Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

The Education Department provides resources and support for congregational education directors, religious school teachers, parents, adult education teachers and independent learners.

• Reconstructionist Educators of North America
  RENA is the professional association of Reconstructionist education directors.

Rabbi Erin Hirsh
JRF Director of Education
ehirsh@jrf.org

Rabbi Erin Hirsh: JRF Director of EducationNearly 60 educators came together at Or Hadash in Fort Washington, PA for the Mid-Atlantic Educator’s Day.

[Watch Erin's charge to the education directors.]

They came from nine congregations ranging from Mechanicsburg, PA to Newark DE to Princeton, NJ. The topic was “Educating Reconstructionistly.” The keynote speaker was Rabbi Jacob Staub, author of Exploring Judaism.

He spoke about the Reconstructionist concept that tradition has a vote and not a veto. Teachers and education directors then broke into a series of workshops to explore their own engagement with tradition and how they can and do transmit it to our students.

On February 3rd, 2008, 60 educators gathered at Congregation Or Hadash in Fort Washington, PA. Here is a 2 minute video of Erin Hirsh giving a charge to the educators.

Educators at November, 2007 RENA ConferenceSome say I just was looking to see some beautiful fall foliage. Others know that I have a soft spot in my heart for carved wood synagogue sanctuaries. Yet others might suppose that as a shul-hopper, I decided to take a few days to check out Congregation Or Hadash in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. In fact, I went to Fort Washington on a mission: to learn from and connect with other education directors of Reconstructionist Congregations.

The theme of the RENA conference was “Experiential Learning” with a focus on how to incorporate the style of programming from Camp JRF into our schools and congregational education models.

Reconstructionist Education Directors
It's time for our RENA retreat!

Register now! [Note: on the registration form you do NOT need a "Sporg user profile" to register.]

Where: Congregation Or Hadash outside Philadelphia

When: Sunday night through Tuesday afternoon, November 11-13, 2007

Why: To give Reconstructionist Education Directors a chance to share ideas, interact with each other, and learn about infusing informal and formal education into our religious schools.

Reconstructionist CAJE ParticipantsReconstructionist Educators from (clockwise from lower left) Illinois, Florida, New Jersey, Colorado, Philadelphia, Maryland, Ohio and Georgia join together at the Conference on Alternatives in Jewish Education in St. Louis to discuss what's new in Reconstructionist Education. They were among nearly forty Reconstructionist educators who attended the August conference.

Dalia Rosenthal (left) and Dina Bartnov (right)Two Reconstructionist Educators were among the winners of the fifth annual Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education.

The winners were Dina Bartov, a teacher at Beth Evergreen, in Evergreen, Colorado, who is supervised by Education Director, Jill Wildenberg, and Dalia Rosenthal, Education Director of Kehillath Shalom in Cold Spring Harbor, New York.

Original version of the guide, by Dr. Jeffrey Schein and Leah MundelThe Reconstructionist Web-based Curriculum Project is set to be launched in late spring of 2007 and is intended to help the more than 100 Reconstructionist congregations (and interested progressive Jewish congregations) that are in need of curricula resources. The curriculum project is an online interactive resource that will provide a menu of options for teachers, parents, and education directors.

Rabbi Erin HirshWe are pleased to welcome Rabbi Erin Hirsh as JRF’s new Education Coordinator.

Since entering the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College as a student twelve years ago, Erin has focused her work on Reconstructionist education. She has taught at several religious schools and served as Education Director at two of them. She has served as the Education Director at Congregation Mishkan Shalom for the past seven years and will continue in that role on a part-time basis.

Erin has worked for JRF in various capacities since 1994; serving as the Mid-Atlantic Regional Education Liaison for two years and subsequently as a grant and educational curriculum writer for three years. We welcome her return to JRF!

Baobob at Kibbutz Ein GediTu Bishvat is on February 2-3. Though it lands on Shabbat there are no liturgical changes to the service. Certainly special readings and kiddish (festive food and drink served after a service) that doubles as a Tu Bishvat Seder are welcome and common additions. Add a comment to this post to share your plans/thoughts for Tu Bishvat this year.

Check out these resources:

• Article: The Four Faces Of Tu Bishvat
  By Jeremy Benstein
  An exploration of the ramifications of Tu Bishvat in the Economic, Spiritual, National-Political and Ecological spheres from ancient times to the present.
  
  
• Bibliography: Greening Sustainable Synagogues
  By Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, Nathan Martin
  Annotated weblinks and listings of resources to support congregations in their efforts to function in more ecologically sustainable ways, and to support those efforts in the world.
  
  
• Bibliography: References for a Values-Based Decision Making Approach to Greening Synagogues
  By Roni Handler, Derek Rosenbaum
  A collection of resources that help groups engaging in a values-based decision making approach to greening congregational spaces. The list is divided into print and online materials.
  
  
• Bibliography: Tu B'Shevat Resources
  By Rabbi Shai Gluskin
  An annotated list of many web links and one book - all about Tu B'Shevat for children and adults! Includes background information, history, stories, activities, seder readings and more.
  
  
• Class Activity: Plant Trees And Protect Wildlife
  By Rabbi Amy Klein
  An activity from the Jerusalem Bird Observatory explaining how trees support wildlife and inviting kids to collect tzedakah to plant a tree locally.
  
  
• Class Activity: Trees Of The Bible
  By Rabbi Amy Klein
  This is an activity from the Jerusalem Bird Observatory that gives a list of biblical references to different trees and sends kids out into the field to find trees in their own neighborhoods.
  
  
• Class Activity: Useful Art Projects Using Recycled Materials
  By Rabbi Amy Klein
  Directions to make fabric lunch boxes and flowerpots out of used materials you can find around the house. A great Tu Bishvat activity!
  
  
• Profile: JRF Resolution on the Environment
  By JRF
  JRF Plenum resolution on the environment.
  
  
• Program Description: Tzedakah And The Jewish Holidays: Giving For Social Change
  By Rabbi Shawn Zevit
  Ideas for giving opportunities throughout the Jewish year. Connects each Jewish holiday to the concept of tzedakah and recommends a relevant type of benficiary to support.
  
  
• Text Compilation: Tu Bishvat Seder Texts
  By Rabbi Amy Klein
  Three selections you may wish to use in your Tu Bishvat Seder by secular Zionist thinker A. D. Gordon, Haskalah poet Saul Tchernikovsky and Reb Nachman of Bratslav.
  
  

Rabbi Jeff Eisenstat LIghts Hanukah MenorahPlay the video.

Listen and watch Rabbi Jeff Eisenstat as he demontrates lighting the Hanukah menorah. He's also thrown in "O' Hanukah, O' Hanukah" whose famous English words were written by Mordecai Kaplan's daughter, Judith Eisenstein. Rabbi Jeff Eisenstat is the director of Camp JRF. His deep, resonant voice is endearing and unforgettable.

In a lively EdTalk list serve exchange from 2004, Reconstructionist educators debated if and how the Hanukkah miracle should be taught in Reconstructionist schools. The discussion ranges from the practical to the ideological.

Read the lively debate from our resources library. The discussion was edited by Sara Mosenkis when she served as JRF intern.