Creative,
engaging
classes
for audiences
of all kinds
learn
Sample Class Series
Being with Grief:
Showing Up for Mourners
When grief comes up, it's not just leaders or spiritual caregivers who support mourners; it's all of us. But how to do that gracefully? And why does it matter so much? This series invites participants to learn how to better "be with grief"--their own and each other's--in service of building synagogue communities that can hold loss.
Session 1: Welcoming Each Other, Welcoming Grief Session 2: The Poetics of Grief: Why It's So Hard to Talk about Loss Session 3: What Is Grief?: The Latest and Greatest Models for Understanding Loss Session 4: The Power of Presence: Being with Mourners and Why It Matters Session 5: Rooting in Tradition: Jewish Mourning Practices Session 6: Honoring the Dead, Enriching the Community: Grief Divrei Torah Session 7: Dvar Torah Slam & Siyyum
Avodat Lev:
Deep Dive Into the Service of the Heart
Avodat Lev, literally “service of the heart,” is a contemplative, musical service popularized by Elat Chayim, Adamah, and Urban Adamah, designed to help us connect to ourselves, each other, and to that which connects us all. This series is an opportunity to deepen your prayer practice, connect with fellow seekers, and build prayer leadership skills.
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Session 1: What Is Prayer? Â Session 2: The Keva (Structure) and Kavanah (Intention) of Avodat Lev Session 3: Core Prayers: A Deep Dive Session 4: Silence & Song Session 5: Words & Meaning-Making
Midrash & Imagination:
Creative Writing Pop-Up
As we demand a green energy transition for all, our writing will be inspired by the Jewish literary tradition of midrash. These untold stories, based in Torah, recount a peak moment of transformation and transition in Jewish tradition: crossing the Red Sea. No writing experience required – all are welcome!
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Session 1: Nothing Was Lacking in the Depths: Shemot Rabba 21:10 Session 2: Bringing Our Ancestors' Bones: Mechilta d’Rabbi Yishmael 13:19 Session 3: Shining Mirrors, Collapsing Time: Pesikta DeRav Kahana 11:13 Session 4: Hope in the Face of Uncertainty: Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 42:11
Leadership & Organizing
Storytelling:
Leading with Narrative
Community organizers have long understood the power of storytelling (and story-listening!) for effective movement work. Stories ground us, connect us to each other, and often explain our motivations in a way that facts and statistics cannot. Perhaps most importantly, telling and listening for stories can be a powerful way to build relationships. Through group brainstorms, skill-building activities, and practice, together we'll craft and tell strategic stories that can strengthen our work, our connections, and our understanding of ourselves.
Introduction to Community Organizing
Community organizing is a method of social change that brings folks together to act on shared self-interest. In this session, we will explore what makes organizing different from other models for change, the cycle of organizing, and core relational tools like storytelling and one-to-ones. Through skill-building presentations, creative activities, and group sharing--and with a lot of interactive practice and real-world examples--we'll explore the art of building communities for strategic action.
Giving and Receiving Feedback
Giving and receiving feedback can sometimes feel taboo, scary, or risky. Sometimes, this means we don't even get to hear our positive impact on others, let alone the stuff that might help us grow. It also means our giving feedback muscle can be weak; we don’t know how to say things in a way that's kind, honest, hearable, and humble. This workshop is a chance to reflect on and practice these elusive skills. Blending techniques from The Food Project's "Straight Talk" practice, nonviolent communication, and other modalities, participants learn and practice giving and receiving feedback, and some different models for introducing this practice into their workplaces and communities.
Teaching & Learning
Experiential Ed: Strategies for Deep & Engaged Learning at All Ages
Isn't learning a joy?! And isn't school (often) a drag? Let's explore the art and science of making learning experiences playful, emergent, authentic, and motivating. In conversation with our own most profound learning experiences, the cognitive science of how people learn, and inspiring pedagogical models of what learning can and should look like, we will explore how to design for flow, deeper understanding, expansive transfer, and belonging.
Social-Emotional Learning Lab
We know that our students need social and emotional skills--not just for academic learning--but also to grow and thrive in their school communities and beyond. In this workshop, we will explore approaches for teaching to the whole child in the framework of social-emotional learning. Participants will have a chance to share their own wisdom and SEL resources with each other, and to experience some backpocket SEL activities and strategies from the field.
Trauma-Informed Pedagogy
This workshop provides a framework for creating learning environments that attend to the whole person. Trauma-informed pedagogy creates opportunities for all young people to thrive and grow emotionally, socially, and intellectually. We will learn basic brain science and theories for understanding trauma and its impacts on the body, explore the role of feelings in the classroom, learn creative and fun downregulation activities, and celebrate the transformative power of community and relationship.