Resources Archive - The Institute for Experiential Jewish Education https://ieje.org/resources/ M2 Mon, 23 Sep 2024 09:30:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 https://ieje.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/cropped-M²-black-512x512px-32x32.pngResources Archive - The Institute for Experiential Jewish Educationhttps://ieje.org/resources/ 32 32 Values in Actionhttps://ieje.org/resources/educational-resources/values-in-action/ Sun, 15 Sep 2024 10:17:27 +0000 https://ieje.org/?post_type=resources&p=23989The Values in Action resources help learners move through a compelling values-based experience grounded in Jewish wisdom. Each resource is centered around a particular issue and an animating value; is grounded in an engaging activity and a Jewish anchor, enabling learners to consider how they might take action.

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EXPLORE RESOURCES

Values in Action

The Values in Action resources help learners move through a compelling values-based experience grounded in Jewish wisdom. Each resource is centered around a particular issue and an animating value; is grounded in an engaging activity and a Jewish anchor, enabling learners to consider how they might take action.

Responding to Antisemitism: Burden or Privilege?
This resource unpacks the issue of Antisemitism through the value of Responsibility
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How much is enough?
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How is Our Worth Measured?
This resource unpacks the issue of Global Poverty through the value of Universality.
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Is exclusion ever good?
This resource unpacks the issue of Cancel Culture through the lens of Community.
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Charity or hospitality?
This resource unpacks the issue of Housing Insecurity through the value of Hospitality.
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Where Can I Find Hope?
This resource engages with the current crisis in Israel through the value of Hope.
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Are we “allowed” to care more for our family than others?
This resource explores our levels of connections to others in the wake of October 7 and the Hostage Crisis through the values of Community and Family
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Can I (literally) wear my values on my sleeve?
This resource unpacks the issue of the Conscious Consumerism through the value of Self-Expression.
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Do I Sometimes Just Need To Be Alone?
This resource explores the issue of Loneliness through the value of Authenticity
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Does the value of integrity impact my sustainability choices?
This resource unpacks the issue of Environmental Sustainability through the value of Integrity.
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How do we build a community with divergent views on Israel?
This resource engages with our relationship with Israel through the value of Hospitality.
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When is individual action not enough? Is it always enough?
This resource unpacks the issue of Individual Action and Systemic Change through the value of Humility.
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Can Teshuva help us “right-size” cancel culture?
This resource unpacks the issue of Cancel Culture through the value of Teshuva
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I Said, I Heard, I Want.
This resource engages with the current crisis in Israel through the value of Presence.
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Are humans meant to be together or alone?
This resource unpacks the issue of Loneliness through the value of Community
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Can I proceed with hope in the face of the climate crisis?
This resource unpacks the issue of Climate Anxiety through the lens of Hope.
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FOMO OR JOMO – Fear or joy of missing out?
This resource unpacks the issue of Digital Overload through the value of Presence.
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What am I eating?
This resource explores the issues of the Environment and our Food Choices through the value of Intentionality.
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Can the value of dignity drive our digital habits?
This resource unpacks the issue of Digital Overload through the value of Human Dignity
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Am I enough?
This resource unpacks the issue of Digital Overload through the value of Contentment.
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How do I live in line with what the planet can provide?
This resource unpacks the issue of Ecological Footprints through the lens of Respect.
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What does it take to speak up?
This resource explores the issue of Cancel Culture through the value of Courage.
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Who Do I Spend Time With?
This resource explores the issue of Loneliness through the value of diversity.
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How do I negotiate safety and risk?
This Resource unpacks the issue of Antisemitism through the value of Responsibility
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How can beauty help process pain?
This resource engages with Israel through the value of Creativity.
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How can I relate to others if I’ve never had their experience?
This resource explores the issue of “ Otherness ” in our volunteer service, through the value of Sanctity.
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What do I give?
This resource explores the different ways we can give of ourselves in service/ volunteering through the value of Presence.
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How do we cultivate hope for all we can save?
This resource unpacks the issue of the Environment and a climate-changing world, through the value of Hope.
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What should we learn in school?
This resource unpacks the issue of Educational Inequality through the value of Innovation.
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Is there a “right way” to uplift human dignity?
This resource unpacks the issue of Food Insecurity through the value of Human Dignity.
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Why is it hard to hit the “off-switch?”
This resource unpacks the issue of Digital Overload through the value of Mindfulness
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Where is home? What do you know about the place where you live?
This resource unpacks the issue of the Environment and one’s sense of connectedness to the place where they live, through the value of Awareness.
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What does supporting Israel look like?
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How do I find my people?
This resource unpacks the issue of Loneliness through the value of Awareness
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How does Israel fit with my (changing) Jewish identity?
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What are our shared resources?
This resource explores the issue of Environmental Resourcefulness through the value of Community.
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Whose stories do we tell?
This resource engages with our relationship to Israel through the value of Tolerance.
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What are my sources of strength?
This resource explores our ability to respond to Antisemitism through the value of Intentionality
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Asserting Yourself When You Don’t Know How
This resource explores our ability to respond to Antisemitism and Israel through the value of Authenticity.
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Am I responsible for Israel?
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How can I best express my convictions with pride?
This resource engages with our relationship with Israel through the value of Pride.
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They Could Not Take Our Pride
This resource unpacks the issue of Antisemitism through the lens of Pride
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How do we build community?
This resource unpacks the issue of Immigration through the value of Community.
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Can I go out to lunch after volunteering at a food bank?
This resource explores our relationship with Food Insecurity through the value of Intentionality.
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What to do when we can’t do it alone?
This resource engages with the Israel-Hamas war through the value of Solidarity.
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YIMBY or NIMBY? [yes in my backyard or no in my backyard]
This resource unpacks the issue of Environment and Infrastructure through the value of Community.
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How do I know when it’s time to break up?
This resource explores interpersonal relationships as a result of the Israel-Hamas war, through the value of Authenticity.
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What am I responsible for?
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How do we tell the story of the world that we want?
This resource unpacks the issue of the Climate Crisis through the value of Creativity.
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How to create a toolbox for clarity and confidence?
This resource explores our ability to respond to Antisemitism through the value of Resourcefulness
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Putting the “I” in community
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Who am I here for?
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Can awe inspire Environmental action?
This resource explores Nature-Connection through the value of Awe.
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Who is the real me? Balancing authenticity with fitting in
This resource unpacks the issue of Loneliness through the value of Authenticity.
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What do I do with my guilt?
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How do I express my Jewish pride?
This resource unpacks the issue of Antisemitism through the value of Pride.
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Can we be amazed by the mundane?
This resource explores the issue of Climate Change and Natural Phenomena through the value of Wonder.
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Should we build that house?
This resource explores the issue of Growing Housing Needs and Environmental Impact through the value of Innovation.
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]]> Rega Shel Shtika: How Quieting Fosters Ethical Behaviorhttps://ieje.org/resources/rega-shel-shtika-how-quieting-fosters-ethical-behavior/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:33 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/rega-shel-shtika-how-quieting-fosters-ethical-behavior/Reintroducing practices of silence within Jewish learning communities can foster ethical behavior.

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]]> Regah shel shtika (“a moment of quiet”) is a set of practices reclaiming the Jewish tradition of quieting (shtika/Hashkata) to support wellbeing and foster ethical behavior within Jewish educational spaces, with a longer-term goal of forming a solid basis for ethical Jewish communities. This project is important because as members of the Jewish collective, we have a responsibility to help heal what is broken within our culture. Investing in spaces of silence can help devote the type of inner work that fosters the emotional intelligence and ethics that can heal what is broken. This may seem too great a task. But when it feels overwhelming, let us remind ourselves of what Rabbi Tarfon said in Pirkei Avot (2:7) “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it.”

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]]> A Jewish Pedagogy of Creative Wellbeing: Connection through Wonderhttps://ieje.org/resources/a-jewish-pedagogy-of-creative-wellbeing-connection-through-wonder/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:33 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/a-jewish-pedagogy-of-creative-wellbeing-connection-through-wonder/Embracing the pedagogy of wonder can foster greater understanding and interconnectedness.

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]]> Wonder and creativity have long been integral to Jewish practice, contributing to continuity, resilience, and a sense of wholeness or wellbeing. This aligns with studies showing that participating in creative activity in a community is a potent tool for helping individuals develop a sense of positivity, purpose, and connection. Nurturing student creativity fosters inquisitiveness, persistence, curiosity, self-reflection, and collaboration. Creative expression and the arts are areas that welcome students’ perspectives expansively, allowing for nuance and for experiencing learning and sharing through a multitude of modalities. Creative experiences also invite students’ personal backgrounds and varied experiences. Creative expression in the classroom is built upon a culture of curiosity and wonder, a sense of openness toward one another and the world around us. In young student classrooms, in particular, collective creative experiences can help support peer relationships which form the building blocks for students’ continued social-emotional skills. Connecting through creative expression can be most successful in spaces in which the ongoing culture of connection is visibly valued and practiced.

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]]> Cultivating Curiosity: A Jewish Pedagogy of Wellbeinghttps://ieje.org/resources/cultivating-curiosity-a-jewish-pedagogy-of-wellbeing/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:33 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/cultivating-curiosity-a-jewish-pedagogy-of-wellbeing/The pedagogy of cultivating curiosity allows us to become better versions of ourselves through creativity.

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]]> Cultivating curiosity is an imaginative process. Using our imaginations is critical to opening ourselves up to curiosity. Learning to lead with questions is at the heart of this pedagogy. Creating a practice that will build muscle memory will be the foundation upon which to build. Many Jewish texts speak to the certainty trap that locks us into a specific mindset with its conclusions recertified. The human condition and the culture in which we live promote and celebrate binary thinking. Binary thinking shuts down curiosity. Fear is at the heart of binary thinking and is the very barrier to meaning-making. Fear is the obstacle to curiosity and imaginative thinking. So much of the anger we experience in life is rooted in fear: fear of the other, fear of losing what we believe is ours, fear of the unknown. This pedagogy seeks to move learners away from the polarization that forces us to dig in and put our self-worth into being right and toward a creative approach that engages our imagination and helps us become better versions of ourselves.

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]]> PEDAGOGY OF PLAYFUL ENCOUNTER PROPAGATING THE DIVINEhttps://ieje.org/resources/pedagogy-of-playful-encounter-propagating-the-divine/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:33 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/pedagogy-of-rootedness-retrieving-rootedness-and-building-a-sense-of-belonging-2/To engage in Regenerative Torah is to enter the relational ring of a personal encounter with the Divine.

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]]> Regenerative Torah is a pedagogical framework for contemplative/creative praxis that centers an Empowered, Experiential, and Generative relationship with G-d at the core of its educational and spiritual enterprise. Just as the sun rising each day is ubiquitous to the form and function of the universe, Torah is generative in soul and substance—an instrument of proliferation that highlights the way that Humanity and Divinity are in continuous co-creation. Using the catalyzing energy of separateness, Regenerative Torah seeks to resolve the perceptual problem of “exile”, enabling humans to overcome isolation by placing the self in continuous conversation with Source.

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]]> Pedagogy of Nuance: Finding Comfort Through Storytellinghttps://ieje.org/resources/pedagogy-of-nuance-finding-comfort-through-storytelling/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:33 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/pedagogy-of-nuance-finding-comfort-through-storytelling/The pedagogy of storytelling allows us to value nuance and new perspectives.

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]]> As educators (really, I would hope, as human beings), we want to teach toward nuance. Living an un-nuanced life may be simpler. We could easily be lulled into a binary life of true/false, right/wrong. In truth, social media and media in general seduces us with echo chambers. Why do I need to even consider a nuanced life if I can easily surround myself with people who think like I do all the time? Yet, you lose out on being an individual. Your emotional life is not as rich. So, from a young age, we can educate toward nuance. We can disrupt patterns, engaging in play and jokes. We can lightly guide children to begin to understand different perspectives. Anytime we can bring perspective, we have the potential to find a moment of growth.

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]]> A Pedagogy of Cultivating Joyhttps://ieje.org/resources/a-pedagogy-of-cultivating-joy/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:32 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/a-pedagogy-of-cultivating-joy/The pedagogy of cultivating joy nurtures the souls of people who have the job of nurturing the souls of others.

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]]> The pedagogy of cultivating joy is designed to empower educators to build a meaningful personal practice that will nurture their desire and ability to find, create, notice, and experience joyful moments in their daily lives. As educators establish their personal practice of cultivating joy, they will have the opportunity to build deeper relationships with their faculty peers and create a communal language revolving around the pursuit of joy. The practices within this pedagogy will provide structure, a sense of accountability, and practical tools to incorporate the pursuit of joy into the fabric of their daily lives. By emphasizing the concept of consistent practice, this pedagogy ensures that the journey of cultivating joy becomes accessible to individuals regardless of external factors. It encourages educators to explore their sense of curiosity and childlike wonder, generating a mindset that actively seeks out joy in various aspects of life. This practice can be expanded for audiences other than educators and can be adapted to different environments.

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]]> A Pedagogy of ‘Life Meets Text’https://ieje.org/resources/a-pedagogy-of-life-meets-text/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:32 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/a-pedagogy-of-life-meets-text/Jewish experience is the key to bridging the gap between ancient wisdom and modern content.

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]]> The pedagogy of “life meets text” (instead of text meets life) contributes to wellbeing by acknowledging the life experience — from wholeness to brokenness — with which people enter a room to flourish as learners and connect in community. Amid a world that seems to unravel more and more by the day, in our Jewish community, so many Jews are untethered from institutional Jewish life but are seeking meaning, connection, and community nonetheless. A “Pedagogy of Life Meets Text” creates Jewish learning experiences that bridge ancient Jewish wisdom and modern content by centering and celebrating a learner’s wisdom, life stage, or questions. It may just be the healing balm we all need.

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]]> Pedagogy of Farbrengenhttps://ieje.org/resources/pedagogy-of-farbrengen/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:32 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/pedagogy-of-farbrengen/The Chasidic tradition of farbrengen and the practice of avoda pnimit offer meaning to the modern-day learner.

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]]> An important goal of education is for students to take what they learn outside of the typical educational encounter. The educator may be teaching a text or skill and focusing on ensuring the student grasps the content, yet the goal is for the student to carry the content outside of the classroom and into the distant future. The proudest moment every teacher has is when a student approaches them years or decades later and shares how the lesson taught in their classroom still guides them in their lives. This happens when the students internalize the idea to the point of making it their own. This occurs through insourcing the idea, avoda pnimit — inner work — and a farbrengen is one such arena in which that can happen. A farbrengen is Yiddish for a gathering of people and can be traced to the German word “verbringen,” meaning to spend time with other people. It is the Chassidic philosophy that the farbrengen allows an individual to do their best inner work within a safe space of like-minded friends who actively listen, humbly respond, and provide new insight from which that person can grow.

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]]> נענוע (Na’anua): A Pedagogy of Jewish Transformative Movementhttps://ieje.org/resources/%d7%a0%d7%a2%d7%a0%d7%95%d7%a2-naanua-a-pedagogy-of-jewish-transformative-movement/ Sun, 17 Mar 2024 21:01:32 +0000 https://ieje.org/resources/%d7%a0%d7%a2%d7%a0%d7%95%d7%a2-naanua-a-pedagogy-of-jewish-transformative-movement/Using the transformative power of movement to feed the soul.

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]]> נענוע — Na’anua — A Pedagogy of Jewish Transformative Movement — is an approach that seeks to unite body and soul, guiding participants to invite their whole selves into their learning, prayer, and expressive spaces. Inspired by the verse in Psalms 35:10, כל־עַצְמוֹתַי תֹּאמַרְנָה ה’ מִי כָמוֹך — All my bones shall say, “Lord, who is like You!,
Na’anua does not intend to create specific images or tableaus but rather provides a pathway for participants to leave their valley of tears, whether it be a canyon or merely a dip in otherwise flat terrain. Na’anua includes those who are thriving, supporting, and sustaining their ongoing wellbeing. This pedagogy incorporates four elements: Mind המחשבה (Aravim); Soul הנשמה (Hadassim); Heart הלב (Etrog); and Body הגוף (Lulav). By uniting these elements, participants can experience healing and promote wellbeing in their places of Jewish education and spiritual encounter. These places may include Jewish summer camps, classrooms, adult study spaces, solo practice at home, or prayer gatherings.

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