Avi Chai-Mandel Lekhu Lakhem
Senior Fellows Return from 2-Week Israel Seminar Energized
for Next Lap of Jewish Journey
JCC Resident Camp Directors Re-Imagine Their Goals
as Jewish Educators
NEW YORK, NY, FEBRUARY 9, 2006 –They
climbed Masada. They shared a joyful Shabbat celebration.
In a sobering session with an Israeli Palestinian woman, they
gained a different perspective on life in the Jewish State.
At Yad Vashem, they learned from a Holocaust educator that
today’s young people are not receptive to time-worn
messages. They explored the once controversial tunnels under
the wall surrounding the Temple Mount. They hiked the Negev.
From an orchestra conductor, they discovered how different
styles of conducting reflect different styles of leadership.
They met with professionals from a Jerusalem-area matnas,
or community center, and discovered striking similarities
in the challenges they face to build Jewish identity.
All in all, it was two weeks packed with insight, passion,
excitement and inspiration for the 11 JCC resident camp directors
who visited the Jewish State as a key component of their participation
in Lekhu Lakhem: Jewish Educational Journeys for JCC Resident
Camp Directors, an innovative program of JCC Association’s
Mandel Center for Jewish Education, underwritten by a generous
grant from the AVI CHAI Foundation. When they returned, there
was no question that they are well on their way to meeting
the goal of their commitment to the two-year program. This,
according to Dr. Alvin Mars, MCJE’s director, is to
“become leaders who see themselves differently. As much
more knowledgeable Jews, they will look at their camps not
just as managers or administrators, but through new eyes of
Jewish educational leaders who understand the impact they
can have on campers and staff.” JCC resident camps serve
approximately 20,000 campers and hire approximately 5,000
staff members each summer.
MCJE’s associate director, Rabbi Laurie Phillips, echoed
Mars in describing how Lekhu Lakhem has affected this inaugural
cohort of Senior Fellows from across the continent. They range
in age from their twenties to their fifties, with backgrounds
as varied as social workers, business managers, and attorneys.
“I believe that Lekhu Lakhem has impacted the participants
in ways we didn’t even anticipate,” said Phillips.
“We wanted them to embrace the notion that they are
Jewish educators and not just business people, hirers, firers
or facilities managers. Now that they are about halfway through
the program, they are speaking differently.”
In addition to the extended seminar in Israel, the group is
taking part in a series of five seminars at varying locations
in North America, learning from renowned scholars and mentors
in informal Jewish education. Among them is Lekhu Lakhem’s
lead consultant, Rabbi Sheldon Dorph, who for many years was
director of the National Ramah Commission, the camping arm
of the Conservative Movement. Between sessions, smaller groups
of three to four people each study Jewish values and texts
in phone conferences with mentors. “It’s very
focused on their Jewish growth as individuals,” said
Phillips, adding, “There’s a natural segue into
discussions regarding camp facilities and curricular issues.
They’re able to learn a lot from one another in this
personal, albeit long-distance format.” They are each
planning a special project for this coming summer, she said,
that will incorporate Jewish content into routine camp programming
in the areas of sports, culture, and nature. For example,
Phillips said, one director is building a museum of Jewish
heroes and another is compiling a Jewish songbook.
Lekhu Lakhem, made possible with funding from the AVI CHAI
Foundation, was launched in December 2004. The program was
developed by MCJE, noted Mars, based on extensive research
that indicates the impact of Jewish camping on emerging Jewish
identity. An equivalent program, which began in the fall of
2005, has been created for directors of JCC day camps, funded
by JCC Association’s New Initiatives Fund and MCJE.
That group will travel to Israel a year from now, in January
2007.
MCJE was founded to contribute to Jewish educational excellence
in JCCs by providing training opportunities for the professional
personnel and lay leaders of JCCs and the JCC Movement, and
by inspiring and offering guidance to JCCs that are developing
Jewish educational initiatives.
AVI CHAI is a private foundation committed to the perpetuation
of the Jewish people, Judaism, and the centrality of the State
of Israel to the Jewish people.
###
JCC Association
is the leadership network of, and central agency for the Jewish
Community Center Movement, which is comprised of 350 JCC,
YM-YWHA and camp sites in the U. S. and Canada. JCC Association
offers a wide range of services and resources to strengthen
the capacity of its affiliates to provide educational, cultural,
social, Jewish identity-building, and recreational programs
to enhance the lives of North American Jews of all ages and
backgrounds. Additionally, the movement fosters and strengthens
connections between North American Jews and Israel as well
as with world Jewry. JCC Association is also the U.S. government
accredited agency for serving the religious and social needs
of Jewish military personnel, their families, and patients
in VA hospitals through JWB Jewish Chaplains Council.
Miriam
Rinn
Communications Manager
JCC Association
15 E. 26 St., NY, NY 10010
212-786-5092
fax: 212-481-4174
send an e-mail
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