PEDAGOGIES FOR TEACHING GOD
Help your students deepen, elevate, and sustain their relationship with the Divine. Explore this video series on pedagogies for teaching “God” featuring a diverse set of master teachers including Rabbi David Aaron, Rebbitzen Yehudis Golshevsky, and Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire. They each delve into strategies and framing that can guide a teacher’s path for facilitating the God-student relationship.
If you would like to explore any of these pedagogies in more depth, please contact us to arrange a no-cost consultation for individual Jewish educators or a group.
Speakers in the videos below include:
COMING SOON:
Summative Notes from Expert Video Interviews
Ignition GrantS for God Expansion
JEIC is expanding the Ignition Grants program for the 2020-21 academic year to advance distinctive, enduring approaches for elevating and deepening the God-student relationship.
Ignition Grants for God Expansion awards are up to $20,000.
Applications for Ignition Grants for God Expansion will be accepted through November 15, 2020. Rolling decisions will be announced by January 2021.
To be considered, your God Expansion must:
Be implemented during the 2020-2021 academic year.
Elevate and/or deepen the God-student relationship within the framework of Jewish values, practice, and/or ancient wisdom.
Be intended to teach students, or facilitate experiences for them, as they expand their relationship with God.
Be part of core classroom curricula or co-curricular programs.
Include a plan for collecting and analyzing data demonstrating qualitative change in student behavior and school culture regarding students’ relationship with God.
Be targeted to students in middle or high school.
Jewish Stories: Jewish Strength
In both good times and bad, Jews look to the Divine for strength, hope, comfort, or protection. This video series entitled, Jewish Stories: Jewish Strength, reveals wisdom and perspective from a variety of leaders in the Jewish community.
Speakers in the videos in this section include:
Dr. Erica Brown - Inspirations from Nature
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld -Seeking Silver Linings
Bob Diener - The Ground We Walk on is an Illusion
Dr. Shira D. Epstein - Remembering the Rainbow
Rabbi Sam Feinsmith - Cultivating Emunah/Faith
Rabbi Benji Levy - Why Do We Climb Mountains?
Manette Mayberg - How Bananagrams Reflects Life
Lori Palatnik - With Whom Do You Want to be Shipwrecked?
Inspirational & GOD-centered resources
Articles Sharing Wisdom, Values, and Faith
Who Knows? Jewish Leadership in Times of Uncertainty by Dr. Erica Brown
The Roots of Resilience by Sharon Freundel
Finding Hope in Challenging Times from Personal, Professional, and Torah Lessons by Sharon Freundel
A Paradigm Shift for Thinking about God in the Classroom by Rabbi Shmuel Feld
Manette Mayberg, trustee of the Mayberg Foundation and founder of JEIC, shares her vision for God Powered Schools at JEIC’s 2019 Innovators Retreat.
Let’s Follow This Kind of GPS for a Strong Jewish Future by Manette Mayberg
Do We Really Have an El Kana, a Jealous God by Sharon Freundel
Balancing Two Truths Requires Honoring Two Voices by Rabbi Aryeh Ben David
8 Names of God: Inspiring Divine Explorations
by Rabbi Shmuel Feld
Imagine a portal to open students’ eyes to deeper layers of meaning and new ways of thinking about God. Names and descriptions of God abound in Tanakh and many more were added in Rabbinic writing. God cannot be captured by a single word, but our experience with sacred texts shines a light on the many different paths for our relationship with the Divine.
Click here for a one-page resource on 8 Names of God from the Tanakh.
Click here for an in-depth text-based resource on 8 Names of God from the Tanakh.
Let's continue to explore ways to inspire students’ relationship with God so they can create enduring meaning from Jewish values, literacy, practice, and belief to sustain the Jewish people.
Share your thoughts or questions with us about God Expansion in Jewish day schools:
Sharon Freundel, Managing Director, Sharon@JewishChallenge.org
Rabbi Shmuel Feld, Founding Director, RabbiFeld@JewishChallenge.org