Year 1
Circle 1: Me/The Self (Shleimut) | Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will… | Jewish Text |
---|---|---|
Standing Together | Establish guidelines for themselves to make the space a place for honest conversation Feel more connected and comfortable with the rest of the group Describe what to expect from these curricular sessions Describe more than one aspect of their identities | Torah |
A Listening Heart | Identify the difference between empathy and sympathy Identify where empathy is reflected in Jewish values Practice reframing sympathetic situations they might encounter with an empathetic response Articulate where and why it is important to practice empathy | Kings |
Stressed Out? Tune In! | Learn more about the body’s physical response to stress and brainstorm some de-stressing techniques. Discuss how their physical response to stress and stress relief techniques might be informed by gender and gender stereotypes. Use Jewish wisdom to help remind them that they can take action to reduce their stress levels. Reflect on how they responded to the prolonged stress and uncertainty of the pandemic. | Jewish Folklore, Talmud |
Jewish Identity | Explore the personal experiences and emotions that are connected to Jewish identity. Reflect on the relationship between their Jewish identity and their other identities. Support their peers in connecting to Jewish identity. | |
Self-Care Does a Body Good | Deepen their understanding about the many dimensions of self-care Read and reflect on Jewish texts/wisdom to explore the meaning of self-care and its relationship with their body and their community Nurture empathy and self-awareness by identifying obstacles to practicing self-care, by sharing self-care strategies they use, and by learning new strategies from their peers | Pirke Avot & Rav Kook |
What’s Your Purpose | Explore the meaning of “purpose” and articulate some ideas of what their life’s purpose might become in the future. Consider the components that can guide them as they pursue their life’s purpose. Create a visual representation of their purpose. | Rabbi Zusya |
Circle 2: Relationships/Family (Hesed) | Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will… | Jewish Text |
---|---|---|
Risk Taking and Courage | Explore the messages that teenagers receive about risks and courage from media, society, and Judaism, including messages about gender norms and risk/courage Reflect on their personal relationship with risks Reflect on their personal “fallback setting” and how to check in with themselves in a new or stressful social situation in order to make thoughtful, healthy, and safe decisions | Talmud |
FOMO & Filters & Facetime, Oh My! | Inquire into the role that social media plays in students’ own lives Understand the pressures that they and their peers feel related to using social media. Reflect on ancient Jewish wisdom, and consider how it may speak to the adolescent challenges and experiences related to social media use. Create a resource of Jewish wisdom, for self and/or fellow-students, to draw on when considering social media use | Proverbs |
Friendship: “I’ll Be There for You!” | Identify the characteristics of healthy and supportive friendships Describe what they value most in friends Apply Jewish wisdom to the participants’ understanding of their own friendships | Torah |
Conflict Resolution | Reflect on the ways they feel about conflict. Identify their personal style when addressing moments of conflict. Practice ways to work through conflict in order to create positive relationships. | Talmud |
Boundaries | Practice how to set boundaries and communicate their needs. Understand why setting physical, emotional, material, and time boundaries is important to their well-being. Identify the importance of boundaries in Judaism. | Talmud |
Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better | Examine their feelings about competition and jealousy. Reflect on the drawbacks and benefits of the various competitions (academic, athletic, artistic, etc.) that they are pursuing or might pursue in the future. Practice healthy ways of dealing with competition and jealousy. | Torah |
Circle 3: Community/World (Tzedek) | Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will… | Jewish Text |
---|---|---|
Jewish Peoplehood | Reflect on their own sense of belonging and connection to the Jewish people. Understand the roles of the Diaspora and the Land of Israel in the formation of Jewish peoplehood. Grapple with the idea of engagement with Israel as a facet of Jewish Peoplehood. | Vayikra Rabbah |
Antisemitism 1 | Explore the personal experiences and emotions connected to antisemitism. Describe what antisemitism is and how it manifests in the wider world along with the Jewish world. Reflect about their role in responding to anti-Jewish hatred. | |
Understanding Racial Bias | Be able to define “learned implicit bias” Make connections between historical and current systems of oppression that impact their learned implicit biases Begin to explore ways they can address racial bias and think about their responsibility | Pirke Avot |
Exploring the Many Genders of Judaism Around the World | Understand that gender diversity has existed for centuries across different cultures around the world. Engage with Jewish wisdom about gender diversity. Use learned strategies to support trans and non-binary peers. | Talmud, Torah |
Dreaming Better Futures | Imagine the future with hope and optimism. Identify obstacles in the way of positive change. Choose small changes that can make their own lives happier and closer to their ideals. | |
How Smart is Artificial Intelligence? | Deepen their understanding of the limits and opportunities of current artificial intelligence technology. Explore ethical frameworks for using artificial intelligence in particular cases. Connect the ethics of artificial intelligence to traditional and modern Jewish wisdom. | |
Closing Session: The In-Between | Reflect on the past year including what they’ve learned and how they’ve changed Consider the challenges they have faced over the past year individually and as a group Explore the concept of liminal spaces using the Israelites as an example | Torah |
Year 2
Circle 1: Me/The Self (Shleimut) | Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will… | Jewish Text |
---|---|---|
Happy Self, Happy Brain | Describe the meaning and importance of happiness to them. Understand the role of happiness in Jewish tradition. Apply concepts from the neuroscience of happiness to improving their own lives. | Likutei Moharan |
Who Do You Think You Are | Identify their personal and social identities. Consider how others can make assumptions about us based on our social identities. Explore how identity norms can be challenged and can change over time. | Torah |
X Marks the Spot: Navigating Towards Long-Term Goals | Reflect on their own “why” and “how”, relevant in their own lives, for achieving specific long-term goals, based on Jewish text and modern psychological insights. Identify effective strategies for achieving long-term goals, while recognizing common obstacles that may hinder progress. Understand the significance of enduring short-term challenges in pursuit of long-term goals that resonate with their core values. | Babylonian Talmud |
Me, Myself, and I: How to Be Alone | Explore their feelings about being alone. Differentiate between aloneness and loneliness. Appreciate the Jewish practice of hitbodedut. Identify concrete ways they enjoy spending time alone. | Likutei Moharan |
Some BODY to Love | Understand that self-talk creates, strengthens, and perpetuates our perceptions of our bodies. Reflect on the ways in which physical appearance is valued in Jewish texts. Explore and practice various frameworks for relating to one’s body. | Torah |
The Limits of Ability | Understand that people have a diverse range of abilities and limitations, and recognize degrees of ability and limitation within themselves. Fully welcome and include people with disabilities in their communities, families, and friendships. Recognize the advocacy that has been done, and is still being done, for a fully inclusive society. | Torah/Talmud |
Circle 2: Relationships/Family (Hesed) | Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will… | Jewish Text |
---|---|---|
Reinventing Family | Understand the similarities and differences in different models of family. Relate their own family model to others in the diversity of Jewish families. Imagine their own ideal future family. | Torah |
When Friendship Isn’t Forever | Evaluate the healthfulness of their friendships Consider their current needs in a friendship and how those may have changed over time Understand different ways to go about distancing themselves from a friendship that no longer serves them | |
Consent & Communication | Understand what consent is, in terms of relationships and sexuality. Understand and discuss pressures, including gendered pressures, that impact how people communicate about consent. Recognize signs of an abusive relationship. Develop skills for communicating about consent. Learn about Jewish wisdom about consent and communication in relationships. | Various Historical Texts |
Disagreement For the Sake of Heaven | Fluently use the skills of “Disagreements for the Sake of Heaven.” Engage in dialogue with others whose beliefs differ from their own. Develop a plan for talking with members of their community about a topic of personal importance. | Torah, Hillel & Shammai |
Desire: Do You Know What You Want? | Reflect on what they might want and not want in romantic relationships. Reflect on their own boundaries within potential or actual romantic relationships. Understand and discuss pressures, including gendered pressures, on how people should behave in relationships. Learn Jewish wisdom about boundaries and relationships. | Torah/Talmud |
The Pressure to Be Perfect | Discuss achievement culture and its effect on teens’ mental health. Examine approaches to perfectionism from religious and psychological sources. Brainstorm about how to respond to the pressures associated with achievement culture. | Reshit Hokhma |
Circle 3: Community/World (Tzedek) | Objectives: By the end of the session, participants will… | Jewish Text |
---|---|---|
Home/Land: Exploring Israel Through the Theme of Home | Explore the idea of home: Where is home for you? What or who connects you to home? . Reflect on what it means to call America home, and like other Jews from all over the world, what it means to have a “home” in Israel. Describe the concepts of am, eretz and medinat Israel. | |
Achieving Balance When So Much Is Wrong | Identify their own right balance of work and self-care. Systematically prioritize work and self-care. Break large projects down into small steps in order to make work, particularly change work, more manageable. | Pirkei Avot |
I’ve Got the Power | Explore a definition of power. Consider hierarchies of power and how it operates in their lives. Differentiate between individual and collective power and consider how to wield each of these powers in the future. | Megillat Esther |
Media: Can You Believe It? | Develop and apply strategies for discerning truth and bias in media. Reflect on how they come to believe things are true and the extent to which this depends on the opinions of others. Practice applying their critical thinking skills to real world media. | Talmud, Sefer Halkkarim, Prophets |
Home/Land 2 | Reflect on the values of the State of Israel, as expressed in its national anthem, and explore how those values relate to those of the United States or Canada. Deepen their understanding of worldwide Jewry’s sense of “home” in Israel, as well as the factors that shape this sense of belonging. Gain foundational knowledge of the concepts of Am (people), Eretz (land), and Medinat Israel (the State of Israel). | |
Touchy Subjects | Discuss sensitive topics in a safe and supportive space. Understand new perspectives on difficult subjects. Model approaches to discussing controversial and/or emotional topics in the future. | |
Closing Session-Mapping the Journey | Reflect on the past year and describe what they’ve learned and how they may have changed. Consider the challenges they’ve faced over the past year individually and as a group. Develop a plan for how to use their Kulam learning going forward in their lives. | Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl |
Parent Sessions
Risky Business: How Parents Can Help Teens Make Good Choices
In this session, we explore messages teens receive about risks and courage from media, society, and Judaism, as well as the developmental and evolutionary aspects of taking risk. Parents consider where they want to draw the line between acceptable or unacceptable risk-taking behaviors and reflect on how they might help their teens make thoughtful, healthy, and safe decisions.
Demystifying Teen Language on Gender
The program aims to educate parents about the significance of language in affirming teen identities. It provides tools for parents to initiate meaningful conversations about identity with their teens, including sensitive topics. The program also explores the connection between Jewish and gender identity, a core aspect of their teen education approach, emphasizing personal growth, connections, and social justice. Additionally, it connects parents with resources and experts in LGBTQ+ advocacy and mental health support, highlighting partner organizations in this field.
Antisemitism and Teen Wellbeing
Parents will explore their own feelings and experiences so they can be more available and prepared for discussions with teens. We introduce a social and emotional approach to helping teens respond to antisemitism as a component of wellbeing. We will help parents understand a few core different approaches to antisemitism and provide tools to support teens in being able to do this for themselves. Finally, parents will be equipped to talk about and identify four of the most common false and destructive antisemitic tropes.
Knowing Your Limits: How to Talk to Your Teens About Boundaries & Consent
Parents will explore the concept of personal space and reflect on how that plays out with their teens. They will practice navigating the basic elements of positive, physical connection. Parents will reflect on their roles and experiences to better help their teens in setting boundaries while they practice communicating and setting boundaries.