Magash HaKesef – The Silver Platter

Last Updated on Sunday, 18 April 2010 03:53 Written by bryfy Sunday, 18 April 2010 10:09

On this Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day) I want to recall an episode from my first trip to Israel, 20 years ago. It was on Kibbutz Yizre’el, where I lived for 6 months, that I met the members of Garin Shakuf (Transparent) – a group of 18 year old Israelis who had volunteered to extend their army service by working both on a kibbutz and serving in the IDF.

Our group of Aussies and Kiwis made friends very quickly with the members of the Israeli garin. What was not to enjoy? Here we were a large group of motivated, passionate, largely ideologically driven, virile, long-haired people living and working together for an extended period of time. We toiled in the fields and factories together, ate in the dining room together and danced and drunk in the pub together. For all intensive purposes we were fast becoming friends. And despite some language barriers there was enough in common – as Jews coming together from different parts of the world that united us all.

Until one Friday night where the garin told us that we weren’t allowed to come to the pub before midnight.

Peoplehood, Shmeeplehood

Last Updated on Sunday, 21 March 2010 05:43 Written by bryfy Sunday, 21 March 2010 05:43

Last week I was fortunate enough to attend the very stimulating and high level Foundation for Jewish Camp’s Leader’s Assembly. The opportunity to meet and mix with colleagues old and new is always welcomed. This networking is the most important piece of many of these Jewish gatherings – and perhaps the topic for another blog post.

On Tuesday morning I was fortunate to be part of a session dedicated to looking at Learner Outcomes at Jewish Summer Camps – specifically asking the question of what a camper will learn in terms of their attitudes, knowledge and behaviors (what will they feel, know and do) as a result of spending a summer (or summers) at your camp. It’s a great question and one that any educational institution should continually be asking themselves. (special shout out to Rebecca and Adam!)

Well as luck would have it – I got stuck with the Jewish value of Jewish Peoplehood. My problems with Peoplehood stem from the fact that it never comes up as a real world on spell check. So, my first task was to not only analyze with camp directors and assistant directors what the learner outcomes of this overly used concept is, but to explain what it means – and thus began our discussions….

Before starting I should say that some of my best friends (colleagues and people I admire) are Jewish Peoplehood experts. (Melissa Zalkin Stollman, Yossi Abramovitz, Ezra Kopelowitz, Jewish Peoplehood HUB et al) And with that caveat I now have permission to offend everyone….

I want to share with you some of my insights from the session and see where it might take us:

1. The term Jewish Peoplehood is overused and misunderstood in the Jewish world today because not enough time and energy has been spent trying to understand it. Let me rephrase that, a lot of people have been discussing Jewish Peoplehood for many years, and few have been able to successfully translate their theoretical and philosophical understandings of the term into practical and implementable strategies.

BBYO: Take a Bow – Jewish World: Stand Up and Take Notice

Last Updated on Tuesday, 23 February 2010 09:05 Written by bryfy Tuesday, 23 February 2010 09:05

I should start this blog entry by saying that I’m no expert on prayer. I’ll leave others (including some of the Jewish ritual elitists at Jewschool – you know who you are) to debate the issues of tefillah and pluralist prayer services. What I do know is that something is wrong in the House of Prayer and it needs to be fixed. Many of the hundreds of teenagers I meet really enjoy and gain a lot from prayer services at camp, youth group or on their Israel trips. But they get back to their local synagogues and instead of being the creators, running the spirited services they are accustomed to, they’re often relegated to being shushed by a bunch of Serious Men.

So when something does come around that’s relevant, meaningful, forward thinking, and accessible to the masses, it deserves our attention and admiration.

I don’t think that I’m making any shockwaves by suggesting that BBYO hasn’t always been perceived as an organization where high quality Jewish learning takes place. That said, it’s time to give credit where credit is due.

BBYO’s Build a Prayer is as simple as it is is effective. It takes much of what we know about Jewish teens today and translates it into a web-based program that enables anyone to create their own Shabbat prayer service. (Similar sites are also available and/or under construction (e.g. Tagged Tanakh and Open Siddur) but none has captivated me in the same way as this one.) Even if you’re not into prayer, this website can serve as a prototype for other Jewish educational ventures.

This site embodies:

• Choice
• Individualization based on community
• Modern interpretations of Jewish tradition
• A generation of teenagers who are simultaneously consumers and producers
• Richness in content (albeit with additions that need to be added)
• Sophisticated technology
• Interactive capability
• The ability to build relationships and networks
• Being motivated and driven by teenage voices

Sounds just right for this generation of Jews.

All that said, I can already hear objections to this site:

• What does it say about Jewish tradition if everyone can create their own prayer?
• What does it say about Jewish community if we have become so individualized?