Haburah as a Jewish Pedagogy of Wellbeing

At once deeply traditional and counter cultural, haburot is wellbeing practice that’s power rests in a sense of purpose, achievement, and fellowship. Over the last two thousand years, haburot have proven themselves as a timeless Jewish pedagogy. Diverse contemporary immersive learning settings can adapt this pedagogy by adopting elements from kabbalistic, hasidic, Mussar, and modern secular models. Students select intimate affinity groups with shared goals and resolve to take responsibility for their personal achievement. They create a group manifesto inspired by that of Rabbi Kalman Kalonimus Shapiro’s Bnei Machshavah Tovah, commit to a guiding goal and working together to achieve it. Regular meetings create a deep sense of belonging and fellowship, space for processing, accountability and mutual support. With the use of Haburot, a learning community can increase individual and group wellbeing by enhancing a sense of unity in diversity and personal and communal responsibility for learning and belonging.