Upon joining the program we will provide:
– Experienced teaching coordinator
– Full educational program and all the teaching aids needed for the program
– Guidance throughout the year in maintaining and strengthening ties with the Israeli school
– Guidance and educational support to the teachers in both schools (U.S and Israel)
– Coordination and guidance through video conferencing
– Managements of the online learning environment
Yachdav – The Jewish Peoplehood Education Center for the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) invites you to explore educational opportunities to strengthen the connections of your students to Israel, Israelis and our Jewish identity.
We offer a variety of Virtual Mifgash meeting (programs between Jewish students in Israel and the diaspora, focusing on Jewish peoplehood curricula, which are modular and can be suited to the changing needs of schools and congregations).
The Yachdav Jewish Peoplehood Education Center’s Virtual Mifgash Program aim to cultivate meaningful connections between Jewish students in Israel and the Diaspora.
The basis of these connections is in getting both groups in touch, through a mutual learning experience, with that they have in common – Jewish content and values – while at the same time, giving them the opportunity to explore each group’s own unique identity as citizens of different cultures and countries.
Program Structure
The program focuses on experiential, meaningful and value-oriented learning through a variety of methodologies.
– The program is modular and can be taught in many different ways to emphasize different aspects, use more/less suggested content etc.
– The program is managed by a Yachdav coordinator who provides the logistical, technical and content support for the staff teaching the program, including but not limited to, any adaptations need to suit the end user’s individual experience.
– Each of Yachdav’s Virtual Mifgash programs includes a number of modular study units; each unit involves creating an exchange product, whether it is tangible product exchanged through snail-mail, a virtual exchange, or a video conference. The following session each exchange, includes processing the partner-class product.
Program Goals
– Creating meaningful connections between the students in both countries, rooted in mutual Jewish study and experience
– Enriching their knowledge of Jewish culture
– Actively experiencing being part of the Jewish People
– Reinforcing and bolstering their sense of affinity for the Land of Israel and the State of Israel
Short Term Curriculum Programs
Suitcase Full of Memories – Elementary and Middle school program:
To this day, decades after its conclusion, the Holocaust and its awful legacy remains with us, reverberating with the call “to remember and never forget”. All of us, Jewish students and educators living all over the world, are a link in the chain of memories. By studying together in partner classes and applying the key concept, “Window and Mirror”, we will be able to deepen our understanding. Thus, studying together with another class across the world, will provide a dual opportunity to simultaneously open a window to another culture and provide a mirror that will help us understand ourselves better.
Butterflies Coloring the Memories – suitable to different ages:
Of the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, approximately 1.5 million were innocent and helpless children. Ms. Sue Klau from Puerto Rico, a leading activist in the local Jewish community, initiated a project to commemorate these children. The underlying goal of the project is to encourage children around the world to send 1.5 million colored butterflies, so that every Jewish child murdered in the Holocaust will be remembered. This study program offers four activity kits, including instructions for the activity facilitators and pages to be printed out for the students. All the kits reflect the belief that the memory of the Holocaust imposes an educational and moral responsibility on us preserve a humanistic society that recognizes that all humans were created in God’s image.
Long Term (Annual) Curriculum Programs
Ma’agalim Virtual Mifgash Program – 4-6 grade:
Seeks to impart the Jewish value of “Jewish Peoplehood/ K’lal Yisrael” through the unfolding theme of “Who I Am?”. This topic brings to light what both groups of students have in common as members of the Jewish People, as well as the differences between them, as citizens of different countries and cultures. The parallel study begins with a focus on personal identity, then moves on to local/city identity, and concludes with the study of K’lal Yisrael identity. This process allows students to gradually learn about themselves and their new friends on the other side of the world, by first rackling the “closer to home” and more concrete topic of personal identity, after which they move on to more abstract and far-reaching circlers of identity.
Bar/Bar Mitzva with Friends, A Shared Jewish Journey Program – 6-7 grade:
Considers the Bar/Bat Mitzva to be a unique opportunity to develop and strengthen the student’s connection to the Jewish people and Israel through building a living bridge between Jewish students all over the world and Israeli students. The program enables participants to experience becoming bar/bat mitzva together, to learn about the different ways each participant celebrates this event, to recognize their shared and individual responsibility as Jews living in different places around the world and to build relationship to among the next generation of the Jewish people. The program culminates in a shared “Tikkun Olam” project.
Diplomacy – 8-10 grade:
The program is intended for middle and high schools and focuses on learning diplomatic skills, what is public diplomacy, how it is manifested on social media, and presenting Israel and the Jewish story through our own eyes.
During the program, the participants learn about the connection between world Jewry and Israeli youth, as well as about similarities and differences between each other, and the value of "Tikkun Olam" as a leading value in our adult lives.
Yarok -7-9 grade:
This is a partnership program between young people in Israel and the Diaspora, which explores the tension between the unchanging, fixed laws of nature and human influence on the environment. As they jointly learn about sustainability, students in Israel and the diaspora will build and foster a relationship with one another and develop a greater sense of belonging through understanding our share obligation to the earth we all inhabit.
You, Me and the Holidays – 1-3 grade:
Jewish holidays are great opportunities for cross-continental dialogues. Activities include the hosting of a virtual “Ushpizin” (hosting guests) during the Holiday of Sukkot, marking the Shabbat and connecting creative Tikkun Olam ideas with the holiday of Tu B’Svhat. This program concludes with a year-end celebration of Israel’s Independence Day.
These programs were developed by the YACHDAV Jewish Peoplehood Educational Center at IMPJ in collaboration with JAFI’s “Partnership2Gether”