplehood education. As he says so eloquently “If we are to renew a sense of peoplehood, we have to renew a language and ethic of responsibility.…
The Center for Jewish Peoplehood Education is delighted to welcome Tova Garr to the team. Tova is taking a new position for the Center; the Greater New York Peoplehood Educator. In this role she will be working with institutions and organizations in the New York area, introducing them to the resources of the Center for…
There are many ways in which to understand why and how Israel is significant for Jews. Some argue that it is the Promised Land; it is a refuge from persecution; it is the realization of secular Jewish nationalism; it is the hub for Jewish culture and innovation. Each of these approaches reflect a set of…
At this time of year, following Passover, the Jewish calendar is full of celebrations and commemorations that highlight the national aspects of being Jewish. Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day), Yom HaZikaron (Israel’s Memorial Day) and Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) are powerful and rich expressions of Jewish Peoplehood, and offer many educational opportunities to explore…
In the aftermath of Purim take a look at the new Worldwide Purim Album from Beit Hatfutsot . Here are some ideas for using the album to connect your students to Jews across time and space. These ideas would work well with younger children and teens. Have your students bring pictures of themselves in Purim…
One of the most effective, and widespread, tools for Peoplehood Education is the Mifgash – an encounter between two different populations. Interacting in a positive way with people who are different from ourselves is a powerful educational tool that helps us expand our horizons, and reflect on our own identities. But not all mifgashim are…
The CJPE is proud to introduce the Toolkit for Jewish Peoplehood Education. Building on its efforts to encourage debate about the nature of Jewish Peoplehood – what is it? – and its significance– why is it important? – the Toolkit takes the discussion one step further. Designed for educators and policy planners in a wide…